Tried melting it over boiling water. This took so long, and it didn't even turn fully to liquid even after 30+ minutes over boiling water. It also solidified instantly when i took away from the boiling water. Result is super flexible, but not very durable.
The thinner the silicon is, the more flexible it becomes. But it also becomes a lot less durable.
The object that i use to displace the object also needs to be stronger. In some cases the thread simply cuts through the object. I tried with rolled up piece of latex, but the thread managed to untie itself.
The 0010 shore silicon is byfar the best option. However, maybe its just the current shape / the way its secured that allows it to be this flexible. E.g. if its modelled like a blob, will it have more endurance?
Thick latex is way too strong. It can't be displaced at all. Thin latex is pretty durable and stretchy, however it sticks to istself too much. Maybe try to put some powder on it before removing.
Shore A5 silicone is neither more durable or flexible than the shore 0010 one. Seems to crack more easily once it has some tear.
The moon gel is super flexible, but also very very weak. However, maybe I could try to melt it down and pour it into a mold to make a bigger piece.
The pendulum object ended up being too thin, i couldn't remove it from the paper without it tearing into pieces. I should try one more time, while letting the silicone cure for a bit first, and just with a bigger hole in the cup suspended by the pendulum. However, it is incredibly flat currently. I thought i could "model" it as a flat surface and simply twist and turn it around to create a "spiderweb" / network - like object. Not sure if this will be possible.
The black Fixate Gel Pad seems more flexible than the silicone. It has a little bit more initial resistance, but it can be stretched much more (4cm diameter can easily be stretched up to 25-ish cm.). 7x7cm silicon can also be stretched up to 25-ish cm but requires more strength and the object is also almost twice as big initially. However, it tears very easily once it has some wear.
However, when it is pulled like this, it seems that the silicon is more flexible, maybe because it has less resistance? Or it could be because of the shape? Neither of the objects are very durable.
Testing flexibility of the silicone objects. Setting up the object with the strings takes up a lot of time, so I wanted to make an object where I can more quickly make changes. The motor is pretty loose currently, I need to add something the keep it from moving. I thought I should try to make the "environment" as close as possible to the final object to see how flexible it will actually be. Two layers on the top to make it stronger. Thought maybe it could break / bend with the motor "pushing" it down.
Thought also it would be a nice opportunity to experiment with a different look than the previous experiment, using carabiner clips to hang the object up.
Testing two different objects. One with a "knob" that can be pulled and one with just a tiny "knob". The flexibility is pretty good on both objects, but maybe this is a result of the shape of the object and that they're better secured than my previous attempts. However, not sure how durable it is. Silicone square is 7x7 cm, 5mm ish thickness.
Another attempt with silicone. This was done without a positive object inside, as a result it has some uneven thickness. Bottom right has pretty thin thickness. Top left has moderate thickness. With this attempt i tried to cut some little holes in the top left where the string is pulling it (living hinges). It definitely makes it more flexible, but not as flexible as i want it to be. Bottom right is pretty flexible, but also not very durable.
Experiment with slime. Material is super flexible, but dissolves quickly in water. Also would have to find another way to secure it. Maybe if water density is increased it wouldn't dissolve as quickly / float to the top.
Black slime, not the best choice for this experiment either. Hard to separate it from the background.
Fourth attempt. Softer silicone with styrofoam balls inside, turned out the best so far. Thickness ended up being a little bit too thin in the bottom / entry of the mold (holes in the surface).
Put styrofoam balls inside the object and pulled from the outside. The distortion is pretty wide and not as localised as I hoped, however, securing the object more tightly could be a way to solve this or making a different model that has little knobs that could be pulled.
Unfortunately the styrofoam balls easily break. I think i need something else to put inside that i can use to distort the object. The wire basically cuts through it. Not having an object inside will tear the silicone, I need something blunt / round to pull it from the inside.
I should also experiment with different colors / shapes for the object.
Put little needles into styrofoam balls, the same size used to make the mold. With this i can keep them in the middle of the mold and let the silicone form a layer around it. However, it seems the silicone I bought is way too hard and doesn't really have any elasticity at all (cracks easily).
