Moldmaking!

I noticed that everone else's pages introduced their activity to a broader audience, so I will try from here on out to make this sound less like a journal entry...maybe...

I took the tack of making something (things) totally useless, copies of a rock. I was interested in the rock because it is of a slightly irregular form that is very indicative of the process through which it was formed: rolling around on the beach. It can't be created with a machine. It has too many subtle curvatures to be generated through a CAD program, and it is beautiful, I think, because of this contrariness.

I made another project to better fulfill the assignment in juxtaposition to this one. An object that would be very hard to make without the aid of computer, but very easy with the aid of Rhino and a shobBot. I hope the project over all then is a reflection on the way that the use of these machines and computers affects what we decide to make.

Lots of pictures:

I found that MDF is certainly a much lower resolution material than the professional moldmaking materials. You can see the surface is quite rough, and there was also a strange texture left by the vaselint that I used as a mold release.

I forgot to make good registration marks, so I got a bit of flashing as well. I am much happier with the rock project in contrast:

I made half of the mold in plastic and half in rubber to get a feel for the different materials. This was also necessary because I needed to have a slight undercut on the larger half of the rock.

I love the color and translucency of this material.

The original stone, Smooth-On PMC 121-30, and plaster of paris.

Tada!