Week 4 - Cutting Supersurfaces
Cutting Supersurfaces
Last updated
Cutting Supersurfaces
Last updated
This week we are busy with different type of structures and how to change their values. We have to write 150 words about this or about the reading material that was about thinking differently than you are used too. Next to that you have to make an original image that fits your text. This week the editors for the zine are Thijs en Daniël.
This week we talked about looking at things with a different perspective and breaking your tradition of a process you well know and doing something different. I think this is a very hard thing to do. Because when you don't have a lot of time, you'll fall into old patterns. I think you can only do this is when there is a very creative working environment and you have a lot of freedom. It also depends on your assignment. Do you have a problem that you’ve fixed before? Or a new one that needs a new approach? Cause with the second one it’s easier to figure out something different. To find a solution that fits that problem exactly right. I think that when you’re looking at new possibilities, you will find them. But you’ll need to have space and time to do this. This week for our own assignment, we do have time for this. The only problem is that I don’t know how the laser cutter works yet. This means that I look at it with my first perspective and I can’t do something different. What is new, is that you have to use the illustrator program different. Really use lines and looking at the space between them. You have to keep this in mind when you design. What I also figured out is that material can change the outcome of your design. Like will it be able to bend, or will it break easily? All of these points make you think differently about your design when you work with, in this case, the lasercutter. It is fun to figure out the endless possibilities, just by using it a lot. And after a few tries, do something new.
Desiree van Dam
Create your own sample book in which you address the following aspects:
Explore what the assigned contrast in material properties entails (this can be in the form of mindmaps, collages, moodboards etc.)
Explore what the available flat sheets materials offer and what material(s) would suit your assignment best (share your results with each other). You can also bring your own material(s).
Show iterations on the process, work towards a range of experiments that explores the two extremes of your contrast and various stages in between. Document your process and use a template to document the material properties, machine and settings used.
Bundle your experiments in a sample book which displays your material exploration. Your sample book contains your interpretation of the assigned contrast, your experiments with various materials and techniques (at least 2 iterations with several gradations), and your final range of gradually moving from one extreme of the contrast towards the other end of the contrast (at least 5 gradations).
Your sample book displays experimenting with the laser cutter. Use the laser cutter at least for one iteration with several gradations.
Book binding is part of the process of creating your sample book.
For this assignment we pulled some cards with two contrast. First i picked brittle and flexible but later i was hooked by dynamic and static. Bros en flexibel / Dynamisch en statisch.
I found the assignment very hard too understand. But i finally decided to go for dynamic and static. I see static as something that unmoving or in straight lines, that is very still and with sharp corners, a bit building like. I see dynamic as something that moves in all kind of directions, round corners and flexible. Dynamic has a bit more movement and 3D. To express this I made an Moodboard which is seen below. I used magazines for the images.
You have to pick a material or look at more kinds of material to see when something is dynamic, when something is static, when something is dynanic and static and everything in between. In the beginning I decided to work with the material cardbox. But after the first experiment I decided to go for thick paper.
Static = Triangle - box - folding worm - hat circle thingy - laser printer field = Dynamic
Can you do the second iteration with a different material to see which one is more static or dynamic? Maybe wood, paper or plexiglas.
Wood, cardbox, paper, creppapier, golfkarton, plexiglas, plastic.
I already figured I wanted to make an triangle. This because I consider that very static. I found a figure online that I put into illustrator and cut the figure with the laser cutter in cardbox. (Anoush helped me figure out the settings of the laser cutter). I used differend settings for the cutting. I had a kiss cutting with two different power settings an a dotted line. After that i figured that cardbox is hard to bend. When you try to bend it, it breaks a bit. The breaking is less when you use a dotted line, but it's still not ideal. So I did the same experiment with paper, an iteration. This worked better because it wasn't breaking and was still very strong because it is a triangle. For this experiment i also used a kiss cutting and a dotted line to make the folding lines. I dont know which one I like better because all of them fold well. In the end I think I like the kiss cutting better because it looks cleaner after you fold it. I'm content with my first try of making something static. Now I'm gonna look for other experiments.
I looked at Pinterest to find some inpiration. There I found a kind of tower that you can fold together. It looked really cool and I wanted to try it. I found a blue print and traced it in illustrator. When I kiss cutted the design I started to fold it. It was a bit harder than I expected and it didn't look as good as the example. So I tried to make another and made this one bigger. It didn't help. So I decided to do something different and found two other blue prints, for some kind of shell. I wanted to try it and one was not ideal for the laser cutter because it goes really narrow at the top but the other one worked. Maybe not the way it's supposed to but I think it looks good. I put this between static and an mix from static and dynamic, because it still has corners but is also a bit round, and it has no movement. If you want to do the one other one, I think you'll have to make it bigger and without the laser cutter. I was a bit annoyed when I was folding because I didn't know how to perfectly fold them. But I did it my own way and i like the outcome.
