October 16, 2022 By Nicholas Chen
THE CHALLENGE.
The first assignment we were given in year three was to make a non-objective sculpture out of packaging material. To complete this project, we had to create a piece of art using materials found in our daily lives such as cardboard and plastic. When developing the design for the piece, I also had to take into account the usage of light, shadow, and movement. These elements would influence how other people perceive it and give the structure a deeper significance.
THOUGHT PROCESS.
Since academics has always been a constant motif in my previous artwork, I knew I wanted to make something related to that, but I wasn’t entirely sure what. Then, later in class, a thought then came to me as a few of my classmates were talking about their chemistry class. I wanted to use cardboard to build a hanging replica of the 2-D molecular diagrams that are found in chemistry. Since the piece couldn’t depict anything in reality, I was planning to alter the structure to make it more asymmetrical and abstract by leaving the rings incomplete and leaving it open-ended.
sample of the rod
IDEAS ON PAPER.
As I was sketching out my ideas, I had to modify it in the process to keep it abstract. This was also when I had the idea to construct mini rings and hang them off of the bigger ones. The idea of leaving the rings open-ended was so that it was easy to maneuver and be able to be put in different positions when hanging. I also sketched out rings of different sizes and forms so that it would really look abstract. Another characteristic of the rings in the molecular diagrams that I didn’t keep were the rods sticking out from the side of the rings because they would be a nuisance when hanging the sculpture and were not the most pleasing to the eye based on what I thought.
sketches of ideas
MATERIALS.
Cardboard
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Ruler
Pen
PROCESS.
I began creating each rod for the rings by making many cut-outs on the cardboard boxes I had then glued them together to create many 3-D rods that could all be connected together. I assembled the rods and then joined each one to create geometric rings. After building a couple of them, I realized that I had overused the glue, which had begun to leak out of the individual rods. The geometric shapes also looked too accurate and perfect which wasn’t ideal to me. So, I decided to make some changes.
building the cardboard rings + close up of one of the sections of the ring
ADJUSTING AND ENHANCING.
After I realized there were some flaws in my structure, I made some small changes. For the next few rings I was constructing, I twisted the rods and had them sit diagonally. This would have the rings twist and form bizarre shapes that looked unique and interesting. As for the glue that was leaking out of the cardboard and being a nuisance, I had found a way to cleverly hide it. I ripped off many small pieces from the paper-like sections of my cardboard and glued them on top of the rods. This made it seem like it was a part of the structure and added more character to the piece.
THE COMPOSITION.
The first assignment we were given in year three was to make a non-objective sculpture out of packaging material. To complete this project, we had to create a piece of art using materials found in our daily lives such as cardboard and plastic. When developing the design for the piece, I also had to take into account the usage of light, shadow, and movement. These elements would influence how other people perceive it and give the structure a deeper significance.
THE FINAL RESULT + REFLECTION.
Overall, this project really differed from the ones I had done in year one and two. This time we had a lot more options and it was open-ended leaving us to be more creative with our sculptures. This was also the first time we experimented with 3-D art and its endless possibilities. In the end, I felt like my sculpture was a success. It has a very abstract feeling and be put into many different compositions, yet is still very modular. Although I had some issues in the beginning, I took feedback from my classmates and teacher and made improvements accordingly.
the final result + close-ups
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