Level 6 // Week 10

Jelly Failures

This week I have really started to explore my materials and created a vast amount of samples. Taking on the feedback from last week, I began to add jelly into my moulds. The outcomes were a bit of a disaster as the jelly was too precarious and would not hold its shape properly. Even though I lessened the amount of liquid that was added, it was just too gelatinous and temperamental to work with. Moving on, I decided to stick with using resin as I like its solid properties and I am confident with my outcomes.




Interesting plaster shapes

The playfulness of my making has resulted in happy and unusual mistakes. I have been using silicone ice cube moulds to layer numerous materials including plaster, cement, and resin. I found that the plaster dried incredibly quickly, which didn’t allow enough time to flatten it out into even layers. At first, I found this to be a burden, however when I actually removed the pieces from the moulds, the blobs of pink plaster created an interesting contrast in terms of texture and shape against the solid lines of the cubes. I would like to continue with this fun approach, which will result in every piece being unique. I have kept my samples small at this point to put in boundaries for material costings and drying times. The smallness of the samples make them quite tactile and authentic, which may disappear if I was to go larger. This is something I need to consider.



Moulds

Alongside the cubes, I have been making my own moulds from Lego bricks. I have found this to be an easy way of mapping out particular shapes, selected from my drawings. It also allows me to decide on the final shape and thickness of the concrete. In contrast to the plaster, the concrete takes a week to fully dry. From my impatience and curiosity, quite a few pieces broke when I removed them from the moulds. Some of the broken edges look interesting, however I have made more and left them to dry completely before I attempt removing again. I plan to etch my drawings onto them next week.

Printer Cartridge Piece

My feedback from both Mark and my fellow peers has been positive. Everyone has been inquisitive of the blocks and has liked what I have made so far, which I find encouraging. A key piece during my tutorial was a cast taken from a printer cartridge. It was suggested to me that I look into finding more moulds/packaging with intriguing shapes and grooves that link into brutalist forms. Also that I should expand my materials, exploring in terms of different temperatures to the touch.  

Level 6 // Week 8 + Week 9

During my tutorial with mark, it was suggested I should do more conceptual and contextual research to really charge my work. Researching into websites like Dezeen will help me find upcoming designers who use concrete and resin, and how it fits their context. I should start to make small samples, exploring the identified materials I had planned to work with.

This initial week of practice, I have begun to create small material investigations. I have started quite basic, layering orange resin over concrete. I was unable to get hold of square moulds, and so instead used round ice cube trays to cast. This defeats the point of my cube concept, however was good practice for testing materials. The feedback from my group tutorial on 3^rd October was positive and the resin samples caused curiosity. The group suggested that I look into using a wider variation of materials to sample with. I could also swap expensive materials such as the resin, with cheaper alternatives like jelly. Jelly has different properties in terms of consistency but creates a translucent effect, which could lead to fascinating outcomes. I need to explore my experimentation in relation to my materials, processes and shapes. 



Resin/Concrete samples