~Our Lego City~
Design Process
In term 1, project X in visual art, our task was to make a brutalist Lego statue out of cement. For this, there where many steps we had to do and challenges we had to overcome before we where able to make this piece of art.
The first stage that we had to do in this process was design the shape of our Lego statue by using actual Lego. We had to do this stage several times because our model couldn’t be to big or have to many over hangs, so when made our statue they wouldn’t break or snap off. After designing our shape we had to made the walls for our mould. We had to measure them very precisely so that the width of the walls was only one centimetre away from the Lego. This was so that when we came to the stage of pulling the cement out of our mould, it wouldn’t be a struggle and we would be able to take it out. After making the walls for our moulds, we hot glued them and tapped them so the liquid (pinkysil) we used to make the mould wouldn’t spill. After that we poured water into it to measure how much of the pinkysil we needed for it. Pouring and stirring the pinkysil over the Lego had to be a fast process because you had to do it before it sets. After pouring the pinkysil we had to wait awhile for it to harden. The next step was to take the pinkysil out of the walls we made and take the Lego out of it. After that we where ready to pour our cement into it, which was very satisfying. Then we had our finished brutalist Lego sculpture.
Organisation
For this project I think that my organisation has been very good. I was always on top of every stage in class, on time and wasn’t behind on anything. I think that I had worked very proactively because I had finished making my mould early and I was able to make five sculptures. I think I was organised because I had helped a lot of people with their moulds while also having fun.
Inquisitive
Making and deciding on my design was quite a hard process. This was because we our sculpture couldn’t have parts that are way taller than others, be to complex or have many overhangs. Because of this I had to alter my design several times until it would fit that criteria. I also found it quite hard on deciding on what design I liked, since I had made several of them. It was challenging because our design had to be stable and not very big.
Problem Solving
In the process of making our sculptures I had to overcome many problems. Such as many leaks appearing when we needed to measure how much pinkysil we needed, this was a problem I had to solve if I wanted to successfully make my mould. I overcame the problem by constantly reapplying hot glue to my Mould when I saw a leak. Another problem I had was that when I took my sculpture out of my mould, some of the small overhangs at the bottom snapped off. Next time when I took the mould out I was more careful which resulted in the overhangs not breaking, which was a big success. Lastly, I had to change the size of my walls for the mould many times so that it would be the right height and length. What I had to do was add two extra cm on the top height. In this project there was many problems that I had to solve, but after logical and critical thinking I was able to solve them.
Creativity
I think that my overall sculpture turned out really good. It wasn’t to big, not to complex, very few parts snapped of on it and it was unique and different. From this experience I have learnt many things. Such as how to make moulds, making the right consistency of cement and water and that pinkysil is very satisfying when you pour it.
Overall I have really enjoyed this experience of discovering on how to make moulds and making sculptures.
