Amanda Avery OBDF blog

 Below are my favourite pieces that were entered in the Object Design Show. I was most drawn to the pieces showcasing fine line work or different mark-making styles. There were so many amazing and creative pieces, but these are the ones that I found myself going back to view several times.s What I found interesting about this piece was the symmetry of the design and the variance in the mark-making. The wings of the butterfly are perfectly symmetrical, with very fine mark-making. The line work is so fine that I find it difficult to believe that it was made by a computer if it weren't for the fact that there is not a single flaw in those lines. However, the butterfly's body,y,r, breaks up the symmetry. The thorax is made with rough, scratchy lines, and the head is a pattern of a microscopic slide. Having this portion not symmetrical makes the piece visually interesting to look at. Another aspect that works well within this piece is that the lines are not contained.  By another l...

  This week I built my prism in Rhino so that I could build a piece that would friction fit and hold the piece together rather than using screws. Since most of the pieces sit at a 90-degree angle, I only had to make one piece and then make a boolean difference so that each piece doesn't slice so that when I went to laser cut, there would be slots for the pieces to sit through. There were some problems with laser cutting, such as the red and blue pieces not being laser cut all the way through, so I spent considerable time removing the pieces by hand. Some pieces were cut enough that I could push them out by hand, but for some of the more intricate pieces, I needed to use a Dremel and small files to push them out.  Once all the pieces were removed, I spray-painted the back of the coloured pieces with silver paint. Now, I am beginning to assemble the prism.

 This week, I made fixes to my original laser-cut layout. This included making sure every piece would be slotted into each other securely for the assembly stage and adding another hole for where it will be hung from the ceiling. I also took measurements of how much acrylic material I had left and laid out the plan accordingly just to make sure that I would have enough material to make the prism. I have my laser cut appointment on Monday the 17th. Then, I can begin assembling both prisms. I have also been thinking a lot about how I would hold these pieces together. I like the idea that was mentioned in the proposal about using 'hot' connections, or connections that were not trying to hide that they were connections. I like this idea, and it complements the epoxy method I used by not trying to disguise how it is held together. I have been looking at different ways but the one I like the most is using screws and 90 metal plates. I like this method as it will be very secure and str...

 Here are some better pictures I have taken of the first iteration of the bespoke object. My proposal is to revisit my bespoke object and make some improvements and modifications to the design.  One of the significant issues I had with the first iteration of the design was that not all the pieces were cut with slots to fit into each other. This created a problem when trying to epoxy the pieces together; there was a lot of slipping around. This makes the surface look very messy, and I want to clean it up when I revisit the laser cut prep. Another thing that needs to be improved is the design's lack of holes to allow for more weight distribution when it is hung from the ceiling. In the current design, there are only two holes, which means only two of the acrylic triangles support the weight of the entire piece. I would like to re-design the piece so that more than two pieces support its weight and make it more structurally sound. When I originally wrote the proposal, I wanted to...

 This week, I assembled the pieces of the prism. There were some minor issues with epoxy getting stuck on the mirror's surface, which I did not want, but this residue was easy enough to remove with some isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab. One of the most significant issues I had was that one piece was not slotted into the prism but instead glued onto the edge of another. I did not laser cut a slot for this piece to nestle into because I was worried about losing some reflections on the piece. This piece became such a pain in the assembly process that if I were to do this project again, I would prefer to lose whatever mirror section would be lost in favour of easier assembly. Another thing that I would have changed is the foil transfer paper. I like that this method has some patterning in a colour variation, and I also like that it is reflective and has a textured/ funhouse mirror look. The only thing that really bugs me about this method is that it does not stick very well, so ther...

 Over the reading week, I laser-cut the sections to create the finished prism shape. Over rrading week I also researched ways I could cover up the back sides of the coloured mirror, so it was not the gray flat colour that it is sold as. I experimented with metallic acrylic paint, but it was not as reflective as I would have liked. I searched for some reflective mylar, but it was either too expensive or sold in much larger quantities than I needed for this project. Eventually, I decided to use coloured foil transfer sheets. I went with this option as they are sold in smaller, more affordable quantities, are still reflective, and are sold in various colours, meaning there is more creative freedom to experiment with them in this regard. However, one of the major roadblocks I had with the transfer sheets was that they were not adhering to the back of the mirror. I tried applying pressure to them, but they only stuck in some areas and flaked off in others. I tried sticking them first wi...