A Brutal End

So today Sebastian and I were at uni and when we looked around the stairwell our orbs were not there. The metal wire our work hung from had come loose at 1 end. 

Eventually we found our orbs on ground level squashed and shattered beneath the stairs. The largest has the most breaks, while the smallest is considerably 'mushed'.

And that concludes the project. If you want any broken remains let me know.

Final Wrap!

Ok all!! Last 12 hours till the project is over. This week we have successfully had our perspex/acrylic cut out, meticulously tied it all together, completed all 3 crochets to scale, and tied them together ready to install. A lot of work since Monday's presentation! Lighting options have been discussed but are too difficult to do in our time, material and budget restraints. Colouring options have also been discarded as the acrylic will not take spray paint sadly. The final looks great and we're ready to install tomorrow at 1.30. Please remember individual responsibilities, the concept statement is mine, submitting the Powerpoint disk is Nancys, and Sebastian is doing the blog summary sheet.

Images

I think I was the only one who took photos today, so here they are for sharing purposes. Click on the image to view it at high res and feel free to use them in your individual applications. Nancy and I took the photos at the very end of the class and to our lucky surprise, we got some beautiful light refraction (yay) from the flash of the camera. Success! 

Delayed Post on Crocheted Testing...

Sorry about the late blog on the testing for the crochet hyperbolic! Lost camera cord. Anyway, I tested many different materials with some very interesting results! I tested on rope like material, plastic and scooby strings which is a colourful stretchy plastic tubing. Here is the photo of the materials..

Here is the photo of the samples I did with these materials.

We didn't end up using any of these materials because we wanted a more transparent material. Adam went to reverse garbage and picked up some semi transparent plastic tubing, one a yellow-ish colour, the other a brown metallic colour. We tested both of the tubing and decided to go with the yellow-ish coloured tubing. We don't know what the tubing was previously used for but it was SO oily! It was good and bad. Good in the sense that the oil made it easier to crochet, however the oil got onto my hands making it harder to hold the crochet hook. I ended up wearing gloves when crocheting the rest of the roll! The material is also a bit stretchy allowing me to crochet it quite easily if I pulled the tubing too hard and the tension was too tight, it was easily altered.

Group XYZ Progress Feedback

We had our presentation today and Belinda got each group to write down some feedback on each group's progress. Here is the feedback we received:

Progress:

Feedback 1.
Positives:
- Nice effect as it is a very delicate piece
- Especially how it played to your group's strengths
- Well thought out calculations
- Transparent industrial material, works will with your theme
- Well done for including both types of hyperbolic structures in your installation

Negatives:
- Final application sketch could have been stronger
- Too much text

Feedback 2.
Positives:
- Nice selection of inspiration images - very evocative
- Nice mix of techniques (acrylic and crochet)

Negatives:
- Technical difficulties during powerpoint
- Would have been nice to see the final design or a better sketch

Feedback 3.
Positives:
- Effective mix of the two techniques
- Clever consideration of the installation space, will look awesome when made in actual materials

Negatives:
- You make us look bad!

Feedback 4.
Positives:
- Combining both techniques in one form is very interesting
- Interesting materials and process well considered

Negatives:
- Reconsider time constraints on project?
- No installation images

Question:
- Would there b several final models?

The feedback is mostly positive, with the negatives not focussed on the design itself rather the presentation so all is well!

Hanging Our Sculpture

Been researching for a solution for suspending our sculpture. I don't think that hanging each one under each other is possible, like we discussed in classed. It may need to be separate elements. What I have found out is fishing line should be strong enough to hold the elements- depending on the weight of the acrylic. So hopefully we can get in 1mm or 2mm at the largest. If we do it like this it would be easier to hang a light bulb in each one as well. If it is heavy we can go the same thing with chain- but that will take away from the overall aesthetic of our idea. I attached some sculptures I found hat were suspended with just line/string.

acrylic orb model

We had to create a mockup of our orb for the presentation as the acrylics were not ready.

This is made from acetate and should look very similar to our final product. this model is 20cm in diameter.

Final To-Do!

Another quick post from me: I just wanted to touch base and resolve what Belinda sent in her latest email in regards to our submission and presentation.

Firstly she has said what needs to be covered in the presentation, and luckily she gave us 4 points to cover and we have 4 group members so I thought we'd each do 1. Considering the roles we've done so far I've allocated each of us to a point, on which we should aim to talk for 2 minutes, in the given order.

a) response to the hyperbolic concept - Adam
b) research - Nancy
c) project development including materials and techniques - John
d) images and explanation of context/installation placement of the form - Seb

ALSO!

