Lamina Production Show and Metals Exhibition

Headed out to Tyler School of Art tonight to purchase some jewelry from the Lamina Production Show held by the Metals department of the school.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they extended their hours this evening so that their show coincided with the MFA Thesis Show.

I have done this show in the past back in my Tyler days, but I must say this group was very well put together and prepared to professionally display their work.  One of the most difficult things about jewelry is the display.  At craft shows I often see veteran artists make the mistake of cluttered or unflattering displays that take away from their work, but here, these students used see through acrylic.  It was crisp, clean, easy to see, and I was not distracted by the display at all. It actually fell out of notice when I engaged with the jewelry.

Another aspect of the exhibition I liked was the professionalism.  The artists were standing ready to show their work, answer questions, and assist in trying on the jewelry.  The even had alcoholic wipes to disinfect the earrings after their were worn, something you see in retail jewelry stores.  They were able to establish and ground their pop up show by using cleverly placed decal stickers.  It gave a more polished presentation and legitimized the temporary show as an exhibition.

The work on display was definitely on par with things I would see at a craft show.  Each piece was excellently executed and functioned flawlessly. There was also a wide range of work from powder coated copper, classic silver, and well rendered CAD pieces.  Being in a classroom, it's often you see that students influence each other, and you tend to see repeated techniques or similar designs. I did not see that here. Just well thought out, diverse designs.

My only criticism of the pop up show would be the lack of display and attention to the statement pieces.  Most were just laid out on the table next to the displayed production jewelry.  It gave the insinuation that those pieces were put there as an afterthought.  The pieces themselves were gorgeous and very well done, I just wish that the same attention that went into making them was evident in their display.

I have a slew of photos of the event to be enjoyed.  If in the Philadelphia area please make an effort to go support these up and coming artists during tomorrow's business hours! I believe they are there Saturday the 26th 9am to 5pm

                   
                These silver ruffle like earrings were one of the pieces I purchased, very light

   This statement necklace I absolutely loved, the focal point was made up of silicon extensions that
                                                                flexed to the touch

                                                     
                              Fabric material and pearls giving nice motion to the pieces

                         This was my second purchase, dyed nylon, CAD modeled earrings

                                I see a future in toy design here, more dyed CAD pieces

                                             Fun colored powder coated pieces

Nice contrast utilizing CAD

Lamina Production Show at Tyler School of Art April 24th-27th

                                  Hello All! Just a quick plug to my Alma Mater!

Tyler School of Art is hosting it's annual production show, Lamina, in it's atrium April 24th through the 27th
9am to 5pm.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend checking out this show held by the metals department. Perhaps even feel inclined to purchase some of the jewelry on sale.  I know I already have my eye on a resin ring that will be on display.

This is a great way to see fresh work in a field of tired recycled designs, and a chance to see up and coming artists in the area.

I will update on the exhibition with photos and a review when I attend this Saturday, so for now here is a link to their Facebook page for a sneak preview.

Lamina Facebook link:  Lamina

The New York Times Recognizes Five Up and Coming Jewelry Designers

Great article I found recently with The New York Times (Young Designers Re-imagine Jewelry)  featuring five young women chosen as the latest up and coming jewelers.  Most people in this industry know that the large name jewelry designers are in New York, iconic store fronts that have resided there for half a century pushing their latest fashions into the greedy willing hands of the trend-setting masses.

However in this new era we have more people than ever diligently learning this archaic craft, pushing themselves to compete with classic timeless designs.  How do they do that? Contemporary jewelry.   They take the ancient art of jewelry making and push it further, branching out and giving a new and exciting twist to the designs that we already know.  Contemporary jewelry tends to find itself on display in small trendy art galleries or available in chic boutiques, ready to be snatched up by the careful eye of those who blog and Instagram because they have a piece of fashion that is handmade and one of a kind that needs to be shared with the world as the “hottest thing”.  Many small boutiques and budding designers have gained tremendous momentum from this phenomenon allowing them to break through to be seen and share their ideas.

This article in the New York Times acknowledges this societal change and embraces it by showcasing these four young women and their contribution to fine jewelry. For more information on the artists and where to see and purchase there work, see the article linked above and below. 

                                                                Anna Khouri

                                                                Anita Ko

                                                             Gaia Repossi

                                                         Delfina Delettrez

                     

                          

                                                           Jennifer Fisher

Sources:

New York Times link: Young Designers Re-imagine Jewelry

Photos by Agaton Storm for New York Times Article

Flower Show 2014

Having been a Philadelphian for several years now I find it surprising I had actually never been to the Philadelphia Flower Show, a showcase of bursting colorful flora in contemporary design.  This year I finally made the time to take in this exhibition of living medium.  I have always worked with painting, drawing, and metalsmithing, but I have never dappled in the botanical arts.

