Fabrication. To create a surreal object in a model, I used Meshmixer to modify the mesh in a surreal way. There are a lot of options to choose from to alter a mesh in Meshmixer. A useful option is the Meshmix icon face in the left panel. Here you can select primitives such as arms, ears, heads, legs, letters, numbers, primitives, and symbols. Boolean operations combine simple forms with other forms to make complex images. There are three Boolean functions in modeling known as union, intersection, and subtraction. To support my concept of a king chess piece that has human-like features, I used an arm to add on to both sides of the chess piece. The union Boolean function was applied by combining the arms with the king chess piece. The union Boolean function is also known as join. The filament I used to print my object was a black colored filament. The black filament did not create much of a difference in perception of the object. But it did turn out looking good. I closed all holes in the king chess piece and then used Meshmix to add arms to the chess piece. I selected the entire object to make it into one solid and then reduced the polygon count to 7,000. Lastly, I loaded the filament in the machine and printed my king chess piece with arms. It took some time, but the end result was worth it.

Cromar, William. “PlaneToVolumeBooleans.” NewMediaWiki [Licensed for Non-Commercial Use Only] / PlaneToVolumeBooleans, 2020, newmediawiki.pbworks.com/w/page/134937144/planeToVolumeBooleans.

Part I | Concept. To begin my design, I started practicing with my isometric notebook and started sketching objects. I made two triangles and made it look 3-dimensional. I drew a circle and made it 3-dimensional, but it didn’t come out that well. I drew cubes for practice and to have fun with the isometric notebook.

Part II | Iteration. To iterate my sketches, I used Autodesk 360 to create shapes and objects. Under the solid tab at the top pane, I chose to create a sketch, and drew a half of a sphere. From there I then selected the revolve tool under the surface pane. This allowed to me create a 3-dimensional sphere in half. Next, I chose to create a sketch again and this time I created an object that resembled a chess piece. Like the half sphere, I chose the revolve tool and made it 3-dimensional. For my last two objects, I created a sketch and drew a triangle. From there I extended the triangle and made it 3D. I made two of these. My next step was to combine the shapes into one object. The tool I used in Fusion 360 was under Modify, and scale to change the size of the shapes and move them around the grid. Next I selected all of the bodies, chose the combine function, selected the Join operation, and hit OK. This morphed all of the single body objects into one body. To finalize my object and get them ready for the CNC router, I created a six-by-six box form. I scaled and proportioned my other object to fit inside the six-by-six rectangular box. Next I combined the two objects and under Operation I selected cut to have the object cut into the six-by-six box.

Part III | Final. I saved my Fusion 360 model as an STL file and used a flash drive to transfer it over to the CNC computer. I turned the main system on from the power strip adjacent to the driver computer labeled MAIN. I turned on the fan for the stepper motor controllers. I turned on the router motor before the cutting process and I turned on the dust collection system and air purifier. I used high density poly foam material to carve my mold into. I hit the start button and the machine began to drill into the high-density poly foam. The time it took to complete engraving was about an hour. Once the CNC router was finished, I shut off the machine and removed the poly foam cut out. I was satisfied with the end result of the mold. I took photographs of the design and that was it. My mold art was complete.

The purpose for Chapter 8 in relation to project 4 is for the reader to get an understanding of what the details of juxtaposition are and how it is applied in art. Juxtaposition is another word for contrast. The contrast of an object relates to the differences of its qualities in relation to a background. For example, straight against curved lines, round against square shapes, light vs dark, and large vs small forms. Something I learned from this part of Chapter 8 is the word juxtaposition. Direction implies the way objects and shapes engage the eye to move through items found in the piece of art. Something I learned in Chapter 6 is that large illusion artwork can cause medical problems, such as dizziness, in viewers who are sensitive to the illusions. Sculptural methods include additive, subtractive, assembly, and substitution. Additive method is building on an object. The subtractive method means to take away material. The assembly method is combining objects together. And the substitution method means to replace a certain material with a more substantial one. Something interesting I learned from the Collage and Montage in Art article and from the external link of Louise Nevelson’s biography is that Louise worked heavily with wooden materials to showcase her collage art. Louise chose these wooden materials for their strong images of the city, nature, and the objects found outside of the Earth and in the universe.

Cromar, William. “CHAPTER 6 – Visual Elements III: Kinematics.” ParallelUniverses [Licensed for Non-Commercial Use Only] / CHAPTER 6 – Visual Elements III: Kinematics, 2020, newmediaabington.pbworks.com/w/page/67451136/CHAPTER%206%20%E2%80%94%20Visual%20Elements%20III%3A%20Kinematics.

