E X P E R I M E N T I N G  W I T H  M A T E R I A L S


Week One Summary:


Lecture One:


In our first lecture for DSDN141 we were introduced to the tutors and corse co-ordinator. We were then introduce to the course and our first project. We talked out how in this first project we wouldn't look at the object itself but the physical properties of the material such as a CD for example we wouldn't just look at it as a CD but as plastic and the attributes it has towards its physical design and strengths. We were shown examples to help up pick materials our self and to start broadening our minds to what the project and class is really about.


Commencing straight after the lecture was,


Tutorial One:


In our first tutorial we were instructed to go out on to the street and find materials that we could experiment and once we reported back to class we all went down to the first year work shop to literally mash out items to see the attributes to our materials physical features and aesthetics/function. The material which I found was mesh metal which is basic but it was all i could find. For my material I experimented by ripping the mesh apart and layering the mesh to create density. I wanted to heat it up but i never got the chance as the work shop was full but its my goal to do so before wednesday for our next tutorial.

 As we can see in this image I bunched the mesh together to create layers creating a spectrum of different densities across the materials. You can see how when it is only one layer you can see through the material but when it is bunched together it backs hard to see and we are almost unable to see through the material. I think the next step after this would be to smash the material until it is in a dust form and layer it together to see how the particles form together and whether its still in a mesh form.

In this image we can see were i ripped the single threads from the material to see what effect this would have on the material. As I removed each piece individually it slowly took the strength away from the material and eventually the stands of metal would just become brittle and snap off due to loosing its strength. When it is all together as a bunch the material is very strong but after experimenting I was able to show how the before the mesh is created the product used in isolation is very weak.


I feel that this material was a poor choice as it has not many properties to play with, for wednesdays tutorial we need to bring 6 variations to different materials and I feel for that  want to play with the materials glass, plastic and perspex and I feel I can do a lot more with those materials opposed to this mesh.