The interesting thing I saw today was this gothic church window at the Met Cloisters.

 

 

Step one: My Process

When researching my project of three ‘Faberge-style’ eggs made from overlooked everyday material, I started my research first investigating various materials I could use as well as researching the historical context of the material itself.

Example:

-straw

-Q-tip

-Toothpick

-ear plug

Example:

The straw was first created for the use of drinking beer by the Sumerians. The first straw can be dated back to 3,000 B.C.E. The object was made of a gold tube and embellished with a precious blue stone which is suspected to be Lapis Lazuli.

However, there has been more than just one straw-like object retrieved around this time. In Argentina, both a straw and sieve for drinking mate tea, made from metal has been retrieved.

Many years later, the first nonprecious straw was found in the 1800s.

This version of a straw was made from rye grass and due to it being cheap and soft, this object gained popularity rather quickly.

However, this material tended to dissolve and therefore Marvin C. Stone created what we know as the modern drinking straw today.

It is said that he created the straw from paper, as he disliked the rye grass flavor. Stone did so by rolling the paper around a pencil to make a thin tube, then using only the paper, glued together on its
loose ends, to drink. This design was later on refined to the plastic version known today.

I chose to research this every-day object, as I feel it would be interesting, especially when assembled, to create 3-dimensional creations. I am fascinated how the straw is able to exhibit a smooth and a hollow surface at once, simply depending on which way one observes it.

Materials Used: Plastic

Environmental footprint: The straw is seen to be rather harmful to the environment, as the stem of the Qtip most commonly is formed from plastic which takes (at least in bottle form) can take up to 450 years to fully decompose.

Process: The process of how a straw is made and how the needed machine works can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MFD4RQ1aek

 

 

• To do this research helped me to learn about he context of the material I am using. I researched this via google and various webpages.

_____________________________________________________________________

I then went to visit the ‘material connection’ museum and investigated further materials which are made from unconventional products and wrote about it:

Here as an example:

Brush Tile – Synthetic

Braun Brush Company  >>

MC# 6121-01

Category: Polymers

Rigid modular tiles with brush surfaces for use as interior and architectural surfaces. Nylon fibers are secured in acrylic, polycarbonate or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) substrates to create a sound absorbing, textural surface. The diameter, stiffness, density and length of the brush bristles may be customized, and the surface topography may also be cut to create an undulating form. A standard palette of over 100 bristle colors is offered, with customization of color available for a minimum of 100 tiles. The tiles are sold 12 x 12 in (305 x 305 mm) square and can be custom sized and rectangular to facilitate ease of installation. The polycarbonate (PC) substrates are typically used for backlighting applications, and the PVC for outdoor use. The tiles are sold for wall and ceiling surfaces but may also be used for other interior design applications as well as sculptural objects.

I chose this material, as it reminded me of a toothpick due to its form and delicate, yet robust, stick-like

• Visiting Material connections was helpful as it helped me to feel the material (as I could touch the samples) as well as seek inspiration what sonrt of samples can be created from variously different materials. Material connections also has a website, where I could look up the exact components of the samples. This was very useful, if  I wanted to create exploration samples myself for further development and foster research.

_____________________________________________________________________

I then created some experimental studies of how I could assemble the materials I chose (toothpick, earplugs and QTIPS) together in an unconventional and inventive way, which would distort the material, so that it was not obvious which material it is.

• This process helped me to get familiar with the material and how it moved, looked, felt and work in different compositions-creating various surface qualities. Doing so helped me realise which surface would work most successfully with my project development toward my final piece.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

The next step was to look at youtube videos and experiment how to assemble the egg and experiment with these techniques and methods of assembling a structure.

• This helped me to gather knowledge of various techniques to foster my understanding of manipulation in order to create a more successful final piece.

_____________________________________________________________________

I then created the egg(s)

Example post :

For this Egg (1) I combined two materials (earplugs and toothpicks) creating the egg pictured above. I used a technique of stabbing six toothpicks into each earplug and connecting each individual of these with gold wire. The egg turned out to be rather robust due to its structured body and the toothpicks interlockimg with each other.

AND

I have finished Egg 1 and Egg 2; Egg 3 still necessitates the liquid latex to dry until I can finish the final steps.

I feel as if the finished eggs so far have worked successfully due to their intricate detailing and delicate techniques. If I had more time to elaborate upon my design, I would most probably go over certain areas again, especially in Egg 2, to foster my precision on the wire wrapping detail. However, I feel as if both egg one and the two are impactful as they are and therefore work well. Yet I feel there is always space to improve, so upon further development, I shall add finishing touches which include a stand for each egg (made from wood). This necessitates me to create a prototype stand from card board first, which I am working on and finishing this week.

Pictures below: This is a picture of the final eggs

_____________________________________________________________________

Furthermore I created a ‘How to guide’ of how I created each egg:

For this I researched other how to guides based uopn examples my teachee showed in classs and using google.