I saw something that looked like this (mix from static and dynamic) in the slides form Sam. I looked it up and traced the lines in Illustrator. With the laser cutter I cut it out and started to fold. In the end I glued the pieces together and had something static that moved. It has sharp corners but also round in the center. The first one had 5 corners like a star. I wonderd wat would happen if it had more corners. So I made another one with 7 corners and I made it a bit bigger. You could tell this one is stronger and can probobly cary more weight. I really like them. I like that they look static, a big building like, and have a lot of sharp corners, but are still dynamic because it's still round and it can move. That's why I put it in the middle of the five gradients. I watched a video on how to fold it so I was not frustrated.
I looked on Pintrest for some inspiration and found an interesting image. It was an egg made out of lose pieces of paper. I thought it was really easy to make that for myself but I was wrong. I looked at the picure and tried to make the pieces. But when I cutted all the pieces, they didn't fit togheter all that well. I looked further online to find something that would help me and I found a blueprint. I downloaded it and then cut it, but even then it was still hard to figure out how it works. This was very frustrating. Eventually I figured it out. It surprised me how strong it was, it is unbreakable. In addition, it can still go completely flat. The complete item and movement, I find stil a bit static. It moves is lines en its still flat. That's why I put it in this order. For an iteration I thought about making it a square. I was glad I knew how to put it together now. This worked but was less stable than the egg. This surprised me. Maybe it is firmer around because it has fewer pointed corners and can collect more.
I went online to look for some inspiration and found an interesting image on Pinterest. They cut paper so thin and in a kind of pattern that it could go up. I thought this looked so cool that I wanted to make it myself. I thought it looked pretty easy but it was accually a bit more difficult. I made some circles within eachother and set the laser cutter on a dotted line. This did not do the job. This was annoying but I figured this was because the lines weren't rightfully structured, the piramid didn't go up. Sam at that point told me there were some examples in the lab as well, so i took a look at those. Then Hank told me there was already a template for that form on the computer and I could use that. He looked that up for me (It's called PAPER LAMP PLEASE USE ME.ai) and we started to cut it. This did work and looked really awesome. I was happy. The only thing is that we adjusted the size a little bit and made it smaller. But that way the paper also became more fragile because the cuts were closer togheter.
For an iteration I want to play with different structures. I found some examples on pintest that look really interesting. I really wanted to try a spiral. I thought this would be easy, but I was wrong. I worked really hard with Kaz to get it right and it was really frustrating. It took multiple approaches but after a few hours I got it right. I was really happy about the end result. You really have to do everything by hand. First make one spiral and then make the others one by one a bit smaller until you reach the middle. At first we tried to make one spiral and copy it, but that they go over the same lane and it doesn't work. I made one with 8 spirals like the example, Kaz made one with 5 spirals. That one also looks really awesome. The one form Kaz is made from a different material, and was a lot firmer. The difference between the dome and the spiral is that the dome stays up by itself but the spiral needs help to stay up.
I found out about the settings myself. Anoush helped me understand the machine the first time. Micky/ Andrei had also given a tutorial in the beginning.
In the sample book I explained how I saw my two contrasts, what kind of material I used, how I came to my experiments and how to do the experiments yourself.
For my sample book I wanted to use the paper that I made my experiments with. But for the cover I wanted something more solid. So I brought some cardbox form home and put that on the front page. I engraved the front so it looks more like a cover. I think it looks very awesome and I'm very happy with the end product.
We've gotten an workshop on how to bind a book from Bregitta Kramer. This was really interesting and fun to do. Here we were told about different practices. The cahier stitch we tried ourselfs. I wanted to do this for my sample book. But with an hardcover and protective cover so the samples stay good in place.
For the binding of my sample book I used stapels, and I made a hole at the top through which a string comes through as a bookmark. I choose this method because I used heavy paper and I had an heavy cover so I was afraid that the binding wouldn't hold. That's why I choose to staple my book first and then maybe I can still add the rope later which goes on top of the stapels, so you can't see them. I wanted to do this in the last week but because of corona I'm at home. The paper is pretty thick and I don't have awl at home and I'm scared of ruining the sample book. So I'm going to keep it this way.
I learned more about the laser cutter and the material, I feel comfortable now to use it. Also I learned more about folding paper. It is really fun to do and you can do a lot of interesting things with it. Next time I should do maybe a bit more research and do more different things. After I was finished with this assignment, I found more interesting things that I could do that maybe would be more awesome. Also next time, I would sooner ask for help from the Makerslab employees. They know a lot and they can access the database. Working together with other classmates is also really nice. You can learn a lot from eachother.
Document all the steps, tricks, tips, settings and outcomes as described on your documentation page. Please don't forget to document small experiments that did you perhaps did not include in your sample book (such as cutting/etching, folding/forming experiments).
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