Slotting

Whilst looking and exploring cogs and wheels within mechanisms, I became interested in how they interlock and slot together. This led me to briefly look at PlayPlax, the child’s toy with utilises this slotting technique so that infinite shapes and structures can be created. In 3D construction I am exploring different materials outside of the textile domain. I created some of my own slotting peices, circles that fit into each other to make an almost spherical shape. Though I tried to work in plastics, due to issues of expense I decided upon utilising cardboard. Cardboard has also proved more stable than my plastic samples, which were flimsy and delicate.

Using my spherical cardboard shapes, I worked onto the mannequin, experimenting with layouts and patterns that I could create. I decided to make the cardboard shapes in many different scales, one of the main reasons for this is one of my favourite drawings of mine from this project was the one that had many shapes and sizes of cogs all fitting together. The varying scales provides a more interesting piece I feel.