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Step two:

 

The steps of research I did are evident above, however, I think the most effective research I did, was when I started to experiment with the actual material and by doing so experienced how the material would react with one another. Also how I could manipulate it most efficiently in the way that the toothpicks or earplugs or latex would look differently to its ordinary shape.  I constantly asked myself the question ‘how can I make the everyday material lose its ordinary representation’, ‘how can I manage to manipulate the material in a way that it looks elegant, yet somewhat quirky and distorted’. As I was doing so,  I capture the material manipulations I executed and placed these on little white cardboard pieces so that I would document the different stages I went through to ultimately create the manipulation technique used in the final piece. To come up with ideas of how to manipulate the material I looked at stitching books and I looked at YouTube tutorials of origami as well as simply seeking inspiration from my own curiosity and also simply by playing with the material in my hand seeing how it moves, seeing how I can twist it, how I can turn it into something new, how I can make it look as if it was something else than it actually is, how I can assemble the pieces so that, as a whole, it would create a different outcome.

 

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

Step three:

 

I relation to Baldwin’s piece- In my essay, I talked about the idea, Baldwin mentions, that one can escape a situation physically but can never truly escape it until this has also been achieved mentally.

He writes ‘In fact, people who hate this country never manage, except physically, to leave it and have a wrecked life wherever they go. Many have neither returned or stayed but can be found in village bars talking about Europe or in European bars talking about America’. The issue Baldwin addresses within this quote, the power of one’s mental state and the importance of ‘letting go’ in order to be able to begin again, to relates to the idea of not being able to win however the outcome may be.

– Therefore the relation I am making to my project (three eggs) is the shifting in shape and context of the material used. Once I started thinking of the materials (q-tips, earplugs etc. ) as uncategorized and simply as the substance to create new manipulations with, and let go of its ‘mentally’ perceived notion, I felt my experimentations became more successful. I t was almost as if the objects de-materialised and were reconstructed again, as part of the new manipulation. This can be connected to the idea of a ‘new beginning’, which is relevant to Baldwin’s piece, as it references the Americans going to Europe, who need to ‘let go’ of their preconceived idea in order to ‘begin again’.

– If I was to further this research, I would create more experimentations based upon the idea of dematerialisation. This would incorporate research towards methods of deconstructing and melting material. This then would lead me to look at various techniques to use in order to achieve my desired result of dematerialisation: acid, other chemicals, cutting etc.

– To do this research I would access the library of material connections: I would look for samples which were relevant to my project and look how the samples surface qualities were achieved. After that, I would experiment on my own terms, (yet research via the internet how the process is executed successfully/ but also try randomly to create a new process) by gathering material and exploring any possible way of deconstructing various fabric samples, or whatever object I am trying to deconstruct. Such techniques may be:

using bleach
using the laser cutter
using fire (safely)
using oil
using gelatin to disrupt surface quality, then experiment further
etc
-Further developing, I would also test how time affects my explorations: different times – different stages of deconstruction. This would also help me learn which material reacts differently to various substances. Also which material is particularly robust? Which material is rigid, or deconstructs easier…etc(document process via camera)

-Also if I was to experiment with dematerialisation regarding my eggs I could create various eggs as they ‘age’/deconstruct-almost like a time lapse of eggs. Another idea would be to create beautiful ‘zombie-like eggs’ which are based on my original eggs yet are a replica made from the ‘surviving’ materials (by ‘surviving’ I mean the materials used within the eggs wich were undertaken a dematerialisation process and managed to remain, but have been altered due to the process)

-I would also look into creating more rigid bodies for the eggs, almost like skeletons- so that I could experiment with ‘skinning’ eggs. By skinning I mean: create a beautiful egg and then work on its surface, manipulate and deconstruct it until it starts to fall off the egg. – however, do this in visually successful full way.

-To do so I would research 3D print making-sculpturing. So I would go to the library, as well as the internet, and see what I can find for 3D printing, then I would visit the new school printing center, I would ask for books to look at.

-I would explore various 3D media: wood, plastic, 3D print, glass etc. This then would lead me to explore these materials as well as thinking of the usage and material properties which would work successfully for what I am trying to achieve. (for example it would be less convenient to work with glass as I do not know how to glass-blow a glass egg. Also, it is very time consuming is there a deadline? I would need to take these aspects into account)

-Regarding my already existing eggs, I feel I have captured my steps successfully, however, I would document more of the explorations in greater detail, as they are being made.

-Also, I did not document fully how I achieved my layout ‘how to guides’ using photoshop, which I would have done if I was to redo the process again or take it further, as well as experiment with creating photoshop manipulations, printing those and pressing/printing the created designs upon my eggs.

-To do so I would research various ways of image transfer and methods which are used for creating what I envision. Also, I would go visit museum and exhibits which portray pieces relevant to my project idea, then learn from the techniques used and research these. Eventually, explore using the found techniques and carry on taking these gathered techniques and creating my own version-further developing constantly towards my final piece.

 

 

Question : how will I take the project further

 

-How will it take this project further

-how will I dematerialize the surface.what materials will I use 2-D compose the surface.

-should I add an element of re-Grove, like a plant growing inside the egg.

-should I create Study body within the egg in order to dematerialize the surface

-should I work on the dematerialization of the eggs surface as a whole or only on certain parts

-thought should I create a series using the technique of the compulsion Or should I create each egg uniquely.

-should I use the eggs that I already have or should I re-create them in order to develop the new eggs further

-should I create a new installation using more than one egg.

-should I combine more materials together which are cooperated in all three eggs to create a new one

-should I alter the size of the eggs in any way.

 

 

Ideas of how to take eggs further: