3/29/17 3D Design

Today's Class- Tonight we began a new graded project, working with a new medium.  You are going to be carving a book.  A book is a solid three dimensional object that has the ability to be opened and closed, pages looked at in any order and yet can be returned to its original state instantly.  Most are made pretty much from tree based products, and so they can be carved.  Students were asked to bring in an old book that would not be needed for its original purpose any more, as it will be turned into a sculpture.

How to make this up- Two options were given for this project:

A) Single view sculpture- here the book is opened to a specific point and a three dimensional image is revealed.

B) Changing View sculpture- positive and negative spaces in the book change places, coming and going, so as a viewer turns pages, the sculpture continues to change.  Yet it can be returned to the original state at any time.  The following student example is geometric, but it can work with organic shapes as well.  Through the spaces we can see the shapes of the upcoming sections.

A few basic rules:

The book must be able to open and close as originally designed.

All pieces must remain part of the original structure, bound as created by the publisher.

You may not write or draw on the pages, but you may take advantage of words and images printed by the publisher.

You may use glue to repair torn pages, but not to build three dimensional shapes.


Homework- Carving a book is a lot more difficult than it seems that it should be, so we will continue working on this same project next week.  Due date will be determined next week.

The cast off manufactured materials project (plastics, etc) is due at the beginning of class on April 5, 2017.  Projects will be critiqued and graded that night.


For next class 4/5/17- We will continue work on the book carving project.  Bring with you the book you are working on, and whatever tools you are using.