A New Direction- Paper...

After working on the acetate boxes for weeks, I decided that I wanted to change the direction in which my project was going. To do this, I began by looking back over my learning agreement and starting from there. I decided that I wanted to start using paper again as this is where my project began and where it side tracked off into acetate. Paper is a natural resource and would therefore be beneficial to my theme of ‘nature vs. manmade’. Some amazing pieces have been created from paper and after doing some experimenting with it, paper reacts brilliantly with light, better than acetate does. Paper blocks the light whereas acetate allows light to pass through it, because of this using paper would be more useful for me when working with light and reflections. Artists who have used the similiar aspects of; light, paper cutting and reflections have made some incredible designs.  

Julia Lohmann used laser cut dry pieces of seaweed to create this amazing lampshade. She used Kelp strips and then sewn them together. If the kelp was not in the shape she wanted, Lohmann would re-shape them whilst they were wet to create new and unique forms structures. The structures would then be placed around a rattan; Lohmann believes the rattan to be how the skeleton is to our bodies, the inner structure that holds the form.  Lohmann believes that seaweed could be used as a form of leather and other materials.

Sean Davies designed this lampshade as part of SketchUp; it was then modified for construction in Rhino. Created from six large sheets of strong paper, the pattern was cut out by laser cut and fixed together using fabric fasteners. Tilted ‘Lamp X’, I find this piece effortlessly beautiful, the reflections portrayed in the images are exactly what I am aiming towards creating, they are visually clear and the amazing reflections created add decoration to a room. The decoration aspect is important for me, as I do want my work produced to be visually pleasing.

 

Working with paper is going to be amazing. By just how my sketchbook is presented, I think it is clear that I am precise about particular things and working with paper is going to be one of these times. I like to present and portray precise structures that I have found through research and primary photographs. Sticking with the simple cube net shape, I began by cutting out my simple form of a shell. When working with paper cutting, I like to work small scale because I think it makes apiece look better because it has a lot of linear detail, especially when working from one structure, if I was to work with multiple structures, working larger would be necessary. From my photo’s it is clear to see that paper reflects shadows so much better than acetate.

Now, my experiments are rough samples, to give this sample a professional look and to experiment with scale, I would try-out with using laser cutting as it would save time and give the paper a better finish and professional finish like the examples below.