                So I ventured into the dimly lit convention center with an open mind to be met with a floor to ceiling floral sculpture.  Reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, these structures were saturated in color and made up of several types of plant life that blended together effortlessly to give the illusion of soft pillow-like structures.   It was a wonderland of a garden that we could walk through and interact with,  a 360 degree installation that keep me in awe no matter which way I turned my head.

                Moving away from the show-stopping structure that stood immediately in the doorway, you were able to mill about different exhibitions that all focused on the floral medium.  To the right of the entrance we were able to look at black and white project concepts jump from the flat, untelling, restraint of the sketchbook into the tangible universe where all the facets of its design could be fully appreciated. 

                What I really enjoyed of the show were the installations based off of famous artists, such as Van Gogh, Mondrian, and Kandinsky.  Artists for centuries have drawn inspiration from nature so it was delightful to see the role reversal and have nature channel these artists.  In a similar realm of creativity I was thrilled to see student work at such a large public show.  We always see the polished professionalism of veteran art works but rarely get to see the humble beginnings of an artist’s portfolio unless it is sought out at student shows.  The student work that particularly drew my attention was of course the jewelry made out of items found in nature.  These works were based off of designers such as Valentino, Chanel, and Tiffany and Co.  It was incredible to see a vibrant red brooch give the illusion of lace with the use of a colored skeletal leaf.  As well as the use of painted poppy seeds used to create intricate beaded work in the series based off of Faberge Eggs.

                                     

                Another aspect of the show I appreciated was that they brought it back to gardening basics of the ostentatious displays in the showroom.  In the “PHS Hamilton Horticourt”, there was just a focus on the beauty of growing healthy happy plants.  It was segregated by plant, with information of how each of the plant was judged.  This was a simple and clean display of the nurturing of nature for those that enjoy the hobby of gardening and were not there for the avant-garde world of design. 

                Overall I was truly impressed by how much was squeezed into the showroom.  There was a little bit for everyone, and the show keep switching gears to keep it fresh and new.  I constantly felt like I was switching rooms when going from display to display because of how different each exhibit was.  One moment I was looking at a desert themed Subaru display then I turn around and see a Zen inspired bonsai showcase.  I can honestly say that I didn’t get tired like I do at craft shows because there was no repetition.    However, my criticism of the show was there were a lot of elements that did not fit with the theme of the show.  Such as the indoor market, I felt was really tasteless to have people selling clothes and bags at a flower show.  It cheapened my experienced to be corralled right into a pop up market after seeing such incredible, beautiful, well thought out things.  With that said I did thoroughly enjoy myself and very much do look forward to next year. 

For more pictures feel free to browse my g+ gallery: google.com/+ShannonHenry

My Companion Cube Wall Sconces

I have finally gotten the chance to update on one of my personal works, and hopefully I get the chance to update many more in the near future.  This work is based off of the Valve computer game Portal.  This dangerously addicting puzzle masterpiece with its witty sense of humor has become a favorite past time of my boyfriend and I.  So naturally, for our anniversary, I decided to make him something based off of the game that we spent so many hours playing together.

I have the computer program Rhinoceros in which I modeled the background portal booleaned to a half of a companion cube.  Modeling the portal was fairly easy, just making an oval with smoothed edges.  I did need to make the oval hollow however seeing that I wanted the piece to be light enough to hang on the wall. A general rule of thumb to follow when 3d printing hollow objects such as this is to have a sustainable wall thickness which I generally maintain at .08 inches depending on the piece (if I’m working in millimeters I generally keep objects solid for stability). To do this, I just offset my object within itself, then I booleaned differenced the offset object out of the original piece.  This leaves me a nice hollow cavity that saves me lots of money at the end of the day because it’s less material to print.

The trickiest part of creating the portal cube for me was the corners.  Getting that exact shape was fairly difficult and led to much cursing on my end while trying to get things to line up nicely.  However, the beautiful thing about the companion cube is that it’s symmetrical, so once I nailed down one corner I was able to mirror it to wherever it needed to be. 

