IP Weekly Progress -- #19

What I Did:
Sunday: (4 hours) Cut out shapes and started intimate folding of tiniest pieces.
Monday: (5 hours) More folding!
Tuesday: (4 hours) More folding and carefully thinking about how to fold each layer.
Wednesday: (6 hours) Folded and sewed the large pieces of Tyvek together
Thursday: (4 hours) Continued to fold large petals of Tyvek and started to plan out inner structure. Also contacted various professors for advice.
Friday: (During afternoon – 1 1/2 hours) Met with Jan-Henrik reviewing structural process and integrity of piece.

Process:
Though I am working hard on the outer paper aspect of the piece, the structural skeleton of the creature needs to be determined. There is a lot of work that needs to be solved at this point and after I met with Jan-Hendrik I feel a lot more confident about certain aspects. Since this took place after Friday at noon there will be more about this in an upcoming post.

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:
I’m feeling pretty good about the look of the overall piece looking at the Tyvek. It has quite the beautiful sheen to it and a pearly luster when sitting still in normal light. The feel is still of paper, but requires the attention that one has when sewing these pieces together. Combined with tissue paper I think I have a translucent winner! I’ve been slowly working on the layers of the top of the creature by piecing them together. Some of the pieces have folds and blank surfaces that are unfolded. I can always go back and create these intimate moments. I feel I can successfully get a sense of the entire structure by leaving portions blank so I can go back and add folds for a uniformed look. I also save time this way because I’m focusing on the structure and weaving together of each individual piece. Though after having a small group chat there are some things I need to work on in terms of structure. I need some sort of armature inside and originally I was thinking wire, but even that makes me feel uneasy because I have no idea where to begin along those lines. I fear anything with wire may make it heavy and difficult to balance. The jelly will hang along its side which gives me a little more trouble than I anticipated. This creature balances itself with a type of fishing line, but in terms of what is inside really varies. I’ve looked at a few artists, but not many reveal their techniques outside of materials used. I can figure it out between in the lines, but I would have to assume what will and won’t work through a series of tests. I need to turn to someone whose mindset follows the science of materials in order to get an idea of what to do. I’m really trying to think outside the box, but I really need an expert in this sort of thing. The person I have turned to is Jan-Hendrik, who has given me a great idea of what needs to be done using small ash wood (Used in basket weaving by Sherri Smith) and light PVC glue. Doing this requires less work of folding and lacing wire, and it even has more strength! Of course I can also get a certain Jellyfish look about it:

(After picture) I will reveal soon what the structure will look like once I get some sketches up and running. At this very moment I have ordered Tyvek, Ash wood, (glue), and PVC glue. While I wait for these items to arrive I have started working on the “engineering” portion of the jelly by mapping out how to build this creature. Next post I’ll have more details dedicated to this since it will take a considerable amount of time to compose. (Thank you Jan-Hendrik for your brilliant suggestions!)

Also, while I’m at it I’m multitasking at extra additions to this creature. Mini experiments happen when I grab scrap from my cuttings! I also play with folding tiny pieces of paper occasional just to get an idea of where to go when I fold.

Very top of the bell

A mini paper sketch on the side

Hanging with a petal attached.

Playing with the light really changes the perception of the top.

Very top view.

What I Should Do Next:

Engineering of structure! Figuring out the mechanics and mapping out number of pieces of figure to make the most of Tyvek? This will be a challenge, but I’ll try it out!