Update – nearing the end

So the MA degree (end of yr) show opens this week, which houses all the pathways including ourselves – Digital Arts. Our work was assessed last week and the external examiner was in today asking us about our experience of the course.

Now its all about those final tweaks for the private view tomorrow and the general opening until Saturday. We’ve all signed up for shifts of invigilating and I’ve used up some more of my holidays from work for this. And it leaves me with very little annual leave left for the rest of the yr. That’s a big shame but it was necessary. And then we have our results coming out on the 20th! It’s quite soon compared to how long students usually have to wait for their undergrad results or for A-levels or GCSE results. But even then I would rather know now than in a week and half’s time.

I’m also trying to mentally prepare myself for all sorts of outcomes. For example I am contemplating where my threshold for satisfaction in achievement is so that I can determine what marks I would need to achieve in order to be happy with my grade. But at the same time I don’t want to think about it at all in case I don’t get it and then feel really sad. Hmm but then again is it the marks that I should be happy about or the body of work? The work was definitely an achievement regardless of any one else’s opinion. I went for something quite ambitious and now that I think about it, I didn’t have to go all out but I did and I’m hoping that was perceived as a very strong point rather than a foolish or over-ambitious one. Only time will tell!!

On the up-side, I managed to get three prints ready in time for the show opening too. These were of photos taken in Unit2 and highlight the significance of my newly developed practice. I think they are worth some focus in their own right and have received a lot of positive feedback. Having taken that on board and with there being some spare wall space in the lighter room of the show I thought, why not?

From left to right: Electric, Wave and Citylight all photographs taken during Unit2 development

The one on the far left is actually one I took last week – you might recognise it being similar to that in the previous post. I’m now very strongly contemplating ways in which to customise my Processing and OpenCV code in order to achieve coloured feed to project in order to create results similar to the images above. I think I might spend a couple of months after the MA just trying to improve the manipulation of lighting and adding in the element of colour. Simply by projecting my desktop screen  has created interesting reflections and shadows so it’s worth looking into for even better results.

Well I’d better be off – tomorrow is an early start. I’m now aiming to just look forward to the Private view where good friends and practitioners who I’ve come to know through the project will make for good company.

Installation pt2 and last minute bits and pieces

So today was quite an achievement. There were things that needed sorting, small problems that couldn’t be solved properly in full in time for tomorrow’s assessment of the final piece but I managed to come up with temporary solutions to deal with them instead.

For example – the curve of the mirror card was kind of flopping on each side. I quickly cut a few pieces of wood and screwed them together in a t-shape so that I could place them under the curve and therefore support it where needed. I think I need to do a better job of securing it to the wall for the exhibition show, probably by screwing them if I can. But for now I’ve used gaffa tape to stick them in place. I ended up using 3 supports and still want one more:

Hidden support under the curve

I spent some time yesterday calling up many art supply stores trying to get hold of some clear acrylic or perspex but the biggest sheet I found was an A3 one at the London Graphics Centre in Covent Garden. It’s quite a good size store with loads to buy. I love these kinds of shops. Anyway, knowing the perspex was too small I bought it anyway to use as a temporary cover over the camera and if time permitted to make it so that it could hold some of my plastic shapes to encourage interaction.

I haven’t mentioned the shapes in a long time as I didn’t think I would have enough time to actually include them within the final piece. And I still don’t know if I will be able to as I only just managed to spray paint the shapes I bought for this purpose. They were basically blank dice in polyhedron forms but in yellow plastic. They were the only plain shapes of this type I could find and when they arrived they looked quite large compared to the image I’d seen online.

Blank dice in yellow plastic - polyhedron shapes

Anyway, so I bought some silver chrome spray paint and now they look like this:

Silver chrome sprayed on yellow dice

They look really nice and I’m hoping they will dry in time but even then I have a feeling the paint will come off as painting plastic is never easy and I did not have time to think about looking for or applying a suitable primer.

