What can be used to keep aluminium cans together?
Epoxy hardener, nails, tacks, superglue
After many experiments using aluminium cans I realised it is a much more difficult material to work with than I initially thought. I couldn't find an effective way of attaching the cans to the plywood or the wire frame. I decided to think of some more possible design ideas.
This project involved a lot of trial and error. I did extensive primary and secondary research of leaves, techniques and materials. All of this, plus the experiments would help me come up with a design. Originally, I was going to use drink cans. I researched into other artwork that uses cans but after many different experiments I found the drink cans were not a good material to work with to produce the outcome I needed. I came up with my second idea, using wire, by looking back at the wire experiments I did at the beginning of the year. I though wire would be good material to use because of its availability, its choice and because it is easy to use and manipulate. I chose plywood for similar reasons. My design changed quite often throughout the process because of problems I encountered or because I simply changed my mind slightly. This is all part of the process and helped me develop my skills further. The overall outcome wasn’t what I expected. After drilling the holes, I realised the plywood had splintered on the back causing it to look rather messy. If I were to do this again I would consider using a different type of wood and sanding the wood after drilling the holes so that the outcome would look neater and the paint would be applied easier. This project allowed me to practice using a jigsaw, which I struggle with and I will continue to practice producing more clean work. I chose to do 3 different shaped leaves to add some variation which I am glad I did, although I wish I took that one step further and used a different shade of green on each leaf. If these were to be mass produced the cutting stage would all be done by machine such as a laser cut. This would speed up the process and also guarantee accurate, professional looking work.