Woodshop Project

This was my favorite project so far out of everything I've done in all my classes. I worked on this project for well over a total of 30 hours over two weeks.

The assignment was to create a 3-D piece (some students did performance art and/or interactive installations) using 2x4's and cardboard. To give us a starting point, we wrote a fictional story about a society or group of people. We then made the 3-D piece based of of some element of the story or society. I wrote a fictional story about a society on a different planet called the Utabis society. These people have octagonal based architecture. The octagon fits their society perfectly because the Utabis buildings function on both land and in outer space. The octagons fit together for structure and expansion on land, but offers more volume per surface area (which is good for living in space) than a rectangular prism shape. I see the octagon as the perfect compromise between the circle and the square. The number eight lends itself to symmetry and stability. I wanted to explore the properties of the number eight and the octagon. The official name for the 3-D shape that uses squares and triangles to make a polyhedron with octagonal axises is a rhombicuboctahedron. I repeated these forms throughout the sculpture.

My final piece is on the left with a detail on the right. Its best to see it in person. In the critique, peers and my professor Mike Treffehn said it evoked a solar system, atoms, Stonehenge, spheres in societies, eggs, the qualities of eight and the octagon, a compass, and more. The large wooden shape in the center is 16 inches tall. If I could do this project again with more time and materials, I would make it larger and use wood or metal in place of the cardboard and paper.

I learned so much in the wood shop while making this project. It went through many revisions, but I love how it turned out in the end. I think I will submit it to the Foundation Exhibition at Tyler. I wasn't expecting to like my sculptural work better than my 2-D work, but that is how this project went. I wish I had the space in my dorm room to properly display it.

I can't wait for metal sculpture next year when we can weld. I'm glad I took wood shop because I now know how to use all sorts of tools such as the band saw, table saw, drill press, panel saw, and sliding miter saw. I feel empowered when I'm able to make something really well using these tools. I'm glad I can take a break from going to the wood shop everyday though.