The alternative option is to use some of the off-cuts from either the mirror card I have cut recently or from the MDF that was laser cut. Both has nice shapes which could be used but both are also flat and would be harder to hold and move around on the perspex surface.

Anyway, back to the perspex. So I bought the A3 piece as it was the right thickness and not too small so wouldn’t look completely ridiculous. I also wanted as close to the full set-up for the assessment so decided to get it and bring it in and if possible squeeze in adjustments to it at the workshop.

So when I got the chance (between sanding and adding another coat of paint to my never-ending plinth-making) I cut out small cube like pieces of wood, sanded them down so that they wouldn’t have splinters hanging off the edges and then marked the center on each.

I then drilled holes into the corners of the perspex and screwed the cubes in under the perspex. I also added some random screw cap covers which I had bought to show someone in order to order silver versions to use on my metal. I was very proud at my little handiwork – with no assistance from any technicians whatsoever!

Small cube feet added to perspex

I waited till the end of the day to take my plinth up. This was to allow the most recent coat of paint and polyfil to dry. The edges of the plinth still looked bare as they needed a few more layers before the paint would actually seal and stick rather than seep in.

However, I decided that I could bring it up for the assessment as planned and then take it back down later in the week to get it ready for the private view and show.

This was the moment I’ve been waiting for since aaaages. And have been anticipating more so recently with all th madness and efforts made to this end. I lugged my plinth out of the lift and bought it to its rightful space.

I then started preparing my area a bit more to ensure it was clean, tidy and that the wires would be easily stored. I taped down the cable for the extension so that it would be hidden under my plinth and neatly stuck to the floor in straight lines rather than in a mess.

Neat and safer cables

Top of the plinth with perspex covering. This is a temporary cover which I'm hoping will be replaced by a bigger one with a nicer footing

Hardware within the plinth, all equipment attached and ready for testing

And then there was the metal. I finally got round to removing the film and to my horror there was a lot of what looked like saw dust staining and residue underneath. It needed a good wipe down but whatever I tried kept getting shredded by the sharp edges. I resorted to carefully using a dust cloth with water and then drywiping it with my hand after. I think I got most of the muck off but it took me a long time and it was getting very late.

Removing the protective film - which clearly do as much protecting as it should have

I also added a few more screws to the sides of the edge curves with the help of kind Raquel. These were placed along-side the metal just close enough to keep the edges firmly straight and against the mirror card to allow for a better mirroring of the edge of the pattern.

Mirror effect achieved

And then just as we turned the lights off and turned the projector on we saw this, prior to my turning on my MacBook:

Accidental blue projection looked quite stunning

The downside to being in the space we’ve been allotted is that a lot of the pieces that need full darkness can’t have it. I have Ina projecting on the wall behind but on the side of me and as her projection is mostly white it lights up half my work prior to any interaction via the camera.

It makes the metal look quite different. And unfortunately a lot of the light effects that would be thrown onto the nearby walls and ceiling will become invisible as they would only work as illuminations in the dark.

Anyway so here is a weird angle image of the sculpture and the plinth in the room to illustrate the final set-up I’ve done for my final piece:

Final set-up, plinth and metal

Installing the aluminium

College was open today. I got my dad and cousin to help take the aluminium in. We drove it in the big family car and it just about fit which was a relief.

Waterjet cut aluminium in the back of the car

Looking in to one of the curves whilst in the car

I had to leave the fitting of the mirror card (on which the metal would be mounted) till this point as I decided not to use the backing plain metal to mount on and to instead screw both the cut metal and the mirror card straight into the wall. This also meant I wouldn’t need the bolts (and wouldn’t have been able to use them as the board for the wall was already up). But screwing it all in would be a lot easier.

However, installing it actually took longer than I thought it would. I had to measure everything over and ensure the metal was in the middle, both vertically and horizontally. But it kinda looks odd to me with the wall being so much bigger than the metal now that it has shrunk due to the curves I added.

