Topic Two: Pattern and Ornament

Topic Two: Pattern and Ornament

Pink Diamond, Rose Quarts

I was not as particularly excited for this project as I was about my free project or even my museum visit. It was presented as if it would be a fun assignment but I truly felt bamboozled because I felt ill-prepared with limited materials in class. Though I suppose the point of these assignments is to challenge us and it was still more interesting than our historical propaganda filled reading assignment.

I was caught off guard by this assignment. We had the 3 papers in class we could choose from as a basis for our assignment. I originally chose the more complicated one because I found it more interesting of the 3 but as I went on in class sketching and modeling this piece and after hearing what the assignment actually was, I shifted gears to the winky happy face image.

I sketched out my ideas for that image too. I had to do a few resizes and physical trial and errors as I tried to make the image I had in my head work in practice.

I turned the hexagonal shape in a diamond as I pulled it up in my mind as a 3 dimensional figure. I then turned the arching smile of the image into a handle. I ended up turning the figure into a top/ pacifier shape. It wasn't the original image in my mind but as I made it more practical during the construction process I became satisfied with the form and found still found it to be interesting.

I sketched it, resized it, made it practical, cut it out, shaped it, held it together with hot glue and then went through the process again to create the kit and instructions for class.

There was an incident during this project where I had to have my Alexa echo dot call poison control.

I had realized that a kit should be in a box and I need to carry the kit in something regardless. My boss sometimes has boxes in the office and I ended up taking a postage box. I started painting it but it was taking too long and would need way too many layers in order to be opaque so I decided to go with spray paint. I had this orange-ish  spray paint I use but when I attempted to apply it, it was stuck. So, like a moron, I attempted to get it un-stuck. When my attempts failed, I looked directly into the spray can. At that precise moment I guess the pressure released and the can erupted, shooting up and exploding everywhere like a flipping geyser or something. I got spray paint in my eyes and my face was burning like hell. I rushed back inside my home, leaving all the doors open and feeling my way into the bathroom because I was temporarily blinded. I tried washing out my eyes in the sink but it was not really helping so I just clunkily stripped right there and tripped into my shower in cold water. Unfortunately, I was alone in my home so there was no one to help me, despite my immediate reaction of literally screaming out for my Mom. My entire face and my hands were completely orange, caked in paint. It just wouldn't come off. So, still dripping wet with the water running, I fumbled out of the shower and scavenged for rubbing alcohol. Obviously I couldn't but it in my eyes but it helped to get some of it off of my face which eased the burning. I got back into the shower and tried again. I got most of it off but my face was still burning so I shouted through my bathroom wall for my Alexa appliance to call the National Center for Poison Control in my phone and but it on speaker. I literally only knew to wash out my eyes because of 9th grade science safety procedures and I only knew poison control even existed because I remember my dad calling once after my sister swallowed some plaster mix from the kitchen or else I would have just called 911 because I was extremely concerned I was going to go blind. Thankfully after I called poison control and screamed at them in my panicked discomfort, they basically said I was doing everything right and should be fine. The guy on the phone said I needed to get back in the shower, rinse off for another 15 minutes straight, try to get off as much as I could, and then "rest" for 50 minutes. The guy said I should be fine after that and that the paint shouldn't be toxic but that if I still felt burning or had trouble seeing after that then I should go to the hospital for an exam. So I did that, getting water everywhere in the process because I did not close the freaking shower curtain in my panic, and then decided I was ok despite still feeling some lingering burning on my face. So, in my brilliance, I decided to go outside again with my blue spray paint can. That one was stuck too! So this time I said no way, put it down and went back inside to get my silver spray paint. This one worked but ran dry. At that point I decided I was not going to risk it anymore so at this point I am not satisfied with the way it looks but it is what it is. I then started cleaning up the water and materials and stuff and called my grandmother who is a PA. she told me I did good and to just keep using lots of water. She came by to visit me later on. I then had to call my main practitioner and my dermatologist who made my an immediate appointment for Monday. I will have doctor notes if verification is needed. My brothers came home while I was cleaning and made jokes. "I know you are white but there are better ways to get a spray tan", said 16 year old Dominic. "Yeah, I thought you hated Donald Trump", added the 15 year old Darian. Both think they are funnier than they actually are. I do have to hand it to them...It was kind of funny. But not appropriate and they were being smart asses. Anyways, I should be ok and not blind and I will show you some of what remains of the evidence. I did not think to take photos until after I started cleaning so any pictures are basically what I just couldn't get off.

Both images of my process as well as the instructions for my piece and images of some of the remnants of my spray paint fiasco are provided below. I will also provide the results of the instructional recreation done in class for my project as well as what mine looked like.

DOCUMENTED PROCESS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOXING/SPRAY PAINT MISHAP:

 

WRITTEN PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS:

1)Gather all your materials. The image above only displays some of them. Your kit should contain: piece A, piece B, piece C, a pair of scissors or a cutting utensil of your choice, some form of colored tape, a hot glue gun, and hot glue sticks. Open the box and make sure you have all your needed items.

 

2)Pieces A, B, and C should each be labeled. Put piece C to the side, you will not need it until later on. Pieces A and B should be very similar. Make sure both sheets are facing the correct way, you should be able to see all the labels clearly and the word “Top” should be at the top of the sheet. Start with sheet A. You will need to cut on the bolded lines.

