Origami Installation

We made these cranes the same way you would make a normal origami crane, just on a much bigger scale. Then we took a needle and some string and poked holes in the head, back, and tail of the crane. Using these holes we made loops with the string. These string loops served to keep the cranes on the invisible string we would use later to hang them. We set the cranes up in the V formation, and then wove the clear string through the loops we created with the colored string earlier. Lastly we lifted the cranes with the clear string and hung them up from poles on the ceiling. From this lesson we learned how hard it is to use clear string and how tangled it gets. We also learned teamwork skills for organizing the cranes and weaving the clear string through the cranes. My group especially had to work on problem solving to untangle our mess of cranes. Even though they didn't end up getting untangled we still worked for a long time on untangling them. The process included making the cranes, coming up with an idea for what to do with them, adding the string loops, organizing them into V formations, weaving the clear string through the loops, and hanging up the cranes from the ceiling. The product is 2 flocks of origami cranes hanging in the front lobby of Apex High School.

Tray and Cup

I liked the process of making my tray and cup. The tray was really fun to make because it made me think of Christmas with the snowflakes (but that also makes me sad that we still have more school before Christmas). The ribbon cup was really cool to make too, and I really like how they look. I used red underglaze on my tray to make it look kind of like a candy cane to stick with the Christmas theme. I didn't use any for the cup because it cracked, and I didn't know how I would use underglaze on it. So far my tray has turned out successful, and hopefully it will look good after the glaze is fired. The cup has some cracks in it, but other than that it turned out pretty good. For the future I would make sure that I stamp in all of the snowflakes plenty because some of the indents weren't deep enough for the underglaze to stay in. Also I would use more water to smooth out my ribbon cup to make sure it doesn't crack when it gets fired.

Figurative Work

The two main challenges of this project were making a box with sides that fit together nicely, and finding quotes that would fit into all of the tight spaces towards the end. After sanding and filling in any holes between the pieces of wood I managed to make the box look fairly put together, and the quotes covered up anything that didn't look totally perfect. For the quotes I ended up using more titles and small quotes on the back, and trimming off as much extra paper as I could to try to make everything fit. It took a very long time, but I finished eventually. I think that the different colors and fonts of the paper made the box look very neat, and that was definitely a success. The lid of the box was also a huge success. The gold pages on the book look very nice, and I like that the lid is a book. I think that the lid adds a very cool finishing touch to my box.

"Between the Folds" Documetary

I thought that this video showed a very unique perspective on origami, certainly one I've never thought of before. It made me realize that origami is so much more than just the little things that you learn how to make as a little kid. Here are some of the things that I learned:

     Origami is a metamorphic art form. I didn't know exactly what it meant for something to be a metamorphic art form, so I tried to relate it to something metamorphic that I do know about: rocks (because I decided to take APES and Nagel has a lot of rocks). A metamorphic rock is a rock that has undergone transformation by heat, pressure, or other natural agencies. I can see how this relates to origami because the paper undergoes a transformation through applying pressure to the paper to make it fold in certain ways. That is how I interpreted metamorphic art, and I think that metamorphic art sounds really unique.

     Le Crimp is a style of origami that was mentioned in this documentary that I found to be very interesting and unique. From what I saw in the documentary, and in looking up pictures online, Le Crimp appears to involve the paper having a lot more crumples, or crimps, in it that give the piece a more realistic look. Also sometimes the artist can blow into their Le Crimp piece to make it expand or suck air out to make it shrink, and I thought it was really cool how the artists could interact with their pieces even after they were done. Le Crimp is something I think looks really awesome, but I doubt I would ever have the time or patience to do it.

     Origami math is a real life application of origami that I never thought of before. Origami can be used to help explain math both on a basic and complex level. I thought this could be really helpful for some people who are better at learning visually. Math is a subject that visual learners could struggle in because it is hard to make math visual. So much of it is writing equations, and it is hard to make it stick for the visual learners. Using origami, students have a way to make math visual. This will hopefully help more people begin to understand math. 

Figurative Sculpture Artist: Michael Alfano

Michael Alfano works in Boston, but has events in many different states across the country. His sculptures are made from bronze, hydrostone, resin, or cold cast copper and bonded bronze.  I like the way that his pieces portray humans. The two pieces I have picture above are called Labyrinth and Unwound, and I like how they literally interpret people as both of those things, but they also allow you to think about how people are like that figureatively. His work is literal to the name of the piece, yet it still requires imagination. His pieces aren't tiny either. Some may be smaller than others, but they are bigger than the pictures make them appear to be. A few of his pieces are actually small though. Alfano's website can by found by clicking his name: Michael Alfano

Vessel Project: Cinderella Shoe

Some challenges that I overcame while making my Cinderella Shoe were making the shape of the shoe realistic and smooth. The shoe had to start off as multiple pieces, and when I first started putting them together they didn't look at all like a nice shoe. Also making the bow was difficult because originally I was going to make it out of Plexiglas. The Plexiglas did not want to break in the right shape though, so I changed the material that the bow was made out of. The heel was a successful part of the shoe, and it ended up turning out much better than I expected. Also the bow was successful once I decided to not use the Plexiglas. I really like the shattered pieces of glass on top of it, and the glaze on the shoe adds a nice touch to make it look fancier. In the future I would try to find something clear to make the bow out of. I do like how it turned out, but i think it could have been really neat if the base was clear instead of white. This piece is a vessel because a shoe holds a foot, and in the case of Cinderella's shoe it holds a story. This piece isn't exactly functional because I don't think a clay shoe would be very comfortable, and I don't know who's foot would fit into this shoe anyways because it is fairly small. 

Molds

I didn't take a picture of my mold when we did it because it was unsuccessful, and I didn't realize I would need a picture of it. I attempted to recreate the banana bowl, but when peeling the clay off of the bowl it all fell apart. If I had taken a picture it just would've been a picture of a big pile of pieces of clay, which is not very exciting. I think that the mold process is something that could end up being really cool for a piece, and it is something that I would be willing to try again in the future, but it definitely didn't work out for this project. I should've put something in between the bowl and the clay, but I didn't remember that step until I had already put the clay on the bowl. While the clay was on the bowl it looked like it was going to turn out really well, but the moment I started trying to take it off of the bowl it began falling apart. The mold process seemed to work well for other people, so it is definitely something that I would be willing to try again.