Got the metal screwed into the wall - protective film still on the aluminium, 'just in case'

The curve of the mirror card behind the metal isn’t right though – it kinda flopped. So I need to actually place something like maybe a bent ruler or some kind of curved object – perhaps just taped down with strong gaffa/duct tape to give the card something to rest against and to maintain its correct curve. Will have to remember to deal with this on Monday morning!

I also used some aluminium car repairs tape for the sides. It’s usually used for exhaust pipes but looks and works like foil except it is adhesive. I used this to stick the edges of the mirror card down so that it would be flat against the wall from either end.

After my two personal assistants had departed I started measuring the bottom area of the wall which had a huge gap as the college had no more wooden boards to cover it up with. I would have left it as a space for light to spill into but another student is exhibiting behind that wall and has therefore covered her side of it to keep it dark. It looked a bit funny from my side so I used my leftover mirror card to cover this. Thank God I had just enough left in the roll. It took me a while to cut it to the correct size using a giant wood block as my ruler and then Ina and her friend Luke very kindly helped me nail it in and ensure it was as flat as it could be.

Metal mounted on top half and mirror card covering bottom half - very space age looking

So now my whole wall looks like its been covered in huge sheets of tin foil lol

I’m really hoping it doesn’t look tacky. At least not once the show is up and running. That’s the added advantage of being in a dark space I suppose.

DIY Day four

The days I’ve been in this week have actually merged into one huge chunk of time. But I can now report on the further developments in making my plinth.

If I could I would actually exhibit my plinth as a piece in its own right. It’s actually turned into something quite unique and nice to look at. I’m already contemplating its locality post show.

So let’s see, in my last post concerning this I had finished off all the pieces of the panels. I had started painting them too as I wanted to save time later and just assemble it when I next came in to the workshop.

We had also left a laser cutting of pattern into 3mm MDF (I still had spares from before) after I had left the previous day as we realised the lack of border on the other one I was going to use would make it harder to attach. I made sure the 10-point stars were in the middle of the cutting and Karel (3DResource manager) used his AutoCAD skills to size it exactly to what we needed in order to fit it into the previously routed front panel. This looked great and fit almost perfectly. There were only a few gaps which could easily be polyfilled later down the production timeline.

So the next day I took some extra MDF in to make the top and also the spindles I bought to cut up and stick under the top layer to raise it a bit higher and to leave a further gap for ventilation.

I told Karel my idea for construction, he slightly adjusted it and we went back to what I was originally thinking of: instead of just screwing the panels together edge to edge I would use the spindles as the main frame for the whole structure and attach the panels to this.

We, then, however, needed to cut some more wood as I had only taken in a couple of my spindles when I actually needed 4. This wasn’t hard and I started screwing the prepared panels to these. I ensured my measurements were accurate and double checked them many times along the way to make sure one wasn’t shorter than the rest and to make sure it didn’t wobble at the end.

Attaching frame (which also forms the legs) to the side panel

legs/frame attached to side panel (prior to error checking change)

My arms aren’t the strongest and as I was drilling into 18mm MDF and then through to the chunky wood frame I slightly struggled to hold the drill down. But I thought it was a job well done and made sure the screws were sunk into the MDF rather than sticking out.

However,  there was an abrupt change of plan when we realised we had not made it correct in order to leave the walls on the outer parts of the whole plinth, and allow for the door to be attached using hinges. This was partly also due to needing to place a shelf in for the projector and keeping the width to a suitable amount to fit it so the lens would come to the middle. So the consequence was me having to undo half a day’s worth of work.

The panels fit together nicely on top of the legs/frame which were inset by the thickness of the side panels (18mm).

However, Karel very kindly decided to dedicate himself to helping me get the majority of the construction done that day. I drilled and screwed what I could. glued and nailed what I could and handed over tools and parts when I couldn’t do the more difficult and muscle needing tasks such as bending some chunky metal to make me a hook for hanging a padlock on.

