Black White Sculpture

8/10/2019 Black White Sculpture

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Black-White-Sculpture/

Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop

Black / White Sculptureby jon_kuzmichon October 27, 2014

Table of Contents

Black / White Sculpture .........................................................................................................

Intro: Black / White Sculpture ..................................................................................................

Step 1: Origin of the Project ...................................................................................................

Step 2: Final Form ..........................................................................................................

Step 3: Computer Model to DWG export .........................................................................................

Step 4: CNC Cutting ........................................................................................................

Step 5: Sanding Prep .......................................................................................................

Step 6: Gesso .............................................................................................................

Step 7: Mix Black/White Gradient ..............................................................................................

Step 8: Painting > Drying > Glueing .............................................................................................

Step 9: Exhibition ..........................................................................................................

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Comments ................................................................................................................
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Author:jon_kuzmich author's website

artist based in San Francisco, CA

Intro: Black / White SculptureIn the spring of 2014, I was selected for an artist residency at Tech Shop in San Francisco, CA. This is what I made over the course of the 2-month residency:

BLACK / WHITE, 2014

Acrylic on Hardboard

Each letter: 16x16x16

Installation dimensions variable

Additional information about my art practice can be found here: WEBSITE

Step 1:Origin of the ProjectInspired by the early writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, I wanted to create a sculpture that illustrated as clearly as possible, some of the concepts surrounding the limitatof language. The use of antonyms (in this case: black and white) is intentional as they both symbolize and embody linguistic boundaries; asserting a finite universe wittheir confines, but requiring silence concerning anything that might lie beyond their borders.
https://jonkuzmich.squarespace.com/modern-canadacana/http://www.jonkuzmich.com/http://member/jon_kuzmich/http://member/jon_kuzmich/


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Step 2:Final FormThe resulting five letter/sculptures sit upon their own individual pedestals, promoting site specific installations while maintaining three rules: (1) they be arranged so eaword is legibly formed and (2) with enough space in-between to allow movement around each letter and (3) they divide the space they occupy.

The image above is a rendering from Rhino; the computer modeling software I used to design the sculpture and to extract the final CNC cut files for the sculpture.


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Step 3:Computer Model to DWG exportThese are screenshots illustrating how I went from a continuous surface computer model (in Rhino) to a CNC cut sculpture. In order for the computer model to be cutusing a CNC router, I needed to convert the smooth surface to a topographical 3-d map. Each topographical layer became a single coplaner polyline that I exported asDWG file, which eventually went on to be further converted to g-code at the CNC router station. For the final sculpture, I selected 1/4" smooth double-sided hardboardorder to have a smooth painting surface. Thus, each topographical plane is spaced 1/4" from the next. For a 16" deep sculpture, I needed sixty-four 1/4" layers ofhardboard. Ultimately I ended up with 320 individual cut files for all five letter/sculptures.

Step 4:CNC Cutting

It took approximately six weeks to cut 320 pieces of hardboard at Tech Shop...


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Step 5:Sanding PrepEach CNC-cut shape came of the machine requiring sanding and cleanup and this step took approximately one to two weeks to complete. I used sandpaper to smootout the edges and surfaces of each letter and some of the shapes also required the use of wood paste to fill in gaps and holes that were created during the cuttingprocess. This is a photograph of a sanding station I set up in my apartment using a ventilation fan to remove dust and debris.

Step 6:GessoIn order for the acrylic paint to adhere to the sanded hardboard, a layer of gesso was applied to only the areas of each shape that would be visible.

Step 7:Mix Black/White GradientEach 1/4" hardboard layer is painted in a unique mix of black and white acrylic paint. It took many hours of experimentation to achieve a "natural" gradient that resultethe 50% grey point being located at the center of each sculpture. FYI: Mixing 1 part WHITE with 1 part BLACK does not yield a 50% grey. I found 50% grey to be closeto 2 parts WHITE and 1 part BLACK.


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Step 8:Painting > Drying > GlueingEach hardboard layer was numbered in order to ensure that each unique shape was painted with the correct mix of black/white paint relative to its layer position. Asmentioned previously, I only painted those parts of the sculpture that would be visible. After the paint dried, I began stacking them on top of each other. To ensure thateach shape/layer was lined up in the correct location, I would stack them using a 1/4" dowel as a guide (I added two dowel cut locations to each CNC cut files).

After I painted all 64 layers, I re-stacked and glued them together. In fact, only the first three to four layers and last layers are glued to the dowels. The rest of the layerare simply sandwiched together and held in place by the dowels. I did this in order to have the ability to rotate and adjust the middle portion of the sculpture as neededensure that the first and last layers would sit flat upon the pedestal.

This was a very labor intensive step and took approximately six weeks to complete.


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Step 9:ExhibitionAfter spot painting and adding a protective clear-coat, the letter sculptures were ready for the closing exhibition at Asterisk Gallery in San Francisco, CA on March 29t2014.

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Comments

3 comments Add Comment

MsSweetSatisfactionsays: Oct 28, 2014. 10:57 AM REPWoah that's so cool looking. It reminds me a lot of Escher's work, only in three dimensions which kind of just makes it more impressive.

SnakoMsays: Oct 27, 2014. 5:38 PM REPWow! You are very determined and artistic. I love the streamlined shapes, and the fact that you used a CNC router! Incredible job, keep it up.

jon_kuzmichsays: Oct 27, 2014. 9:51 PM REPThanks SnakoM! I really appreciate the compliments and encouragement.
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