WEEK 1: EXPLORATION
- deepikagupta20
- Feb 3, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 23, 2021
DAY 1: SYNTHETIC
The day started with a discussion about one of most popular artworks 'The Persistence of Memory' by Salvador Dali. It then moved onto how surrealism is the depiction of a person's imagination which is not a reality.
This day we were asked to explore various synthetic materials and try to manipulate their properties by using different techniques such as cutting, burning, twisting, etc.
EXPLORATIONS:
TUBES AND PIPES:
1. The Weird: For this I cut slits along the vertical lines of the water pipe and rolled some of them. It looked a lot like a weird octopus to me and hence the name 'The Weird'.
2. Steps: For this I first made half cuts on the pipe and then turned each alternative ring inside out.
3. The Upside down:
4. I put together various rings of PVC pipe.
ROPE:
5. Picking out the fibers of the rope.
6. Knotting:
7. Braiding: I braided it in two different manners
8. I made another swatch by circling the fibers of the rope.
STRAW:
9. Rose flower: Twisting and folding the straw
10. Heart:
11. For this I curved various straws and then iron them.
THERMACOL:
12. Maze:
13. In this, I burned the thermacol sheet in order to create a wavy texture.
14. This was another exploration in which I just scratched the surface of the thermacol using a cutter to create a texture.
15. Mundane beauty: Using a soldering iron. It creates a double shadow.
SUNBOARD:
16. Layering: I tried to separate the layers of the sunboard using a cutter.
17. I used bamboo skewers and pencils to create this texture.
18. Turned and Twisted: I cut various lines in sunboard and then kept it near the flame in order to twist them.
19. Honey-Prints: The texture here is created using a soldering iron. It resembles a honeycomb due to the shade of yellow and black in it.
PLASTIC:
20. Burned the mosquito mesh.
21.Tried creating a perspective grid
22. I burned the plastic cover which came with the acrylic sheet.
23. Once again I burned the same plastic polythene but this time I first crushed it and then burned it.
24. Using an iron, I tried converting the acrylic sheet into a cylinder.
25. Once again I tried creating a texture on acrylic sheet using soldering iron. I neither made a whole jali nor a opaque texture.
REFLECTION:
Exploring materials is probably one of my favourite things to do but somehow it didn't make me that much happy this time because as a nature lover who has always actively participated in protecting the environment, I somehow felt a little upset when I burned plastic.
Despite everything, I tried to explore as many varieties of materials I could get and understand how each behaves under certain techniques. It was quite hectic as the number of explorations was double than what it used to be in the earlier projects but as one of the teachers once said, "the more you explore, the more knowledge you will get", so I went on a journey of exploration filled with learning.
FEEDBACK RECIEVED:
My explorations and the use of various tools and techniques were appreciated. However, I was asked to not assign titles to the explorations in the first stage as that is something to be done in the upcoming weeks.
DAY 2: ALUMINIUM
This day was all about exploring metals, mainly aluminium. But why only aluminium? It's because aluminium is much easier to work with rather than other metals. Due to non rusting nature, the outcomes can be well preserved.
EXPLORATIONS:
1. I realised that while cutting thin strips of the metal sheet, it got curled on its own and formed like springs.
2. Circular spirals: It somehow looks like the clouds I made in FVL-1. Also I used a glue gun to stick them together.
3. Twisting and Curling
4.
5. Weaving
6. Tried making a plate by making a half cut over the circular line in the inside. It was a failed attempt as the curved part didn't turn out well.
7. The shadow somewhat looks like grass.
8. Resembles a tree
9. Roses: I curled the sheet in a circular manner to create a rose. I even cut the edges in a wavy manner to bring out that effect of rose petals.
10.
11. I first cut a semi circular fan shaped out of the sheet and then made cuts in it. Then I realised that the cuts got curved forming a palm tree like structure.
12. I randomly bent the mosquito mesh to create a form. The mesh that I had was of steel and not aluminium, so it was difficult to cut it as the wires are woven in it.
13. Made fanfolds by making half-cuts
14. I folded the sheet horizontally and then cut it with scissors. This way the cuts were made in such a manner that it almost resembles a lamp.
15. Chef's hat: getting inspired from my previous observation, this time I tried to make a hat.
16. Seems like a vegetable peeler. I hammered a screw driver on the sheet to create this texture so one side on which the nail was hammered became a hole making it protrude from the other side.
17. Embossing by hammering nails. I realised that while hammering anything on a metal sheet the texture protrudes from the other side.
18. Embossing by hammering a Bolt
19. Braiding steel wire. It wasn't easy as the steel wire was more stiff and hard to bend.
20. Made a horse using copper wire. Also if you notice it clearly, the whole horse is made out of a single piece of wire which is being continued from the eye to the curve of the hind limb.