Cromar, William. “VolumeToActionCollageArt.” NewMediaWiki [Licensed for Non-Commercial Use Only] / VolumeToActionCollageArt, 2020, newmediawiki.pbworks.com/w/page/127773396/volumeToActionCollageArt.

“Louise Nevelson Sculptures, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist/nevelson-louise/#nav.

Part I | Concept
For my concept, I thought it would be interesting to make a chess piece come to life or turn into something else.  I thought about the part in Alice in Wonderland, the movie, produced by Walt Disney studios in 1951, the male playing card servants that had a head and arms.  It was a creepy part of the movie and I thought I would do something similar with a king chess piece scan.  I would give the scanned king chess piece arms and later print it on the MakerBot Replicator.  I based my idea primarily on the surreal author of Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll and his attraction with chess sets.  I took a king chess piece from a chess set I own and brought it into scan on the Makerbot Digitizer 3D scanner.  It made a digital 3D model out of my king chess piece object and the results turned out good.  To begin using the Makerbot Digitizer, it is essential to pay attention to lighting and make sure there are no bright lights in the camera’s field of view.  I learned how to use the MakerWare for Digitizer software to scan my object.  There are three light selections to describe your object, and I chose medium and then clicked start scan.  The chess piece began to rotate, and the lasers made a mesh of my object.

Part II | Iteration
To iterate my concept, I used the surreal chess set example as motivation for my design. There are a lot of cool looking examples for surreal chess piece sets online. I began drawing sketches on paper to populate how I envisioned the chess piece to look. Next, I imported the chess piece scan in MeshMixer. And to continue with my drawing idea of a surreal chess piece with arms, I used the icon on the left panel, Meshmix, to add an arm. I selected the second-choice style of the arm and put it into place on the chess piece. I closed all holes in the arm using the Analysis selection tool on the left pane in Meshmixer, then chose the Inspector option and selected Auto Repair All. Getting a second arm on the other side of the chess piece was tricky for me. To add a second arm to the surreal object, I had to choose Edit and then Mirror the object. This took some time and patience to get the arms positioned right on the chess piece. Once the arms were on, I thought it came out just how I envisioned it would. Next step was to print it on the Makerbot replicator machine.

Part III | Final
To wrap up and finish my Meshmix of the king chess piece with arms, I selected the entire object, made it into one solid, and reduced the polygon count to 7,000. I exported and saved my king chess piece file as a .OBJ format. I took the file to the Makerbot Replicator machine to print my 3D surreal object. From the three Boolean functions in modeling, I used the Union, also known as Join function as emphasis to my model. The arms and the king chess piece had a total volume of both pieces fused together as one object. Moving onto the Makerbot Replicator machine, I learned how to change out the filament and run it through the extruder. What the machine does when the file is to be printed, is heat up to 215 degrees Celsius, which is equivalent to 419 degrees Fahrenheit in order for the plastic to be melted and used. Next the extruder moves into position and begins printing the filament. My object took about an hour and a half to print. When it is all complete, the machine will ask you to print again or go back to the menu, so I chose to go back to the menu. Next you can remove the plate and work with a chisel tool to pry the object off of the plate. This was the most dangerous part of the job. After I pried my object off of the plate, I then removed all of the supports.

Using the 3D printer, I scanned a king chess piece to transform it from a tangible object to a digitized object. With my object in the viewport in Meshmixer, I went to View and Show Wireframe to show the edges of the polygons, to see where rough patches exist. To duplicate the king chess piece as a higher density mesh, I went to Edit and Make Solid, and clicked Accept. To diminish bumps in the mesh, I did control A to select the entire object, Edit and selected Deform Smooth. The next step was to reduce the polygon count also known as the number of faces. To do this I selected the smoothed mesh with control A and noted the number of triangles in the bottom right-hand corner which was at 18,922. I clicked on Reduce from the Select dropout menu and under the Reduce Target, selected Triangle Budget. Then below where it says Tri Count I typed in 7,000 and clicked Accept. Once this was done I saved the .mix file and exported another file as a OBJ that can import into Fusion or be uploaded to a 3D printer. I modified the clean scan with the scale and distortion case study. I clicked control A to select the entire king chess piece and then Select, Deform, and Transform to open the transform widget. here I pulled on the X-axis direction to distort the object to create 3-D anamorphic projection. In this lesson I learned what non-uniform scaling is of breaking aspect ratios among height, width, and depth.

King Chess Piece Modified Front View

King Chess Piece Modified Side View

King Chess Piece Clean Front View

King Chess Piece Clean Side View