Shelandy Ting: Week4 IMeantIt - conceptual study (Darft on Week2)

I meant it

Statement

I'd like to push the envelope of the expression of sculpture, by the mean of small-sized 3d-printing, which allows me to precisely manipulate the shapes so that some of its messages (expressed in texts or shapes) are clear but the meaning in the semantic level somewhat contradict to each other under this context of installation art, similar to what René Magritte's La trahison des images (The Treason of Images). However, I want to push the structure of ambiguity from a 2D structure to a 2D/3D mixing structure, a little bit like what Robert Rauschenberg did in his Monogram.

I like to push the 2D texts into 3D shapes, so that using different perspectives to look at the sculpture will give audience different messages, "yes" and "no", in the shadow when using two spot lights to illuminate it from different angels. I like to have perspective art similar the the “Dirty White Trash (with Gulls)”

The work may be composed of two hands and several English alphabets. The 3D alphabet models will be constructed by Maya (improved later by Rhino, as Andrew suggested) The 3D hand model will be prototyped by Maya at beginning, then redo again by obtaining it from the laser scanning of my own hands.




For the final result, the material is not too critical, as long as they are opaque enough (no PLA) so that the projecting light won't penetrate though the sculpture . Metal, Clay or even ABS should be fine. But I doubt that the traditional construction mean can duplicate my 3D structure in PLA/ABS printing.

Problem encountered and progress made

This is The texts above has been written since the second week, but I can only publish it today because that I could not even get the basic model work. The progress has been stuck for couple weeks on getting the boolean difference working on either Rhino or Maya by using on complicated meshes constructed in Maya. I have zero background in Rhino, but at least two week experience in Maya since week one. I build the basic blocks using Maya's text. However, even importing my .obj file from Maya to Rhino would not work when trying to do mesh difference. Finally, a experienced Maya user helped me go back to Maya to use a different way to make the boolean difference work on some troublesome meshes, by 11:30pm yesterday. I have not had time to finish the patching of broken meshes yet, but rendering of light did prove the concept. (See the "N" and partial "Y" in the shadows)

The shapewave charge me $150.  I chose a different source to print it.

The final  printed result with proper lighting to show shadowed text "yes"

The final  printed result with proper lighting to show shadowed text "No"