09. TEXTILE SCAFFOLD¶
Inspiration¶
These creatures trapped in crystals inspired me for this week's assignment. Tyler Thrasher’s crystallized beetles and bugs.
Guided by the inspiring works of these Fabricademy students: Catherine Euale and Enrico Bassi.
And this realy inspiring and challenging Anastasias lecture.
Chrystals¶
The main focus this week turned to growing crystals. The photos were taken with a Teslong MS100 USB Microscope camera that we once received as a gift from physicists. The photo below is of crystallized copper sulfate moss that I've had since the fall. Moss has an interesting property of becoming alive even after a long period of drying when it is re-wetted.
Solution preparation¶
Two mistakes were made when preparing the solution for the first time: tap water was used and the top of the crystallization vessel was not covered with foil. However, crystals formed, which I later used in one of the variations.
Copper sulfate (CuSO4) makes vivid blue diamond-shaped crystals.
Copper sulphate is a powerful oxidizing agent and depending upon the dose ingested, it can lead to widespread cellular damage. The ingestion of poison can be lethal in severe cases. Protect your skin and eyes, it is toxic!
COPPER SULFATE SOLUTION RECIPE
tools
- cooking stove
- cooking pot
- stirring spoon
- weight
- measuring containers
- mesh strainer
- glass containers or jars
- rubber gloves
- face mask
- thermometer
- stainless steel or plastic funnel
- coffee filters
materials
- distilled water 300 ml
- copper sulfate (CuSO4) powder 500 g
PROCESS:
- Weigh the copper sulfate powder and distilled water.
- Boil water to a temperature of 80°C and pour it into the container where you will prepare the solution.
- Slowly pour the copper sulfate powder into the hot water and mix carefully. When you see that the powder has dissolved in the water, continue this process.
- If the powder no longer dissolves, it means the solution is already saturated and ready for the next step.
- Place a stainless steel or plastic funnel in the container where you will grow the crystal, insert a coffee filter and slowly pour the solution. You may need more than one coffee filter.
LED¶
This experiment failed and the LED never lit up. Then I googled…
But the process itself was fun.
I sewed the LED on the tulle with conductive thread from Kitronik Electro-Fashion Discovery Pack and coated it with clear nail polish on both sides. After realizing why the LED didn't work, I thought that I would make a diving suit for him next time.
tools
- needle
- scissors
- Lasercutter
- glass container or jar
materials
- LED
- tulle
- conductive thread
- aluminum foil
- clear nail polish
- copper sulfate solution
PROCESS:
- The tulle with the LED is attached to the cover with a hole and immersed in a pre-prepared copper sulfate solution.
- The top of the container is covered with aluminum foil.
- The vessel must stand in a dark, quiet place. Movements will interfere with crystal growth.
- Wait 12-24 hours.
It was also fun to observe the crystals clinging to the fence through the microscope.
Moss¶
The fun part was watching the crystallized moss through the microscope. The moss has recovered from the humidity. The process is the same as described earlier. These mosses were kept in the same copper sulfate solution for the same time. The moss was "stitched" with the needle and cotton thread and attached to the lid lasercutted from 3mm MDF. After this, they were suspended in a glass container with the solution and left in a dark, quiet place for 24 hours.
Wood+Textile Composite¶
In this task I tried to use another technique. At the end it didn't worked because wood while covered with glue started to bend. Pressing did not help even after leaving it for one week.
tools
- Inkscape
- laser cutter
- 4 clapms
- 2 heavy plastic sheets
- paint brush
materials
- Veneer wood
- wooden glue
- light fabric
Did an exercise in Grasshopper following this Spiral Pattern tutorial by DCO Parametric
Fabrication files¶
-
triangles PDF file: triangles.pdf ↩
-
squares PDF file: squares.pdf ↩