Boxes
RELEVANT SKETCHBOOK PAGES
SIMPLE "BOXES"
Our first assignment, to create a perfect 6" by 6" box, was deceptively straightforward. The novelty of the new material and of having to work with new tools made the minute tolerances permitted by our teachers seem unfathomably out of reach.
Having completed that, though, we were challenged to reimagine the box itself. To what extent could a structure still be identified as such, at what point did manipulation make it
unrecognisable? Above, I used negative space to give my structure porosity while maintaining a basic frame that would give the impression of being closed.
Right, the second box, which taught me two important lessons. First, chipboard is not suited to creating long, wirelike frames. Second, once an abstract box extends beyond the boundaries of its cube, if the latter is not better defined by volumes, it is quite unrecognisable as a cube.
FRAGMENT (v.)
One of several verbs given to us as inspiration for our next project. Others included shear, weave, push, etc. My vision for a fragmenting box was based off shattering ice, which in turn suggested water. Thus, I began working on ways to recreate the silhouette of a breaking wave,
relying on the natural dispersion of material at the top to create an illusion of progressive destruction, or fragmentation. One of the greatest challenges I faced at this early stage, which would recur throughout the course, was recalibrating my mind to work in terms of volume. As evidenced by my first maquettes, above, my early construction heavily based on the aggregation of material around a basic structure of planes.
An alternative, right, which was somewhat clearer to read, was to limit myself to planes alone. This produced the wave shape I had been hoping for, though there was little progression of visual weight, with the structure having an approximately equal density throughout. Additionally, the box shape had again been lost.
It was not until I began experimenting with sticks that I was able to create the variation in form I strove towards. Still thinking of the wave, I was
Above, a further experimental box which I particularly liked. While still lacking visual direction, it was much easier to read than earlier iterations.
interested in creating a three-dimensional ruled curve. That is, a curve composed of straight lines that was arranged in several layers, each building on the previous to create the illusion of a bend. This I effectively filled in with chipboard, concentrating volumes and large forms at the base while I used planes and smaller shapes for the more fragmented upper sections. Additional embellishments included wireframe structures out of wood which directly complemented the volumes below.
Left, the final "fragmented" box. To accommodate for the brief, I later shortened some of the extraneous wooden lines.
ELEVATIONS