Part of frame cut on one side to make room for projector, and side hole aligned with position of projector vent

Second shelf cut with square in corner to fit with frame and hole at back corner for cables to pass through

The day was full of huge ups and downs. But the end result of my plinth was worth it and I am super grateful that we have a place like the 3D Resource center to work in/from.

Top added, hinges added, holes for cables and two extra support beams aligned with the top and bottom of the door

Filling holes and gaps with Polyfil. It's better to have it bumpy than sunken so that when it is sanded down it can be flattened to the same line of the surface

Using a metal pole bent backwards and then bending again from the back to allow for attaching a padlock

To add the finishing touches I polyfilled all the gaps and then the next day, after they had been sanded down I prepared the hole on the top for the camera to come through. I almost forgot about this and it should have been done before the top had been attached. But Karel was in super sonic  mode at the time of cutting it down and drilling it on that I dared not protest. Anyway, I drilled a big hole in the middle where I’d marked out the shape of the camera. I was going to arrange it so that the main bulk of it – i.e the lens and infra-red LEDs would be raised above the flat level of the top of the plinth. This would hopefully allow for the lighting recognition to still work in the dark and not be limited by the cut off of the area around the camera formed by the hole itself.

Cut hole needing to be chiseled

I then jig-sawed the rest of the rectangular shape out of the top piece and then filed it away for a while. I then slanted the angle of the file so that the camera could slot in easily from the bottom but stay within a snug fit at the top of the hole. I made this a slower process so that I could continuously test the fit and file away where necessary until it was right. I think I did a pretty decent job at getting it to fit right. This meant I wouldn’t need to use duct tape to secure the camera in place either.

Slotting camera in place for a snug fit

Next I started the main painting of the whole plinth. I used a gloss based paint – the one coat one I bought from B&Q. It gave a nice smooth finish once dried but I could tell it was better to do the 2 coats anyway.

The edges of the MDF were really hard to paint as the paint kept seeping through rather than staying on th e surface of the edges. If I have time I am going to try to sand and paint a few layers on the edges. If I can’t do this before assessment then I’ll definitely do so for the exhibition.

And this is it – the finished plinth!

I really like it and so does everyone who has seen it so far. I think one person even thought I was doing another pathway of the course (like designer-maker) when they saw me working on it in the workshop. But I said to him that was the cool thing about the course, you start it off with your one practice in mind but you get to the end and you have the opportunity to include many other practices, skills and techniques for the final stages.

I’m very proud of my plinth, it’s why I said earlier – it’s no ordinary plinth. And as a result I feel very grateful towards the 3DResource team in helping me get it to look the way I wanted and even better than what i wanted. It was worth all the downs encountered.

🙂

Special edition catalogues – in collaboration with Susan Mortimer

Some weeks ago I randomly got into conversation with fellow final yr (online) student Susan Mortimer who, as mentioned in a previous post, puts together and hand makes the Mail Art One zine. Susan also makes one-off special edition books/catalogues showcasing work by solo artists. So I suggested that it would be really cool if we one day used my mirror card cut-outs as covers for special edition books featuring some of my work from the MA.

And lovely and kind as Susan is, she said why not?, let’s do it now (instead of some time in the future which is what I was thinking). Obviously I was going to jump at the chance and thought wow if she’s willing to try it then I am soo game and therefore I set about ordering specific double-sided mirror card for this mini project.

Black and white versions of special edition books - collaboration: Hand-cut covers by Sara Choudhrey and printing and binding by Susan Mortimer

The books are a mini showcase of some of the images from my experimentation through the MA project so far. I chose 10 images which I think some of the key visual elements of my work and added a few coloured samples to give some variation to the black and white theme. I think they work well together in the book and I asked Susan to arrange an order that she thought would suit them best (it’s hard to see your work objectively when you’ve been concentrating on it for so long). She did a great job.

Browsing through the book

I hand-cut a few of the sheets using pat7 (the pattern used for all aspects of the final piece) and arranged it so that the 10-point star would be in the middle of the front and the back.

