line... static... line

One of Marcia's students explores the possibility of lacing the structure with split film. Our objective is to create a surface we can project animated graphics on. The original wire sculpture was twice this size but material flex made it unwieldy at that size so we scaled it down. Though the lacing is interesting, the piece is becoming more of an object and less about a line traveling through space.


When I see yellow caution tapes, I find that I am not looking at what they are protecting or what they are wrapped around. It is the path of the line itself that is most interesting as it ricochets from one point of attachment to another.



So I started thinking that the problem with our piece was that there was no real conversation between the wire rod structure and the tape that was on it. The tape is thin and when you wrap it around the rod you can take it to any other point on the frame, and that's the problem. If the tape were much thicker, like the caution tape, it would wrap around the rod and come off at an angle that reflects the angle at which it had approached that piece of rod.


So that let me to realize that the frame we built is just a bit of static. The line approaches the piece, is scrambled back and forth like "cat's cradle" and eventually escapes the piece as a line again. The eye will see the line. The frame does its job in redirection but it basically invisible.
At last we are drawing lines in space. Marcia was out looking for appropriate tape material today. We will have to lace it in place at the exhibition, as an installation, but we will do some experiments tomorrow.



The line shown in these photos has been drawn in place but the real thing should give much the same effect. The plan in the entry below already shows a new version of the string figure sculpture with the tape wrapping around a column, scrambling through the wire rod frame and then racing off across the floor.