For assignment #6, the class was tasked with composing a visually interesting 3D model incorporating two polyhedrons together. The specifications of the model were that it had to be mainly constructed with plastic straw with other linear materials (wire, yarn, etc.) supporting it.
I decided to create tetrahedron and an octahedron as they appealed to me the most and I found that it would be the most efficient way to meet the criteria. Furthermore, the color of straw I was restricted to was red, green, blue, and yellow. I thought by choosing contrasting colors would add to the visually interesting component.
To create the pieces I bent the bendable area of the straw to make it easier to use. Once completing this, I used an Olfa knife to create slits down the middle by 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch. I did this because when I initially tried to put the none bent end of the straw into the ent end it either would not go in or create an ugly fold.
Example of the split I made into the non-bendable ends of the straw.
The two ends (unbendable and bendable) disconnected
The two ends connected to one another.
Once I created all of the triangles I attached them together through poking holes into the bendable joints with thin wire. The wire was then twisted and bent perpendicular to the original connection between and wrapped in between the two pieces of straw. This resulted in a firm connection that made the overall structure sturdy.
The finished tetrahedron
The finished octahedron
To complete the final piece, I used the same technique as before to join the two polyhedrons together. Furthermore, to finish the composition I went through a lot of different compositions and ways of presenting the final work.
At first, I thought that I would want to have the piece hang from the ceiling so I practiced hanging it to see if this was the path I wanted to go down.
Then I thought I could wear it. Later I realized that it would be too obvious since we are completing project one (where we have to create a wearable piece of work that is inspired exoskeletons.)
I finally settled on the piece being placed on a flat surface.
Overall, I found this assignment to be simple in execution but difficult in composition. I am happy I took this specific form of the “Space and Materiality” class as it is pushing me to go out of my 2D comfort zone and think about things in a new way. Although not as good as it could have been this piece was a learning experience I will keep thinking about while I continue through the semester.