White version with full front and back cutting

Black version with half-cut cover

I slightly altered the symmetry towards the spine too to make it fit appropriately. These sheets were then sent to Susan so she could test the binding and this morning I had the pleasure of receiving the proofs to look at.

Black and white versions of the books

I actually can’t decide which one I like best. We originally had the black one all black (even the middle section with the star in black too), but then this evening I thought I’d see how it looked with that cut out too and I quite liked it. And this is something I can do once Susan has finished the printing and binding on her side.

Susan has posted about her side of the process here: http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/u2-collaboration-with-sara/

Images of the books taken by Susan - capturing the shadows and reflections produced by the double-sided mirror card cut-out

We’ve just got a few more tweaks to do and then I’ll have around 20 of these special editions. I’m even contemplating having a couple on a plinth in the light room of the MADA (MA Digital Arts) exhibition space, but I’m going to leave this as an option if time permits rather than a must. Also, need to ask the others if there is space for it …

I now just need to get on with cutting the rest of the 20 covers! I may need a two-week long hand massage once I’m done.

Afternoon of real DIY

So when I did finally get back to the 3Dresource guys, with intervals of a bit of waiting I was shown how to use the drilling machine with a large circular saw type bit. This was roughly the right size for the circles I needed to cut out of my MDF for extra ventilation towards the top of both the side panels of the plinth. As heat rises there should be some release via these holes.

Karel, the manager of the department, gave me a few safety tips and showed me where to clamp the MDF and supporting wood down and how to clean the saw bit every now and again so that it wouldn’t get caught and burn instead of continue cutting through.

The drilling machine used for cutting the circles

Close-up of cutting circles out of MDF

Although I was slightly nervous – having not handled any of this kind of machinery since secondary school (about 9 yrs ago now!) – I soon got the hang of it and finished cutting the circles in very good time.

Next we needed to tackle the harder job of routing. I had to wait around a bit at this point as all the technicians were busy and Karel had to go to a meeting so I was told it would have to wait till Wednesday afternoon. I’m not the type to ever panic ( gets you nowhere) but inside I’m thinking, oh man, this is never gonna get finished and what about my deadlines? Because seriously I need to have everything, and I mean EVERYTHING done by this weekend!

I decided to just start painting the panels that were already cut. No point in moping around. I’d made all the effort to get my MDF to uni and had to make do with what I could in terms of productivity.

Preparing to paint the MDF

About an hour later, Gillian, kind and super helpful Gillian, a technician who had been working in the upstairs gallery space came down and said we could have a go at doing the routing.

The routing needs to be done so that there is a recess for the other pattern-cut MDF to sit. This would form part of the front panel of the plinth.  In order to cut this in the correct rectangular window we had to cut out the middle section – not as easy as I thought it would be.

Firstly, we drilled holes into the corners of the rectangle I had marked out and then used the jigsaw to go along very close to the edges so that routing would be easier to do later.

The jigsaw we used to cut the following panel out

Gillian showed me how to use the Jigsaw and I got to do a lot of the cutting using it. It was hard work to hold it down and keep it going straight and so my arm started getting tired but I finished it and manged to curve the corners too. I also had to make sure my hands weren’t too close to the saw bit. It was a scary start but fun to get stuck into some proper DIY 🙂

The router and the jigsaw cut MDF

Gillian neatened up the edges using the router – which will also be used to create the recess. It’s a really good tool for making sure all edges are straight.

So hopefully I’ll back at in the workshop to finish this off. I’m hoping I can get it done by the end of Wednesday as I feel really anxious that it’s really close to the assessment deadline of early next week. I need to have everything installed by Saturday latest so that I can concentrate on the Unit2 assessment page which needs to be up by  July 5th.

I also haven’t had the chance to help the others with setting up the general exhibition space yet and then there’s health and safety risk assessment forms to be completed as well as the instruction sheet for the exhibition period. I find that I prefer not to talk about what needs to be done, I’d rather just get on with it and not make myself stressed by just thinking about it.

