Finished assembling the sculpture on Tuesday with a coat of paint on the frame. After designing some templates, I cut and stretched the fabric much more reliably, with less fraying and irregular overlap. I still need to clean up the outer edges, but otherwise this part of the project is done. Two more pictures after the jump.
After several failed starts, I finally have the surface material planned out in an effective way. Initially I intended to stretch the fabric over a wireframe that preserved the hard flat edges of my design, then treat it with a chemical stiffener. But after failing to get anything resembling a hard edge using tape and wire, I stumbled onto the pleasing natural curves that appear when the surface is stretched tightly. Using staples, I was able to apply the surface in an unobtrusive, non-permanent way.
The School of Visual Arts at NIU recently acquired a 3D printer, which creates basic prototypes of digital models. There are a number of different technologies that achieve this; our machine uses a special powder that is applied one very thin layer at a time. A printer head moves across the powder, dispensing a glue binder in a cross-section of the model. This way, the 3D structure is gradually built out of slices of bound powder.
Just finished assembling the frame for the first time. When upright it’s a little wobblier than I’d like, so I’m going see what I can do about reinforcing the armatures. Two more pictures after the jump.
This last week I’ve been working on the subframe that will support the surfaces of the sculpture. I’m almost done, just need to bolt some of the pieces together and I’ll be ready to tackle the projection surface.
Kites will be my final, senior project for my degree at Northern Illinois University. The piece will be a large, geometric sculpture that receives a mapped projection. By warping the video output of the projector, it is possible to create surreal visuals that both enhance and subvert the receiving surface, like this amazing work at the 2009 Branchage Film Festival. Inspired by the concept of cellular automata, the visualization will depict a simple cosmos and may involve an interactive element for viewers.