Used much softer silicone this time. The object needs to be hollow as the thread will just cut through it if I try to pull it. As a result i need to be able to put an object inside and pull this from the outside.
Used too much silicone and I didn't move the mold enough while it was curing. As a result it has big lumps inside, while other areas only have a thin layer. Will try next to cast it with styrofam balls inside the mold like the previous experiment.
Second attempt at making a mold. Had a scale this time, but still i can't seem to get the measurements right. Had way too much in the first side of the mold and barely enough on the other side.
The first cast of the silicone was a failure. I applied a thin layer on each side of the mold with some extra around the endges to hopefully connect it. It cured for 12 hours, where I for the first few constantly shifted it around to make sure it didn't all gather in the bottom. This ended up happening either way. There was a thin layer around the whole thing. But it just collapsed on itself when i opened it. The silicone was also super sticky as I probably opened it too early.
Problem with this one is that it will be hard to keep the model in the center. Also i think maybe the silicone wall will be too thick. Another problem is that the silicone is super sticky, as a result getting it off from the mold and object will be difficult.
This project is about connecting locations through a physical, network - like object. Given different locations with proximity sensors and webcameras the object will deform when people approach it. Each location corresponds to a point being pulled. This a take on how we're currently always connected through mobile data / internet. Never at one point in our daily lives are we ever truly disconnected from the world around us. The project takes this idea and visualises it.
The nylon experiment works pretty well. With this one i wrapped polystyrene balls with nylon stocking. This one is pretty close to the original sketch, however unfortunately the motor is not strong enough the pull the fabric that much. Also the backside of the "blob" looks pretty bad, you can see the "pin" on the left side sticking out.
What i like about this one is the ambiguity of it. The black fabric masks a lot of the detail which makes it look like just a black blob. Also at times the silhouette reminds me of heads, like it's morphing between different "faces" / pareidolia. However i wish it was more "floaty", not as rigid as it currently is. This could be solved with more motors and more continuous movement.
The submerged condom experiment did not work that well. I tried three times, with different techniques, but i can't make it work properly.
The first time i tried a double wrapped condom with theaded polystyrene balls inside. The problem with this one was that i didn't secure it on the bottom and the condom was floating on the surface of the tank. The second attempt i tried the same just with threads keeping it in place on the bottom as well. However the effects doesn't work that well. The distortion doesn't work that well also the ink keeps leaking into the tank / while hanging it up. As a result the project has a limited timespan.
The third attempt, i tried to use pieces of tape instead of polystyrene balls as i thought maybe they would "seal" the holes when the thread is kept in place. This is not the case, ink is still leaking.
The silicon experiment worked ok. It's super flexible however the motor is still not strong enough to pull it properly. Also the silicon ended up being way too thick. The test run i did just on the side as i had way too much leftover turned out better than the one in the mold. Material looks very nice however.
I could have put way more tension on the material to make it more three dimensional. Right now its more relaxed / "wavey".
This project has been a failure so far. I've tried a few different variations with different materials, none of them really working. Ideally i would use motors to move the magnets / pull the strings.
Just condom filled with water and magnet inside burst immediately. Same with balloon and magnet. Wrapping multiple balloons inside each other solved this problem but then i couldn't fill it with water anymore as it was "too strong".
When i put the magnet inside a polystyrene ball and double wrapped the condom it worked ok. It's pretty durable but no interesting shapes occur. Idk if maybe this is because i didn't hang it tight enough. As you can see in the video it gives in pretty fast and i can move it around. Also the magnet needs to be pretty close for it to work. Ideally, i wouldn't have to move the magnet inside the box at all as it "breaks" the feeling a bit.
I also tried to fill a condom with only polystyrene balls and threading a couple of the balls to then pull from the outside. In this case the condom needs to be hanged very tightly as you have to pull the string pretty hard for it to displace properly. Also not super durable, the condom broke pretty fast in this case.
Maybe I could make a tesselation surface instead and use strings to pull it?
Maybe this could be one of the sound experiments. Using a LED strip above water, then use ripples to generate sound. Alternatively the Media Art project from last semester could be turned into an audio project where the height of each ball controls sound.
