BACKGROUND
Paper is a simple material that can be manipulated in endless ways. From flat pieces to 3 dimensional sculptures and installations, to photographic images and animation, paper has the potential to become whatever we want. The only limit is our imagination. -Elsa Mora
Papercutting as the name suggests is the art of cutting paper into designs. Dating as far back into the 8th and 9th Century, papercutting has and continues to be predominantly used as a decorative form. Although it does not exactly follow the conventions of markmaking i.e. applying a material on a surface, it is evidently as potent, with a variety of art making practices having adopted this unique approach, much of which has inspired my research.
Universe Series papercut – Andy Singleton
Stencil
The stencil is simply a sheet of material with a design cut from it, allowing for pigments to be applied on an underlying surface. The main advantage of stencils is the re usability of the design on a mass production scale.
Stencils were originally used for military marking but soon became popularized by graffiti artists, it has since been widely used for home decor (wallpapers, floors etc.)
Paper Sculpting
Unlike the 2D nature of stencils, paper sculpture is the manipulation of paper to form a 3D image or structure. Through various techniques including folding, cutting and the shaping of colored paper comes the ability to craft highly realistic models.
Quilled Paper Portraits – Yulia Brodskaya
INSPIRATION
Paper Sculpture by Jen Stark
Graffiti stenciling in streets of London
Laser cutting
IDEATION
Concept 1 – Stencil & Spray
For my first robotics concept, I wanted to incorporate both creating a stencil and applying colour, I came up with the idea of creating 2 robots to do the job. The first uses a camera (facial recognition) in an attempt to find basic shapes from the users’ facial structure and then cuts it from a peice of paper using a small blade (laser technology would be of preference if resources were not limited). The user then speaks into a microphone and records their voice where the 2nd robot then takes the sound waves and applies colour based on the frequency/ pitch.
Concept 2 – Post-it
This concept aims to create a 3D sculpture using coloured post it notes. The interaction for this idea is based on touch, where the robot sticks a layer of paper around a given space based on the location of touch on the touchpad. Papers of differing sizes and colours will be used to produce a product of multiple layers of coloured paper stuck together to form a model.
REFERENCES
Carol Tubbs, Margaret Drake, Crafts and Creative Media in Therapy, “Paper crafts”, (2006), p. 221-34.
Irving Harper (2013). Works in Paper. New York: Skira Rizzoli. 6-15.
DECO3200 Studio | Creative Robotics 