Mitridae: Wearable Art
Design of Connected Objects and Experiences (IPD 529)
Project Timeline: October - November 2019 (1 month)
Project Objectives
The objective of this project was to design, CAD model, & 3D print a sculpturally compelling wearable piece of art. Our two key goals were to learn to design forms from abstract concepts and inspiration and improve our CAD techniques through modeling wearable objects. We started at the Wagner Free Institute of Science spending an hour sketching forms that we found interesting. With only a pencil and paper (no electronics), we looked at an array of skeletons, plants, bugs, and shells to gain inspiration from nature for our wearable object. I was most compelled by the miter shell because of its unique and vibrant colors, natural spotting, visible texture, and spiral geometry. We then studied form language in order to get a better understanding of the variety of design elements we had at our disposal to produce a compelling wearable adornment. Using our sketches from the Wagner as inspiration, we drew multiple different design options. When I was young, I would thread shells onto a string and wear them as a crown. As the overarching theme of the course was Nostalgic Futures, I wanted to incorporate my youthful art into my wearable design. I captured the miter shell’s natural curves and uneven coil form by placing two spirals around each other and added texture to the surface. Adding some artistic flare, I placed a pink sparkly pearl at the top of the spirals. In addition to the pearl being forever associated with shells, it is also my birthstone.
To achieve the second goal to improve our CAD techniques, I designed the piece to be 3D printed on Rhino, using newly learned surface modeling techniques. It was my first time working with silicone molds and I learned how to CAD a cast for the mold using the negative space of the object. Once the CAD was completed the body of the wearable was 3D printed. The fabrication and finishing procedures then began as the object needed to be both structurally strong and visually appealing. On the 3D printed body of my wearable, I first placed a layer of XTC 3D then painted it white using acrylic paint. I spotted the body using a metal atomizer, then covered the entire adornment in another layer of XTC 3D to give it a shiny finish. For my pearl, I placed both pink and white powder into my Dragon Skin 10 and added some pink sparkles to create my silicone mold. While my Mitridae (the latin word for miter shell) will not adorn the heads of queens, it did open my design world to many different forms of fabrication and sparked my creative passion to continue to experiment with new forms of design.
