Papercraft Research

Papercraft is an inexpensive yet detailed form of 3D art. This widely varying craft can easily function as a cheaper method to translate ideas as well as a pristine final project.

In the case of the Installation of the duo Zim and Zou (Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmermann), their sculptures are fantastically colorful and intricately detailed. The medium allows for flat adornments of color and texture, as well as sculpted 3D elements. The style of their work is particularly geometric and bustling with life, their paper cities populated with tiny characters and detail at their scale.

Organic textures and shapes are created on 2D surfaces and the 3D structure of the sculpture. In the piece above, the round tiles of the roof create a texture unlike the flat application of different colored stripes of wood below. Also, the roof tiles converge in a cluttered yet organized manner. Every aspect of these sculptures is finely planned, even while they look organic.

Symmetry balances with fun shapes and colors to make a seamless yet magical scene. In the above installation for Hermès in Dubai, each element has some form of radial symmetry that makes it both organic and balanced. The intentional craftsmanship of these objects does not create a mechanical feeling, because they are also packed with vibrant colors.

The duo’s preference for paper as a medium comes from its vulnerability, variation, and versatility. They explain that “the flat paper sheets turned into volume are giving an installation the poetry of ephemeral material”.

They sell a class explaining their process on Patreon, detailing the intricacies of their craft. For free though, I can only explore what I can see in their designs. Each structure is decorated with layered designs created with small pieces of paper. The windows in their buildings are cut from the sheets that they decorate and further borders or other 2D details.

The reason I selected these artists to review is that Zim and Zou’s highly detailed, perfectly structured works are excellent demonstrations of craftsmanship and design. The color combinations and variety of textures and shapes created through just paper inspire me to delve deep into detail and pattern. Most of the ideas I want to bring to life are inspired by animals and creatures, and in those cases, I still want to achieve the same attention to detail and geometric structure and symmetry.

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Papercraft Object Process 2

First I scaled up my apple in Rhino to what I felt was an appropriate size. I’ve decided now that I want to try something larger, but the size I set it to for this prototype was about two inches in diameter. I bought colored card stock and separated each unwrapped layer in order to print. Then I discovered that my printer would not print on card stock and a trip to Staples was just as unsuccessful. So, I didn’t know how to proceed. I decided to just make an accurately scaled prototype of this type, having to try again in color on the next one. I’m still unsure how to approach the differently colored sections. I tried to trace the patterns from plain card stock onto the different colors, but my tracing paper didn’t leave much of a mark and was imprecise. I have to experiment with cutting out individual sections of the apple to attach to the rolled and taped version or finding some way to print on colored card stock. So far I’m mostly satisfied with this prototype...

Loft and Sweeping Rail

I loved the exploration of this exercise. I struggled to pick just ten I like so I included 15 of my experiments for this project, even though not all 15 "can hold water". What I struggled with the most was definitely sweeping rail. While I got the hand of the Loft function fairly quickly, sweep1 and sweep2 were a struggle for me. My most successful attempt can be seen below, but I am going to continue experimenting with these functions until I am comfortable with them!

Thingiverse Mashups

Remix culture can encourage innovation through deriving ideas from one another. By borrowing ideas or materials from previous work, great depth can be added to a piece of art or design. The additional context of the previous work can make an art piece more effective. In this exercise, I experiment with the use of contrasting ideas to create juxtaposition in my "mashups." For my first mashup, I chose this hand and computer. My reason behind combining these two objects was their contrast in organic and inorganic shapes and textures, and the conceptual difference between natural and artificial. Put together, these objects bring to mind horror media or something unnerving as a hand emerges from the screen. Thing files for iPhone hand by John-010 - Thingiverse Thing files for FWW RobCo computer by SebTheis - Thingiverse I chose these objects (a cat head and an entire dog body) to combine into something slightly creepy. On their own, these models are a little cute, but being com...

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