Statement of Intent
Throughout this project, the main focus was to construct ideas with intentional craft in material exploration. I challenged myself heavily to have an eye for craft and a disciplined process. In A4, I intended to observe and interpret 2D composition and then transition each into a 3D composition defining connections between 2D shapes and 3D forms. Examing faces and the volume of these forms was the main intention through craft.
By applying these goals to the crafting of my form net, I also look to practice essential orthographic drawing techniques and their application related to perspective drawing. By evaluating each form as a greater whole and from various perspectives, my goals began to ideate. I continued expressing these ideas through newly learned vocabulary through class discussions, and critiques.
Ideation
The Perfect Cube
The goal of this exercise was to begin focusing on craft and 2D to 3D translations. Given the measurements of a cube’s net form, I began to construct this on bristol paper. By cutting this full net out, I prepared score lines for construction. By using a crafting knife with varying pressures I began to gain a sense of what demonstrates good craft. Upon removing the scored net from its excess paper I began to apply tacky glue for the construction of my first cube. Below are depictions of my net and my first two cube forms.
As seen in the pictures above, my craft needed much more practice and dedicated attention. To attempt to make better use of time and materials I began to heavily focus on high-quality cutting and scoring. I also created a new net with more precise measurements. By taking my time with each of the other shapes I began to see much higher-quality products. My third and fourth cubes are depicted below:
Orthographic Form Net
Following the construction of a sufficient cube, I began to research what net I was interested in creating. I found the diamond to be an interesting creation and looked for altered forms of this. From this, I selected the octahedron and looked for a created net to base mine off of. Below is the depicted net creation that I created and constructed to produce my first octahedron.
Following this practiced craft, I began to look into a created form with smooth/flushed edges and accurate proportions. Repetition and focus were two very important factors. A frustrating obstacle was the magnification of small mistakes and their lack of existence until the composition was complete. Small miscuts are mismeasurements resulting in a heavily imperfect final form. Depicted below are some of my high-quality forms which aided in the envisionment of the final form:
As I solidified this form as the composition that I wanted to do, I began to mess with modularity and surface illusion. I felt a staircase-like illusion that gave a sense of depth and curiosity to the face of this shape. I also was inspired by the inside of a jagged geode that created greater forms when my perspective changed. As I examined these options I felt that craft and form were more examined through modularity rather than pure surface illusion. This caused me to select modularity and harmony as my technique and principles.
Iteration and Production
From crafting a high-quality form, I chose the objective quality of modularity and began to replicate the form. From this, I began to examine a way to create a large form by joining each of the individual pieces. Shown below is the idea I formed to depict a larger shape within a collection of forms. By connecting these, a pentagon shape is formed by the joined surfaces.
From this point, I begin to focus on the craft of joining each of these into a greater form. By using glue I connected each of these to finalize this larger form. I found craft to be a struggle as I was faced with an excessive amount of complex angles of connection. I attempted to better this by smoothing the edges with carefully applied glue, however, I was left with a smooth gloss that I believe took away from the product as a whole.
I began to sand and peel away the excess pieces to bring attention back to the piece, however, the craft was not to my satisfaction. I cut pieces to match the measurements of the faces that were roughened and distracting, although, when these were applied I was met with a distracting seam of the connection due to the thickness of the bristol.
Reflection
I chose an octahedron to create my composition. This was a simple shape that I find to be so interesting. This was repeated to shape created so many intriguing forms that I enjoyed isolated in an evaluation of modularity. By constructing 5 pieces in a modular format, I found such a beautiful form of balance and harmony. This symmetrical balance created such a great depiction of a pentagon within the center of all connections. This creation of harmony brings a strong unification of the separated forms and each of their vertices.
In finality, I was proud of my form and the betterment of my craft throughout A4. I feel I really grew in terms of patience and skill. Having a close eye on detail and setting aside a large amount of time to make sure each action was of the highest process allowed me to achieve my goals. Seeing this growth inspires me to keep a tenacious attitude toward bettering my craft and future projects.
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