REFLECTION:
Working with aluminium and other metals was really interesting as I never thought that a simple rectangular aluminium sheet could also be curled. Using wires to draw certain forms has always excited me. I am very much inspired by Subodh Gupta and I think that working with metals somehow gives me a feeling of a sculptor and it is my dream to create huge installations at public places.
Fun fact: Aluminium sheet cannot be burned/ melted using a soldering iron or flame
DAY 3: NATURAL
Another day started with a quote, "Exploration is curiosity put into action" which according to me is absolutely correct. As the brief said 'Natural Materials', it wasn't just about exploring the materials that were listed but also to look around us and explore nature.
The brief for the day was to explore the properties of natural materials. We could also take materials from our surrounding including leaves and vegetable too.
EXPLORATIONS:
1. I used jute rope by taking out its fiber to create a little composition.
2. Tied Jute ropes together to make a chain
3. Knotting
4. Burning coir: It suddenly catches fire and turns into ash
5. I tried weaving the rope into a 3D sphere by making knots. I did not succeed though
6. Making a jali by weaving through fingers. I remember that I used to make this as a kid a lot.
7. This is another weave that I made using my hands only. We used to call it a lion's paw.
8. Tried weaving sarkande. I used the outer layer of the sarkande for this.
9. When I burned sarkande feathers, I realised that they catch fire very quickly and due to that I almost burned my fingers as I was holding them with my hands only.
10. I tried to make something out of the sarkande
11. This seems like a heart.
12. Made a pentagon from sarkande.
13. Braiding cotton cord.
14. Weaving by making knots
15. Used an orange peeling to create something
16. Made a flower by curling the orange peel
17. Rolled corrugated sheet to make shapes.
18.
19. Made a jali by again using sarkande
20. Burned one of my jute swatches.
21.
22. I broke the coconut using a hammer and then tried to make a composition by using the waste.
REFLECTION:
I think that the explorations can never end when it comes to nature. This day was full of learning as who knew that an orange peel which we throw in the garbage can also be used as a material? Nature never fails to astound me and as someone who has spent most of her childhood by climbing on trees and sneaking up on people from there, it has always remained an important part of my life.
So when I was told to explore the natural materials, I just ran to my garden and sat on the swing by the Neem tree in my home. It helped me get a lot of ideas.
DAY 4: COMPOSITE
The first thing that came to my mind was, "what are composite materials?" Composite materials have a combination of two different materials which have different properties.
Brief: Explore & Manipulate the properties of composite materials and see how they behave under different circumstances.
EXPLORATIONS:
1. Since I did not have silicon moulds for the resin work, I decided to use a plastic box that I found in my mother's jewellery box.
2. For this I put some petals in it. Also my the color of my hardener was yellowish and due to that the mixture became somewhat off-white in color and did not have that transparency.
3. Since we were not allowed to use colors, so I decided to add colors to my resin by mixing spices in it. I mixed red chilli powder in this one.
4. Applying resin on a mosquito mesh. I realised that the resin was really sticky and due to that most of it got stuck on the polythene below the mesh.
5. For this one I mixed dhoop (black powder used in hawans) in it.
6. I like collecting small boxes that come with erasers. So I used one of them as a mould and sprinkled little glitter in it
7. I took some pebbles from the roadside and poured resin on it. I realised that the pebbles got glued to each other.
8. I burned my glue stick and put its droplets to make another exploration.
9. I mixed turmeric in the resin and poured it in one of my jalis. Since my resin was yellowish in color, it somehow changed its color to bloody red when mixed with turmeric.
10. I decided to pour resin on a balloon to get a dripping effect. But it failed as when I popped out the balloon the resin got stuck with it instead of coming out as a sculpture.
11.
12. Poured resin in a plastic spoon along with flower petals.
13. I mixed jute rope fibers in resin
14. Tried making a herringbone tessellation using wax
15. Dipped cloth in cement and hung it on a piece of wood.
16. Did the same with bubble wrap.
17. Dipped thermocol in cement and tried to make a structure.
18. I tried to make a bowl by pouring cement in a container and giving the texture of a bubble wrap on its outside. I however, failed as there was more water in it and the bowl broke.
19. Burned chips packet.
20. I even tried pouring wax on a balloon but as soon as I did that, the balloon bursted and the wax spilled all over my clothes for which later I even got scolded by my mother.
REFLECTION:
Resin was something I always wanted to try and I was really excited about exploring it but all my excitement was gone when I realised that I had the wrong resin. It was very thick and sticky; and it has been almost a week now and my resin explorations still haven't dried up.
The whole day was very untidy and sticky as all my hand were either covered in resin or cement.
AT THE END...
This whole week was about messy and fun explorations. It was meant for us to understand the characteristics of certain material and trying to manipulate them. The feedback given about my work and maintaining blog also helped me to overcome certain struggles and perform better.
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