Or so I thought...
Different kinds of making
As I made objects from paper and wire, I realised there are differences in the way the materials responded to me and vice versa.
When I started making cubes using origami was following a recipe, which was fairly complex for such a simple object - it had many steps, about 30 or more. It was very
frustrating since I had to follow the steps exactly and not miss any one or change any one even slightly. This meant that my focus was entirely in following the steps. It was not on the material, it was not I’m how the cube was being made - all my attention was focused on understanding the next day. I still do not know exactly how the cube got made.
Later when I started putting the cubes together, It was more engaging and I had to work out for myself some logic of how they came together. Using the epoxy on the cubes froze them like insects in resin. The slow and messy process of applying the resin – I put on 3 coats over 3 days also made me look at cubes very closely. I dream of making a large sculpture with these cubes.
The next object is the stellated dodecahedron. This was fam iliar ground and there was enjoyment in constructing the nets. There was precision and focus required. The interaction was directly with the paper and tools – scale, pencil, cutter etc. Although I was following the recipe, it was not a step by step guide, there was plenty of room for improvisation.
The 3rd object – the wireframe was completely unplanned and I did not watch any videos on how to do it. I had only the rough idea of working with circles. This was very enjoyable as there was a lot of conversation with the material. The tools were minimal. There was a lot of improvisation, and some aha moments. It was fairly thrilling to see the relatively soft wire become rigid. There was precision of a different sort. The eyes were drawn into several aesthetic decisions apart from the functional ones. The mind worked at different levels. I used string as binder and two kinds of adhesives.
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