Dew (Tin Plate) 2022
A really really pretty tin object that I made with my hands :)
Dew is a continuation of ribbon-like explorations of the mutability and memory of tin-plated steel. Dew separates the raw material from it’s common industrial perception and imbues it with a more organic almost floral nature that shoals the viewer between it’s perceived hard material nature and the delicateness of the folds and bends. Within the hand, the form springs back similar to that of a leaf that is lightly pressed after morning dew.
The manufacturing process of Dew is centered around the construction of nodes and connections made out of bent tin plated steel. The form itself is illusive as it gives the appearance of a mobius strip but upon further inspection, it consists of 3 forms held together with mortise and tenons. This form consists of 3 nodes each consisting of 3 tin parts.
Each node is created using three 1 inch tin plated strips with the length ratio of 6:7.5:12. The tin plate strips undergo a ½” hem on both ends leaving roughly a 1/16” gap in the center of each strip. Strips that are 6 in the ratio have 2 layers of tin plate under their hems throughout the process to account for the strips that have a 7.5 and 12 ratio value which have trapezoidal mortieses. Each strip is then fed into the slip roller at a 45* angle on both ends to curve the form into a u-shape that starts to fold in on itself.
Manufacturing for this form undergoes those prerequisites then moves to the use of hand jigs involving, pens, markers and steel balls to apply a clean radius while continuing the folding in itself of the form. After these 9 parts are constructed they are assembled together using the aforementioned mortise and tenons.
The strips that have the ratios of 6 and 12 slide into one another to create a mobius strip-like form very similar to the curve radius or forms seen within the art and design of the nouveau period. The 7.5 strip is used as an intermediate connector between the main mobius strip form and another form; this process is reflected 3 times to then connect upon itself.
As Dew is a continuation of my steel strip explorations I hope to make more forms by augmenting not just the ratios but the number of nodes and explore how those variables give room for more possibility in this form.