I decided to print in plaster since it’s a cheap material, lightweight, and I am very familiar with it.  Fortunately I have a bunch of test parts of plaster lying around from previous projects, so I was able to test out how acrylic paint would dry on the material.  The plaster did absorb the paint slightly which gave it a softer look.  It also dried several shades lighter, so that is something to keep in mind if anyone wants to repeat my endeavor.  Overall, I thought the plaster received the paint nicely, so I decided against using any kind of sealer since it’s a decorative wall piece that will not be touched often.  Future projects I do plan on experimenting with sealers for wearable pieces. 

The printing provider I used was Shapeways (http://www.shapeways.com/).  They are very cost effective and super helpful if you have any questions.  They also provide a copious amount of printing materials to choose from.  So I highly suggest on checking them out. 

3d printed resin record

Recently in 3d printing technology a playable record was printed from the material resin with a Objet Connex 500.  Amanda Ghassaei documents her process in a video that I have linked below.  Most of us who have designed utilizing CAD are aware that you fabricate models by creating meshes that are made up of tiny little triangles.  Ghassaei explains, because of how complex it would be to traditionally draft an audio file, she had to create a program to do the conversion for her.  This conversion broke down the numbers that created the raw audio data into the form of a readable wave form or groove on the resin disc.  The wave length transcribed in the disc is read by the turntable stylus which travels along the path (groove) to re-create the path in an audio form that we can hear.

The quality of the recording is admittedly not great, but this does arise the question, how do different printed materials sound? The original vinyl record came into popularity since it had a much better sound quality than the original shellac records.    Over the last century we have moved from different ways to produce sound from the phonograph cylinder, to the shellac record, to the vinyl record, to the laser read compact disc, now we rely heavily on the mp3.



However, people are nostalgic.  What has come into fashion is using our current technology in the guise of its predecessor.  Such as the iphone with its retro hand telephone attachment. Or the large 1980's boombox that attaches to your mp3 player so you get that retro look with a clean modern sound.  We find it cool and hip to have the style of the yesteryear with the convenience of modern technology.  I would not find it surprising if this program is used in different materials to play with sound.  To use modern 3d printing technology to re-create something our parents used.  I would love to hear how different materials sounded and see what kind of music could be created with this program.  I really hope innovative companies like Shapeways eat this up and experiment to see how far we can go.

sources:

 http://www.amandaghassaei.com/3D_printed_record.html - Amanda Ghassaei's website with video and images

3d printing is a new and exciting field in the world of design.  It has become an incredible tool for creating the relics bound within our imaginations and gives us a way to give them tangibility.  3d printing and rendering has come a long way since my professors’ education in the nineties where CAD was a complex programming software that you had to grapple with, let alone the cost of materials. Now our fortunate generation is the one with technology at our fingertips.  We have several different auto CAD programs at our mercy that we wield to create objects from a long list of very cost effective materials that our fore fathers of the CAD-iverse did not have.  It even has come to the point that I know several people with their own personal 3d printer and I myself plan to get one.  A few years ago the tech nerd would drop a small fortune on a maker-bot that they would assemble themselves, and that maker-bot would take several hours to heat abs nylon through a tube to create your object.  Now we have small 3d printers available for around $2000 that can print in multiple materials quickly and more efficiently than its maker-bot predecessor.   It’s incredibly the leaps and bounds that the 3d printing realm has taken in the last few years.

Here I have linked a video of one of the latest feats our generation has opened up to the world of 3d printing. Printing liquid metal, developed by a team at North Carolina University, they have found a way to oxidize the surface of a small bead of liquid metal to stabilize it enough so that it can remain in liquid form to create malleable liquid metal structures.  We are very used to heating polymer materials that quickly cool into non-malleable structures when taken away from its heat source.  Here we have a material that stays liquid in room temperature allowing further manipulation which can lead to huge leaps and bounds for the technology field when it comes to computer parts, wires, connectors, electrodes, etc.   Anyone who has worked with metal knows that metal, to become liquid, needs intense heat typically from a torch, and it does not stay liquid when that heat source is removed.  It cools far too quickly, but this technique finds a way around that reality.  From what I understand the metal they have chosen to work with is gallium.  It is a very soft metal that does not appear in nature.  

Gallium has a very low melting point, just above room temperature.  It has been reported that if the element is held long enough it will melt in your hand.  I know it seems less impressive using such a soft malleable metal for this technique, but the metal does have the conductivity needed for electronics and it could lead to new ways of printing with precious metals down the road.  I look forward to where this will lead printing with metals since we typically tend to focus on printing with polymers.  

sources: http://www.shapeways.com/blog/?li=nav

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201301400/pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium