Final Project#

Concept Over view#

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16JpH8O3h7w7nSDSqGLN8HOMIt1ZVhMPhuNdiOfaRmMo/edit?usp=sharing

CHAPTER 1 - AUXETIC STRUCTURES#

Concept#

This Chapter is inspired from lectures and self directed researches on the Circular Fashion week.

I came up with several ideas on how modulars could be interlocked and combined, also looking at existing examples online, I realised I want to improve the ideas further instead of coping the same methodologies from the reading materials.

The existing modular fashion designs are indeed out of the ordinary, and there are many positive aspects of them as stated within the reading materials also online.

Limitaitons on the method of manually tucking the laser cutted pieces together to form a larger piece:

1. Lacking of efficiency on dividing labours throughout assembling process
2. Final products generally don’t look appealing enough to costumers (surface not smooth/fine/light enough, limited choices of textures…etc.)
3. Limited options on garment shapes and details after assembling, for the public customers.
4. …

To achieve a texture that could poterntially be more adapteble to more body shapes and complex designs, I am combining auxetic structures into each of my modular pieces.

After interlocking the edes of different modular pieces or by itself, the modular pieces adapt to the body shapes and create a lace-like visual effect.

Design Development#

[Grasshopper algorithm for customised/ user controlled dimensions of the auxetic pieces]

I designed a bisica system of commands to adjust the size, dimensions and density of a new auxetic sample piece to be cut in laser cutting machine.

The lengths and directions of each line determinate the overall/ regional elastisity of the auxetix modular pieces.

Trying out different compositions of lines to be laser cut into auxetic modular pieces but it only works within a specific pattern

Final modular designs. (Interlocking by the edges)

Conceptual image of how an auxetic modular piece would deform depending on external forces.

Single piece worn on mannequin, one end attached to the other of itself. ( at the back)

A variaty of combination/ compositions of different patter designs.

Scans of samples with tests on their elasticity/ stretchability.

Details on interlocking modular designs. After removing extra square fabric that is been laser cutted, button holes has been created and the wider part of the edge itseld would stuck into the square hole securely.

Outcomes#

circular Auxetic loop show exellent stretchability

Drapping development on mannequin, to see the potentials of current pattern cut shapes.

CHAPTER 2 - BIO LACE#

Concept#

Since I have been following up (online published) bio plastics research and receipe designs, I realise more and more there needs to be a larger variety in the visual/ tactile aspects of existing bio plastics manufacturing. Gelatin and agar as basic components under transformation into more functional products would need to be visually appealling to be able to be proposed into desirable commercial products.

Deriving from the basic methodology of making bio plastic sheets, either with gelatin or agar agar, I would like to use the same receipes but achieving more complex surface structures.

Since this material research is about digital fabricaiton, to exhibit the characteristics of technology to an extreme or to show something that computor can effciently do comparing than the same manual process, an opposite element could be added into this project to show that comparison. The idea of bring culture of lace into the project shows how machine and technology can be used to minimise manual labour, time and other type of resourses, yet preserving this historial invention of lace and expanding its comtemparary definition.

Design Development#

I extracted detail images of French calais laces from the 18 century, showing the contrasts between sophisticated traditional craftmanship and contemperary methods in manfacturing.

Lace molds engraved on to acrylic/ glass with power 60 & speed 500

CHAPTER 3 - BACTERIAL PRINTING#

Concept#

I Have previously explored the possibilities of bacterial dyeing during the Bio fabrication week.

The concept of cultivting bacterials in order to leave patterns on fabrics fascinates me and I would like to apply the technology onto a more creative level, by controlling/ monitoring the growing pattern, colour cobination and colour density.

I started with designing a basic laser cutted acrylic template to be put in to the petri dish. To analyse the bacterial growth on a rather precise level I chose to go with simple square shaped hole grids, so then bacterials would only be able to grow within the exposed squared areas.

For the base fabric material, I chosed to use a roll of vintage silk fabric embossed with complex traditional japanese ornaments, where I bought from a Japanese artisian in Kyoto, Japan.

The reason of choosing such a unusual fabric is to create a combination of nature and man-made. I imagine the bacterias would be out growing into un-designated areas and possibly following the embossing patterns which in result colouring the original complex ornaments.

