Blend is where the I created a physical form from the shapes made in Cut- digital, from clay, foam, foam cubes and paper straws.
Here I was ensuring that the slits were the correct thickness in order to be stable before applying any media.
Completed foam
Foam blocks completed
Straws completed
Clay completed
The CUT and Filter activities helped me develop a new perspective about form creation which I now use in my design work. The experience taught me to reduce my speed while watching materials behave and to choose my design decisions with purpose which I will use in my upcoming design classes. The methods showed me that you can achieve deepness in art through element subtraction and organization and refinement instead of depending on continuous addition.
The foam and clay pieces became my preferred final shapes. The clay form stood out the most because it allowed me to create an expressive organic shape which matched my personal design language. The addition of tin foil to the core followed by clay coverage failed to reduce the weight of the object which turned out to be heavier than expected. The object developed cracks after drying which made it difficult to capture photographs of the object. The solution required me to add a thin wet coating on top which served to create a uniform appearance for presentation purposes. The experience proved challenging at first but it helped me understand how materials behave and which clays work best with built-in support systems.
The foam cube presented an entirely new educational experience. The unevenness of my slices resulted in an asymmetrical cube which showed me that material subtraction requires both precision and complete control. The voxel I made from the straw could have been an experimental creation which would have produced different results if I had chosen to create an unconventional geometric shape.
The assignment provided me with multiple perspectives to understand form through its structural elements and material composition and three-dimensional shape and production methods. The experience taught me to become more self-assured when trying new things while showing me how individual choices affect the complete result. The experience provided me with essential design methods which I will apply to my future design development.
