#surfaceobjectspace

[yamton]

To convey the concept of gracefulness I wanted to create flow and levity.

The silver shapes, made from the remaining pieces cut in half diagonally, were added last to reinforce an upwards movement. I wished to have this piece have a flow around the main structure and then upwards, lifting the piece and giving it an overall lightness. The choice to use grey poster board was because I equate gracefulness with a certain sophistication and i felt this colour could show that.

[yamton]

Referring to my 8.5x11 prototype I measured, calculated the proportions and cut out the final piece. The main structure is made with a simple curve and glued at a single point. The appendages coming out from the main structure were gradually curled into it’s shape. They hold up well by themselves. The most difficult part of this construction was inserting the clear mylar piece within the counterform at the top.

[yamton]

A final thought

It was unintentional but I noticed that my final structure looks like it belongs in some science fiction work. It could be because I was thinking about spacecrafts when I started making those fifty unique modules which led to choosing a blue-green spot colour. Perhaps, as I was making the structure, I was unconsciously still thinking of alien spacecrafts because as I was building it the only thing I was certain of was that I wanted the structure to look like it could move.

[yamton]

Here is the final structure.

I chose to only add colour to certain parts of each module to convey a sense of movement. “I want the top to go ‘whoosh’ or something”, was what I kept in mind while this was being built.

I chose to glue blue tissue paper to the insides of the modules for the spot colour. I wanted the paper structure to maintain some of its translucency. I thought it would make the structure glow if it was lit a certain way and I also wanted to communicate the fact that it is made of paper. A simple material like paper made into a complex modular structure.

A bonus feature I felt like I got by having the combination of this chosen unit and the use of tissue paper was the reflected colour. Because the void in the individual module is almost conical when the coloured paper was inserted into it, the side without the paper gained a slight blue tinge which gives the structure an almost otherworldly glow. The translucency of the tissue paper also helps light pass through better than a material that is entirely opaque.

[yamton]

Trying out different configurations.

I used paper clips to hold modules together while I tried connecting them in different ways and while the glue was drying.

[yamton]

One of Fifty

I got pretty quick at building, I think

[yamton]

This unit was chosen. Production begins. 

I made 10 in one day and finished the 40 that were left the next day .

[yamton]

Here’s the tiny text that wouldn’t be so tiny in the actual 18x24 inch real life print: “Fold fifty forms, each form from a single sheet of letter sized paper. Manipulate the paper by folding, rolling, crumpling or cutting. Do not exterminate parts of the paper; all cut pieces must stay attached. Document the fifty forms through photographs. Make sure the forms are clear, well lit, and identifiable. Arrange them into an informational graphic. Determine the probability of extraterrestrial engineering.” It’s a graph split into quadrants. The higher up, the more likely it’s an alien spacecraft. The lower, the less likely. Ones on the right have curvilinear surfaces, ones on the left only have planar surfaces.