first mill project

mobius stripped

digitalsand

afsART: BlackManGrove 2010

afsART: BlackManGrove 2010
Originally uploaded by afsart

At about the 60% phase on this sculpture. The epoxy work is done. I have to resolve the eyes and the mouth. Then it is on to the base. This evening I will work on the models for the pneumatophores so that they can be fdm printed. Oce printed they will be molded so that casts can be created from them. I intend to use foam to create the massing for the base.

AFSart: BlackManGrove | Resilience

AFSart: Resilience
Originally uploaded by afsart

This was a quick concept sketch that I developed for a sculptural idea almost three years ago. In the proposal i stated that "The “Black Man Grove” series adopts the mangrove tree as a symbol of the African Diaspora. Nature has provided the mangrove with many adaptations that has allowed them to thrive in challenging ecological environments. The form of the work incorporates the tap root system and pneumatophores of the mangrove tree with anthropomorphic abstractions of the human form that resemble and allude to African Nkonde and Nkisi invocation figures. The resulting objects combine to create a testament to the resilience of nature and the human spirit."

This sketch will serve as the starting point for my work this summer and my explorations of both two dimensional and three dimensional digital fabrication processes.

AFSart: Pepakura02

AFSart: BlackManGrove: Pepakura02
Originally uploaded by afsart

It's really nice when things come together. I had fun putting this piece together. I challenged myself to build it without looking at the computer model. It certainly went together better than the first model in tag board. This paper stock has a lot more structural integrity and I will be using it to construct more paper models this summer.

I am awaiting some brush-on epoxies from polygem that I will be using to further stiffen the model in order to make it more permanent. There is a clear epoxy that goes on very thin that will stiffen the paper and another product that can be used to build up a 1/8-1/4" shell. For this model I will be using the clear to coat this model.

Joe Siepel, a fellow sculptor stopped by to talk with me the other day and began to admire the piece. He told me that he loved the numbers on the piece that are used for registration. I told him that I liked them too and that I really love the way they become more dense in the areas of high detail in the model. He made me promise not to cover them up. This study is more about the digital fabrication process and will reflect the hand of the artist and the tools that were used to create it. The numbers stay.

AFSart: BlackManGrove Pneumatophores

Afsart: BlackManGrove | Pepakura01_Plaster
Originally uploaded by afsart

This work embodies the sculptural attitude that when you complete a digital fabrication process you are only at the 40% stage of the sculptural development.

When I created the original Pepakura Study I used manilla tag board. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of structural integrity in the material. When I stuffed the piece in my car the paper lost alot of its structure and began to buckle. At one point I thought about cutting the work apart to cannibalize the parts. (I've been known to do that) the piece sat in my garage for a couple weeks until the end of the quarter.

In one of those "what the heck moments" I took it to the studio and decided to see if I could cover the paper in plaster to see how it would hold up. To my surprise it worked very well. As the legs were completed the head began to regain some of its integrity. I decided to cover the head with rigid rap in order to maintain some of the details of the underlying form. Suffice it to say I am very happy with the results.

I am currently covering the plaster with sculpting epoxy bringing to life the black mangrove tree form. The shift in scale imbue the work with more power and sculptural presence. As I was working I realized that I will be able to bring to life an earlier computer model that I created around the idea of BlackManGrove Pneumatophores.

I will be posting the progress of this work and It will be one of the themes that I will be exploring during this summer.

afsart: mobius fdm

afsart: mobius fdm
Originally uploaded by afsart

This is a square version of an earlier mobius model. http://afsart.blogspot.com/2010/04/afsartmobius-fdm.html. I am currently working on a large scale pepakura model based on this design.

afsart: FDM Mask

afsart: FDM Mask
Originally uploaded by afsart

An update of an earlier posting on the rendering "Mask". This is the completed fdm model made using the new translucent abs plastic.

afsart: BlackManGrove Pepakura

afsart: BlackManGrove Pepakura
Originally uploaded by afsart

BlackManGrove Pepakura Study II. Modeled in 3d Studio Max. UnWrapped using Pepakura Designer paper unfolding software. www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/. Laser cut tagboard. Model is composed of 159 pieces that are glued together.. 4.5'x4'x3.5'app. The next step will be to coat the paper with a material that makes the sculpture permanent.

afsart: SCPT250 Spring 2010

afsart: SCPT250 Spring 2010
Originally uploaded by afsart

One of the abiding principles of SCPT250 is the 40% principle. This principle reflects the attitude that when you get your object back from the fabrication technician you are at the 40% stage of the sculptural development of your object. One of the ways that we encourage further sculptural exploration of objects created through the milling process is to create molds of the artwork. This accomplishes several things. First, It diminishes the preciousness of computer aided manufactured object. It encourages students to think of digital fabrication as an intermediate process in the exploration of sculpture and it presents the opportunity for further material and process explorations using the computer generated forms.

afsart: mask

afsart: mask
Originally uploaded by afsart

This model is an abstraction of a mask form. It is an extension of my continuing explorations of polygonal modeling techniques in maya. This geometry began as a cube primitive that was articulated using surface extrusions and polygonal bridges. FFD and Twist deformations were used to further transform the form that was then subdivided to add more detail.

The model will be FDM printed using a new translucent material. I am very excited about this and can't wait to see the finished print. The model was designed to fit within a 8"x6"x6" build envelope.

afsart:mobius FDM

afsart:mobius FDM
Originally uploaded by afsart

A question by one of my students led me to go home and work out this problem for creating mobius strips. Deconstructing the problems in its simplest terms yields a line rotated about a closed circular path 180 degrees from start to finish. Thankfully Maya has many powerful commands that can be used to accomplish this easily using polygonal modeling techniques..
http://digitalsculpture250.blogspot.com/2010/02/mobius-stripped.html

Andrew F. Scott | Mass >> Serial Volume

Andrew F. Scott | Mass >> Serial Volume
Originally uploaded by afsart

I created this form as a part of a video demonstrating the cut my ribs script by un didi. http://dimitrie.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/bridge-to-materiality.

Andrew F. Scott | Gavel on a Cold winter night

Gavel on a Cold Night
At my opening "Invocations of Power" at the KIACA gallery in columbus ohio. Ruth Newcomer of the Ohio Supreme Court reminded me that I should go down to the court and shoot some snow pictures of the Gavel. This had to be the coldest photo shoot I've ever done. Pardon me if the photos are a little blurry. I was freezing my @$% off. She also let me know that the work is very popular with everyone in the Supreme Court Building and that it is has also become the place to take that iconic Ohio Judicial Center Photo. Sometimes you get it right.

black mangrove panels

black mangrove panels
Originally uploaded by afsart

I have to thank my former studio mate david bamber for helping me install my multi-panel laser engravings in the Kiaca Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. I look forward to installing the rest of the show and the opening on Thursday Jan 7, from 6:00 - 9:00.