I’m looking forward to the days after the assessment when I’ll be able to relax and focus on just the show itself.

DIY and needing bolts.

So I’ve decided to keep my metal ‘sculpture’ really simple. This is for several reasons, the main being that I cannot afford to ruin the cutting by trying to experiment with other shapes at this stage. It cost way too much to get a new one.

So its going to be the pattern cut sheet in a nice big curve coming outwards towards the user, attached to the blank sheet behind which also curves with the sheet but has a bit of a gap in between which is where I’m hoping the best of the light effects will work.This is in keeping with the last few prototypes that I’ve done. At the moment I have the right curve achieved with the aid of a huge plant pot (lol I know it’s random but it worked a treat).

Shaping the metal sheet with a huge plant pot

I’m not going to remove the protective film until right at the end of everything though, so that there’s less chance of it being scratched.

Now to get the curve right and to come out the way I want – like half a cylinder protruding from the pattern sheet, I need to secure and bolt down the points at which the curve goes from flat to curved. This is key to retaining the shape. But finding the right bolts has been a real pain. There are loads of huge bulky, cut head ones that are really long, however, what I really need is something nice and short, with a smooth head. The metal is very thin (0.7mm) so even times two it won’t need a huge bulky bolt.

I need something a bit like this:

Ludwig coach bolt from Drumshack site: http://www.drumshack.co.uk/uploads/images_products/989.jpg

Also, as the metal is not as shiny as I wanted (it’s not mirror shine) I am contemplating using a sheet of mirror card as the back panel. I still have enough of the huge roll I bought a few months ago. It’s lovely stuff and has exactly the right reflectivity (as has been proved by my proto-typing). But I will need to stick it to something more solid in order to prevent it from flopping around. So I might use the blank sheet metal for this purpose. A bit of a waste of its original purpose but now that I have it I might as well use it. It still has the protective film on one side. So if i spray some adhesive on that side, stick straight onto the film then it should be ok.

The other alternative is to cover the mounting wall with the mirror card and then screw the metal directly into the wall over that area. But this will mean a risk in getting the mirror card to curve correctly in proportion to the pattern sheet.

I think I might need to wait until I get the sheets into the space before making the final decision on this. But the thought of it not being done is making me feel really uncomfortable. I hate not having things done.

It’s unbelievable the number of things you have to think about in installing for a space that isn’t your own to do with what you will. We’ll need to make sure all the walls are prepared, and then put them back to the same condition they were originally. This is fair enough. So I need to make sure I don’t drill too many holes. Or remember to polyfil them afterwards if I do.

There’s also my plinth to finish. I got the MDF from B&Q in the end as every time I got back from work the shop down the end of the road was already closed. However, B&Q had quite a good deal on with the MDF, about 2440mm x 1500mm for £16. I was going to get the 12mm (thickness) as that had been recommended by the 3D resource technicians. But the ones in the store were quite damaged so I went for the 18mm instead. It is heavier but I think the added weight will be to my advantage in making the plinth more stable and harder to knock over or even lift and run off with (partial fear of security there).

So with my handy diagram and calculations in hand I asked the guy at B&Q to cut up the sheet to the panel sizes I needed.They have this awesome machine that cuts the huge sheet down when you put in the exact numbers. Imagine how much time is saved with the use of technology everyday? It’s brilliant.

Cutting MDF at B&Q

I’ve chosen to make the plinth 40cm x 45cm. So not quite a square but wider at the front and back. I’ve also measured out where I’d like the MDF pattern cut panel to go on the front. I’m aiming to have the big 10-point star right in the middle. But this will also depend on where the projector will go inside the plinth. I need it’s exact measurements to place the shelf inside in the right place. I would never have imagined how technical a plinth could get.

The pieces that will eventually be my plinth

So I was planning to paint my panels with this paint I bought from B&Q too (becoming a regular there) which says you only need to use one coat, where usually you would have to apply a primer coat before the final paint.