 

 You should also see dotted lines. DO NOT CUT these lines. You will need to fold back any dotted lines you see.

 

3)Check your work.

If you have cut and folded appropriately then your piece A should look similar to the image above. If it does not, then go back to step 2 and make sure you can cut and folded all the appropriate lines.

If you believe you have done so, then move on the piece B and repeat step 2 with piece B in place of piece A.

 

 

4)Once you have finished cutting and folding piece A and B, your pieces should look something like this top image.

 

For illustrative purposes we will be using the darker, purple colored sheet as piece A and the lighter, pink colored sheet as piece B.

 

You are going to line up the bottom of pieces A and B. Make sure the labels are all facing down when you do this. Lift up a triangular piece to make sure you can still read the flaps. If you do not see any labels, then double check to ensure all the labels are face down. If you do see them then place the triangular piece back down flat and proceed.

 

Make sure the bottom fold of piece A is slightly overlapping piece B.

 

You will now use the tape provided or an adhesive of your choice to join the two pieces accordingly.

 

5)Once you have finished, flip it over to make sure your fastening in secure. It should look similar to the bottom image on your right. If it does, then flip it back over and move on to the next step.

 

Once you are sure that the center is now held securely in place, you may begin lifting all the triangular flaps upwards. Be sure that the paper is bending in accordance to all the folds you previously made. You do not want to tear the paper.

 

6)You may now begin to attach the flaps and triangular pieces together. Pick either piece A or piece B to begin with and choose triangle 1 to start with. You should see a flap labeled “Flap 1.2” and attach it to the rectangular section of triangle two. Tape it in place to hold it steady.    The process should look similar to the image on your left. If it does not or you cannot see the proper label, then ask someone around you for assistance.

 

Make sure that when you adhere the pieces together that the tab is out of sight, behind the other piece.

 

7)You may now attach the top of the triangular sections together. You should see a tab labeled “Flap 2” on the middle triangle. Attach the tab from triangle 2 to triangle 1.    Use the tape to keep the pieces in place. Make sure that the tab is out of view and behind the other pieces.

The process should look like the image on the left. If it does not, then review steps 6 and 7 or ask for assistance.

 

 

8)Look to the images above for guidance as you repeat steps 6 and 7 for all the flaps in both piece A and piece B in accordance with their proper labels. If you cannot follow along with the images throughout this process, then seek assistance from someone around you in order to avoid damaging your project.

Make sure that your pieces are securely fastened before moving on to the next step. Remember to keep your adhesives out of external sight during this process.

 

 

9)Go back and seek out piece C as presented at the top of the image.

Roll it inwards along the long edge like one might roll a newspaper.

Hold the paper in place and tape it shut so that it does not unfurl.

Then grab the roll of tape provided and wrap it around the now rolled piece C.

Once you are done it should look similar to the piece in the lower portion of the image.

 

10)If you have followed step 2 appropriately, then you should have cut out some small holes in the center of the square sections in the middle portion of flaps 2 in both piece A and piece B.

If those holes are not cut out, then you may attempt to cut them out now.

If you see the holes in the appropriate places, then insert 1 end of the now rolled piece C into each of the holes.

The figure should now appear similar in form to the images above and should be held loosely in place.

11)Up until this point you should have held all the pieces in place with tape or a similar adhesive and ignored the hot glue provided.   You will now seek out the hot glue gun and follow appropriate safety procedures. If you do not know how to use this tool, then do a quick search online or ask someone more experienced to help you use it. Be sure to load the glue stick into the glue gun, plug it into an outlet, and wait for it to heat up. Hold it appropriately by the handle and press the trigger to excrete the hot glue. THIS PRODUCT IS VERY HOT. DO NOT TOUCH THE METAL TIP WITH YOUR HANDS OR YOU WILL BURN YOURSELF.  In the event of a burn, seek immediate medical attention. You will now use the hot glue gun the adhere all the edges permanently. If you have not hidden the temporary holding tape you previously used from view, then remove the tape before applying the hot glue.    Apply the hot glue to every opening, crevice, crack, edge, or paper junction from all angles. Piece C should now be held securely in place. The final project should appear similar to the image on the left. Use the images above as examples for guidance during this process. Be sure to unplug the hot glue gun and wait for it to cool down. Then put all remaining materials appropriately back in the kit’s box.

You may now enjoy your finished project.

RESULTS

 

 

 

This was the final result of the in class activity. I think perhaps I should have pre-folded the paper as well. She seemed to have a difficult time assembling her project but I do not actually believe it to be from my lack of precision or clarification in my instructions. She also did not hot glue all the edges. Perhaps I should have better clarified or emphasized that one must remove all of the visible temporary holding tape. As Stephanie Lock often says, ''Hindsight is always 20/20".

For instructional purposes I used purple in my piece so you can tell the one on the right is mine and the left is the instructional reproduction.

 

This was the piece I did in class. The original is on the right and my instructional reproduction is on the left. Her instructions were not awful but some lack of knowledge in terminology and clarification led me to some confusion. For example, her instructions stated "Cylinder" but I now believe she meant to say "Cone". I was also only able to figure out step 3 because I read all of the instructions before I started and was able to use some context clues because her instructions stated to matte all her pieces but that could not possibly have worked out using the blue pieces at all. The glue provided was also not really strong enough to adhere the pieces properly or at least not quickly enough. That said, I believe she was attempting to use simplicity as a tool in order to prevent confusion and her measurements were spot on.