Model
Let’s first get the thing everyone is thinking out of the way: This might be the ugliest thing you’ve ever laid your eyes on. And, yes, I agree.
I decided to move forward with my Shadows Behind Climate Change concept as it was the concept I was most interested in and most excited about experimenting with.
For my maquette, I decided to use Play-doh to experiment with the type of three-dimensional shape needed to create both the mother polar bear and baby polar bear silhouettes. I used a large folded piece of sketchbook paper and my phone’s flashlight. After a lot of trial and error, I created this monstrosity that managed to create both shadows simultaneously. Although, I only had one phone flashlight and therefore can only see one shadow at a time.
Because I needed my phone to take the pictures, the shadows are not exactly what I wanted them to be in the images below. The lamp I used for the photos was finicky so I hope the live demo in class did my maquette justice.
As evidence that both shadows can be seen simultaneously, please see the GIF below and my struggles to use the lamp instead of my phone flashlight.
Shopping List
- Large card stock or similar material to use as a background
- Discarded aluminum soda cans and similar litter (preferably Coca-Cola themed)
- Gloves (to handle the aluminum)
- Super glue or hot glue gun (latter can be found in Makerspace)
- Wire armature or similar material (optional)
Timeline
- 9/20: Most, if not all, materials gathered. Background is assembled. Structural components are done and soda cans are being added on.
- 9/27: Sculpture is almost completely done. The shadows are distinct and recognizable to those unfamiliar with the concept.
- 10/4: Polishing up the sculpture is completed to smooth out features of the shadows and add subtle details, such as fur.
- 10/13: Final exhibit!
This blew me away seeing it in person. I really look forward to seeing the final product for this project. How do you think you will make the fur for the shadow?
Thanks, Casey! I was definitely feeling a little self-conscious at the beginning of class, especially next to your deltahedron! I’m thinking of making little cuts into a flat piece of aluminum and gently bending them to create the fur.
This is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! I am so impressed that you were able to do both sculpture in one. I think it will really add to the concept behind the sculpture to use the coca cola products. I’m so excited to see your progress!
I was also very impressed seeing this in person, the silhouettes are so clear! Do you plan on incorporating any glass or translucent parts? I don’t know where they could be utilized, but it could be a fun add on.
I loved this in class, very well executed! It was very surprising to see that the original sculpture (which has lots of indentations and pockmarks) generates a very smooth shadow from both angles – really impressive work, I can tell you put tons of time into it.
I’d suggest that you also think about the minimal amount of material needed to form this shape. I imagine for the maquette you formed a large block of Play-Doh and *removed* just enough to get the shadow right – but since you’re making the final version *additively*, you may not need/want to fill the entire volume with bottles. and can get away with just forming the surface area instead. In that case, you could experiment with different ways of attaching bottles to the outside of a frame (e.g. chicken wire, pipes) or just attaching bottles together with no internal structure.
Seeing it in person was amazing, you have a great idea going, when it comes to the material, you could find a way to lay a metallic looking cover ( aluminum/tin foil, gum rappers, not sure what else) and attach a products label on a a sculpture like the one you made.