Design Development#

Laser cut Stencil with one character of my Chinese name - 嘉 was also tested after the square holegrid stencil, sadly I made a technical mistake on the order of layering Aagar medium with stencil, fabric and bacteria. It was my first time to try using agar to cultivate bacteria on fabric.

Colour palette generated from variations of bacteria growing infiltration into the textiles. Material samples: thin silks

CHAPTER 4 - CREATIVE APPLICATIONS OF BIO PLASTICS#

Concept#

[Gelatin 48g, glycerin 12g, water 240ml] is the base recipe I follow for create almost all my bio plastic samples, subtle adjustments are made for various qualities each time and my main focus is on the molding and embellishing the base materials.

Design Development#

Agar Bioplastics embedded with preserved plants.

Bio plastics tensile structures on elastic mesh

Bio plastic sculptures version 1

Rendered Drap on mannequin with bio plastic felt fabrics.

CHAPTER 5 - VIRTUAL EXHIBITION#

Concept#

Inspired from our Digital Bodies week, I learnt new methodologies to transform tangible objects in reality into an virtual experience digitally, or vice versa. To contintue pushing the ideas of transformations and apply it with a larger scale, I came up with constructing a virtual exhibition space with my abstract material sample pieces in shapes of sculptures, so that people who are geographically further away from me would be able to have a 3d spacial understanding of my material works.

360 Virtual Exhibition#

To interact it is better to use your phone to access the map below, raise your phone as if it your eyes and walk around:

Link for mobile phone device experience:

INSTRUCTIONS DIRECTORY#

[How to create a laser cut auxetic material]#

1. Open Rhino 3D grasshopper or other equivalent 3d modelling software.
2. Draw one basic cut path which is going to duplicate for hundreds or thousands of time determining the look of your design outcome.
3. Create the algorithm commands (previous picture) and link your initial singular cut path to define [Curve] command.
4. Link all commands together, adjust slider settings to your desired number range, for example ranging from 1 - 1000.
5. Slide to decide on the dimensions (x,y) of your whole sample piece.
6. Export to DXF format.
7. Import into laser cutter.
8. Place your fabric/ plastic board/ wood/ metal sheet on the laser cutting machine bed.
9. Adjust your design dimension to the size of your material.
10. Un-select your cut path design and copy a small section of the design and paste 3 times (next to each other) at the corner of your material, to test out various speed & power setting.
11. !For different materials to be laser cut, speed & power settings need to be reset to their most suitable range every time before cutting your actual design! (Different s&p settings apply to each materials)
12. Once selected the most suitable speed & power setting for your material, turn on the laser head and fume collecting machine.
13. ~Let machine does the job~
14. Once finished, wait for one more minute for all fume to be removed before opening the laser cut bed lid.
15. Open lid and carefully peel the cutted piece off the laser cut bed. (It is possible for the cutted pieced to be sticked on the bed as the polyester fibres melted due to high temperature, to prevent, a layer of paper (ideally wasted) can be placed underneath the material, or inbetween layers of your materials if you wish to double or triple the efficiency.)
16. Let the burnt polyester smell disappear by placing your final cutted sample in an airy space.