One coat paint to use on Plinth - gloss based so hoping for a nice finish

But I realised I should actually cut the wood parts out before I paint them. So once again I need to wait for Monday which is when I can go to a local joinery store who can do some routing and cutting for me. This will save me having to drive the plinth back and forth from uni which would take an hour anyway.

I spent some time this morning marking out exactly where it would need to be cut. This includes more holes for ventilation towards the top of each of the side panels, and cutting down the shelf pieces which originally were going to fill the whole of the inside space but now I want to leave room along the back (closer to the back door panel) for the wires to have enough room.

Markings for cutting holes from MDF

Area to be routed from front panel

The above image shows part of the rectangle that I’m planning to cut away from the front panel of the plinth to place the lasercut pattern MDF from last week.

So now it’s a matter of waiting till Monday morning which is when I’ll get the final cutting done, paint the MDF which according to the paint pot should be dry within a maximum of 2 hrs and then, get it all put together by driving all parts to uni and begging for help from the technicians.

Home-made burgers and access to metal currently denied

So I’ve been on my laptop for what feels like days. Just finished the essay. I don’t feel that happy about it. It was rushed (really bad time to have a deadline) and probably could have been written better. But the deadline is tomorrow and I have no desires to drain myself of all life before completing my MA. So it’ll just have to do.

What I really want to be doing right now is finishing my sculpture. I’m way behind schedule. It’s bugging me. And yet I cannot do anything because right now the metal is hidden behind the sofa in the living room and as it is the biggest room in the house I need to sculpt it in there. But I also need to wait for the visitors currently sitting in there to depart before I can do that. This can be classified as an external factor. Some things in life are completely out of your hands and you can’t do anything but be patient.

I even missed a family BBQ today because of the essay writing. But luckily they bought some food back for me so I don’t feel as depressed as I did a few hours ago.

From pen to paper to computer to metal

I thought I’d do this post just for fun. It’s kind of cool to see all the stages of getting a pattern from the first stage to the last – in other words it’s proof of why it took so long:

Creating the pattern:

Creating pat7 from scratch

Using the pattern to cut mirror card:

Pat7 cut into mirror card

Using pattern to create digital version in Adobe Photoshop:

Screenshot of building up the pattern in Photoshop

Importing paths into illustrator and exporting as correct files for CAD machines:

Exporting as DXF from Illustrator

Black and green image of imported file from waterjet cutting company:

Single tile of pattern

Full tiled pattern

Final cutting:

Waterjet cut pattern in aluminium

I’ll add one last image to this when the final stage of sculpting has been completed.

Ohmydays it’s here!!

The aluminium cutting that is.

Metal cut-out sandwiched between cut wood

Detail of cut metal - unfortunately there's a slight brushed effect that I did not ask for 😦

It’s massive – which is brilliant. It was attached to a pallet and took me a while to figure out a way to get it open without resorting to using heavy machinery.

And the best thing about it is that they used two wooden pieces to stabilise the metal while it was being cut so the very helpful and kind guy (who didn’t scam me btw, Thank God!) said he’d send them with the metal as ‘they could be useful’ for my project. Hell yeh! They look like Moroccan screens, totally love them 🙂

Metal cut out sandwiched between cut wood

I want to do something with wooden pieces and the options are many but time is just too short, so I’ll have to save it for something post MA. My sisters have been telling me to make screens, doors, cabinets…the list goes on.

I like the effect of displacing one against the other. The aluminium is coverd by a protective film at the moment

So now I’m back to my major issue of not having a studio to work in 😦 I need to start looking for one I think. I’ve heard there are a few schemes around London that you have to apply for but by the time I get round to doing that I will probably miss the deadlines. The next few weeks are just going to be too busy. I feel guilty even posting on the blog at the moment with all the other stuff to take care of. Right now the essay is not even typed up  (I still enjoy writing notes in the traditional age-old, pen to paper format).

So yeh, better get back to that. I’m not sure if I will post images of the aluminium without the covering or wait till I’ve sculpted it. It might ruin the surprise.