25 Models; 27-July-17
Media: Transparency, tracing paper, wire, wire mesh, thin tissue, clay
This week we were to make 25 models, within a 3 hour time period, some thoughtlessly beautiful pieces, and some utterly garbage. It seemed endlessly tiresome, but by the end we had 25 models to carefully photograph, proving whether the 3 hour session had paid off or not.
Using transparency, tracing paper, wire, wire mesh, thin tissue, and clay I produced the following:
Upon rumination of the exercise, I realised that, while tracing paper reflects colour very well, transparency and wire offer a more subtle reflection of colour that I hadn’t picked up on until I started to edit the photos. Wire without colour bounces back light, but with colours in close vicinity, it manifests into a different substance. While clay doesnt reflect colour, it creates harder shadows than most of the other materials. Although colour is a big part of the brief, material also carries a fair amount of weight.
As mentioned beforehand, some models did turn out quite badly, while others did not. My personal favourites were A, B, G, F, N, and Q and discovered a deep hatred for D, H, J, K and O. The group I did actually like seem to have the common trait of being concepts I didn’t think much about, but had put more effort into; some even being the product of a failed attempt. They also all utilise transparency and tracing paper, both of which I had liked when combined with light, and therefore became a large proportion of the models. The models I hadn’t liked were commonly overthought or were a product of misused material, e.g. poorly bent wire.
In model M, when looked at carefully, it can be seen that the colour on the transparency is actually made up of many tiny dots. Colour, light, and models, are all made up of tiny things that we don’t often realise from the final result, but this sort of exercise is important in showing us that there is a precise process to everything.
Overall I was quite pleased with the pastel aesthetic my models retained. In the photos they gave a very soft glow, although I had thought they would have had more of an effect in tinting the shadows and other materials. The transparency did produce a beautiful reflection, especially in model N, where light bounced off the surfaces in immensity, whereas tracing paper couldn’t create any hard tones.
This exercise was tiring.