[How to do bacteria print with LB Broth]#

1. Enter the wetlab and close the door behind you to reduce external airflow interrupting the sterilized lab environment.
2. Wear a lab coat to prevent excessive bacteria climbing onto your clothes, tie up your hair and roll up sleeves as well.
3. Wash your hand with alcohol to kill the bacterias brought from outside.
4. Place prepared (stitched/ folded/ crumbled) piece of fabric in glass petri dishes. If only plastic petri dishes are available, place fabric in a heat resisting plastic bag in order to sterilize. (Plastic petri dishes don’t survive in high temperature)
5. Prepare LB broth: mix 2.7G of LB powder with every 100ml of water, shake well and store in a heat resisting glass bottle, with a heat sensitive tape on the top of the lid.
6. Place glass petri dishes, plastic bags of fabrics and bottles of LB broth in the pressure cooker, remember to loosen the lid of the LB broth bottle so then it would not explode under high pressure.
7. Turn the pressure cooker on, seal it well and wait.
8. When the red button on the lid pops up, reduce heat and wait for it to go down again.
9. Once the pressure cooker has completed the sterilisation, take the plastic bags, glass petri dishes and LB broth bottle out.
10. Squeeze alcohol all around the work table. Place a gas burner at the middle of the work area, light it up with a gas lighter, to create a circular sterilized working environment.
11. Take some empty plastic petri dishes on the table, for transferring the sterilised fabrics from plastic bags to these dishes.
12. Sterilise a pair of tweezers and take the sterilised fabrics out of the plastic bags, open the lid of an empty cleaned petri dish then quickly transfer in it. Close the lid.
13. Open the lid of LB broth close to the gas burner and sterilised the opening, again open the lid of the petri dish with fabrics and gently drip liquid onto the fabric until it is immersed.
14. Take out the petri dish with JL bacteria, out of the incubator.
15. Sterilize your inoculation loop tip for a couple of a second on the gas burner, quickly open the lid of the petri dish with bacteria and touch your loop tip on the parts away from the bacteria to cool down. After hearing a sizzling sound from the loop tip, raise it and scratch on the bits with bacteria, close the lid and open the lid of the glass petri dish with fabrics, touch on the surface of fabrics then close the lid again.
16. Seal your bacteria inoculated petric dishes with fabrics with parafilm, then place in the incubator for them to grow a kingdom out of it:) (make sure the double doors of the incubator is securely shut)
17. Seal and place your original bacteria petri dish back to the incubator as well for next time.
18. Wipe the table top with alcohol, turn off the gas burner and place all equipments back to the shelf, or throw away to a medical discard bin if they are for single use.
19. Wash your hands with alcohol, take off your lab coat and hand back onto the hanger, make sure the lab had gone back to its original state before you used it, exit the lab and close the door behind you.

[How to make a lace mold]#

1. Scan a flat detailed picture of your chosen lace fabric.
2. Upload to Photoshop and Illustrator to create a black & white vector image. (Erase all glitches and unwanted black dots, alter colour of engraving pattern into black through CURVE)
3. Export as either PNG or Bitmap or DXF.
4. Import to laser cutting machine software window.
5. Select setting from CUT to ENGRAVE.
6. Place (preferably a piece of waste scrap) acrylic board on laser cutting bed.
7. Adjust laser head to ideal height.
8. Test cut(engrave) a small section to see whether the width of a singular lace path would be ideal to cast bio plastics.
9. Do three tests of small sections with different speed and power setting.(p80 s500 / p60 s 500 /p80 s400 )
10. Once decide which setting has the best depth and accuracy (due to difference in speed), turn up laser head and fume collector machine.
11. ~Let machine does the job~
12. Once finished, wait for one more minute for all fume to be removed before opening the laser cut bed lid.
13. Open lid and carefully spray water on engraved surface so then acrylic dusts created would not be inhaled into user’s lung hence lower the risks of lung cancer.
14. If possible wear a dust mask to prevent further inhaling.
15. After the engraved acrylic board gets wet, all the dusts soaked wet and secured within the liquid, wash the mold thoroughly in the sink.
16. Dry mold and use gaffa tape to tape around the edges to build up a fence preventing bio plastics leaking out of the mold.
17. Cast bio plastic liquid into the mold and peel off after drying.

PERSONAL WORK DIARY#

Feburary Work Plan:#

1. Paper kamiko: Combine bio plastic with paper making (washi) teniques
2. Shift woven paper fabrics
3. Design with Mizuhiki (starch & paper flexible coil)
4. Research for importance of including cellulose in paper/ bioplastics making
5. Bamboo as structural support?
6. Alternative cutting methods to laser cutting, due to heat restriction on bio plastics
7. Arrange/ 2d weave with plant fibres, (build a grid scaffold) zig zag into creative patterns, then cure bioplastic on top. -Floating weaving
8. Pleating wet bio plastics with stiff metal mesh, allow air flow to go through for drying process, at the same time top and bottom sandwich layers of pleated structures.
9. Printed line supports on stretchy fabrics, curved and tensioned while released, Straightened and flat while stressed.( pull)

March Work plan#

1. Solve the friction problem for engraving bio plastic lace molds. (Cut whole molds into layers and fragments and break apart when the bio plastic is hardened)
2. Apply tensile stressed bio plastic paths on larger scale strechy fabrics and auxetic materials.
3. More variations on embedding handmade paper, tissue and plant stems in bio plastics.
4. Document measurements of stretched and unstretched / shrinked and unshrinked samples.
5. Draw curve graphs for elastisity and shrinkability.
6. Cut auxetic patterns on acrylic boards (for much greater flexibility), then engrave lace pattern on top, bending the acrylic mold after casting bio plastic.