1. Belinda has also asked for the CD of the powerpoint be presented so can Nancy bring that in on monday to submit (either on Monday or Friday)

2. The 500 word concept statement needs to be submitted by email with in-text Harvard style references by Friday. I'm going to go to the library during the week and add in the references, so will be responsible for sending this.

3. Please do as many blog posts as you see relevant before the friday deadline.

4. I can't find the blog summary document on UTS online so we'll work that out on Monday.

5. Bring your cameras and the work we have made so far in on Monday to give us all proper images to construct our individual applications.

Concept Statement

Here is our concept statement! I uses John's previous 100 words which introduce the definition of a hyperbolic and go on to cover our concept and research from there. I hope you all like it and if there is anything you'd like to twitch let me know and we can add/subtract before the final hand in on Friday.

"The concept of a hyperbolic space is that as a position moves further away from a point on a plane, it expands. This does not sound too complicated but, visualizing the definition is very difficult. One of the first representations of a hyperbolic space was done with crochet. Increasing the number of stitches every row allows the 2 dimensional plane to expand to a 3 dimensional form. In mathematics, a hyperbolic function has a very similar nature as it expands in value along the x and the y axis. Another prominent example of hyperbolic space is found in coral reefs, where 2 and 3 dimensional space has expanded together creating a large, frilled form.

Our particular exploration of this definition intertwines another concept; light refraction. This explores ideas of transparency, light alteration, dimension and reality. Some of these notions are not dissimilar to the qualities of a hyperbolic. Exploring both concepts together allows us to create a provocative installation and interact with space on a multitude of levels. Another element we wanted to incorporate is the use of both the crochet and hyperbolic model, to examine how the two could possibly relate and co-exist.    

A range of visuals have been referenced in the research of our concepts, including ice formations, light installations, geometry, glass architectural forms, and crystal structures. These interesting topics have been referenced for their appealing visuals, mathematical appearances and interaction with light. From them we developed a mood and set of standards to apply to our own installation. They have encouraged us to create something semi-transparent, detailed, delicate, and scientifically designed. While a range of material options have been researched and considered, our final materials are clear plastic cord and laser cut perspex. These clear/semi-clear materials allow our installation to toy with any light source as well as intrigue onlookers to examine the materials closer up. The construction and mid-air installation also allow our piece to exist seamlessly within a light stairwell and weightlessly levitate like a bubble.

Throughout the project inspiration has also come from several artists who have provided insight into our process and concept. Our research cited Japanese installation artist Tokujin Yoshioka for his use of clear/white materials in impacting, large-scale gallery installations. He influenced our clear colour palette and clean aesthetic. Stephen Knapp directly uses light refraction in his ‘lightpaintings’ where rainbow shards or light are projected and overlaid in stylised gallery settings. He influenced our choice and understanding of our concept. Another light artist, Alan Jaras bends light by using a lens-less camera creating galaxy or deep sea creature like forms. A form like this is not dissimilar to what our 3D installation developed into. A final artist that dealt with similar concepts to us is Janet Echelman, whose recent work Tsunami 1.26 incorporated some similar elements. Echelman effectively uses a vast and expanding material (a large net), bases her work in mid-air, and heavily plays with a light source (with multi-coloured changing spotlights at night). Reasons why her installation is so effective can be paralleled to what our installation is aiming to achieve.   

Our piece is combining and relating many concepts within each other, both literally and conceptually. With crochet encased in a perspex hyperbolic the work seeks to create a new provocative mid-air new dimension – an example of the complexities of hyperbolic space and a crystalline organism that toys with illumination."

Please post any responses or re-edits in the comments part. 

Janet Echelman

I just wanted to do a quick post on Janet Echelman's Tsunami 1.26. Some of you might have seen the effective work (which was only just taken down) hanging outside of town hall as part of the Love Lace and Art About Sydney events. I couldn't help but see afew similarities between Echelman's work and our as they both are mid-air installations, play with a light source, and are mathematically crafted from a crazy, expansive  material. Reasons why Echelman's work is so so so so successful could be considered in how our work could also succeed. This could me a light source, playing with colour and how the piece is installed. I also wanted to slip Echelman's name into our concept statement which I am about to publish. 

acrylic laser cutting

hi
you might already know but our acrylic pieces will not be available for monday as all the places we tried were really busy and the place at UTS was the most available although they were also busy.
It seems like that they should be done by wednesday and ill keep on pushing the guys at the laser cutting department.
so for the monday presentation, we may need to create a model for our installation or at least a detailed graphic representation.
if you have any ideas please post it up
thanks.

More Cord

Just zipped up to Reverse Garbage to pick up another 3 spools of our plastic cord. $15. Hopefully enough to construct all of our crochet work. 

500 word concept statement coming soon (I'll put it on this blog for all).