Computer Aided Machining
Can I rewire my brain to think in 3D?
I need to get more RAM in my brain. At the moment I really have to strain to think in 3D.
This week I will create a modular laser cut cardboard structure, that can be assembled to different forms.
My inspiration for a linking structure comes from the Italian artist Giuseppe Capogrossi. His paintings are made of symbols, once described as "spatial formulae" and in fact after further investigation it is also a symbol of the Berber Nomadic African people. (I also have adopted a version as an artistic signature).
First a great revision of vector program, Inkspace (open source and amazing tool). Machines need to work in vectors; vectors instruct the path of creation. I used the circle tool to create half and quarter moons and the rectangle tool for the slits. I then selected the objects and selected the path difference to cut out the the negative spaces.
First I wanted to visualize how my shapes may fit into one another so I used SketchUp.
I lasercut out four symbols, though the laser didn´t cut through the whole of the cardboard. I passed the laser to repeat the cut, took it out and realised two shapes still hadn´t been cut properly. Well the fab lab was closing so I quickly cut them out by hand using a knife and carried them away with me.
I always leave the fab lab super hungry. So I enter my local cafe, which luckily had a band of musicians making merry music. I get out my lasercut symbols and start playing around with them.
This testing session was crucial to the development of the lattice structure. I borrowed a knife from the bar and started manually cutting out joints which could unite the pieces. I also figured out the inner straight line was not necessary and I could remove it. During the evening many people asked, what I was doing. One musician -she´s a drummer- told me that the shapes reminded her of a ceremonial drum from the Mapuche Tribe in Chile called the Kultrun (a type of tambor).
Someone else commented that it reminded him of the Índalo, a prehistoric symbol found in the caves of "Los Letreros" in Almeria. It is used on the front of houses to ward off evil.
I redesigned the module structure again in Inkscape, taking out the centre straight piece. It took me a while to figure out how to do it in. Finally I found the right button!
Once I had this template I was set to go lasercutting again. I love this machine... it is so mesmerizing to watch...
Next stage was assembly... I had forgotten to insert the middle joint in the modular pieces. As it was the weekend and I couldn´t get into the lab again, I handcut the cardboard pieces. This gave me the opportunity to experiment with one, two or three jointed modular pieces.
I envision this project to be continued when I make something bigger on the lasercutter, for example, to make table legs out of wood.
My design files can be downloaded here
Vinyl Cutter
I also vinyl cut a little something. It is a small emblem, but since the resolution of the png image I inputed to Fab Modules was not high enough it came out a bit distorted. In the future I will use about 500 dpi.
