2019
Spilled
Sonia Zhang
Metal Letters
Class: Space + Materiality
Professor: Shari Men
The metal letter project originated from a word that our professor asked us to think of while set in a specific scenario. The word I chose was emotion. Therefore, we first needed to draw the letters on a piece of paper and then orient it to express the word to feel how it should be. Then by using metal sheets, we transform this 3-dimensional figure into a metal material sculpture.
During this process, I learned many new tools as well as metal sheet material. It was easy to break if you mishandled it when trilling holes on it, and it was not as flexible as I thought it would be. Making the holes within letters such as “e,” “o,” and “a,” etc., was definitely not the best part of the project since it was a challenging thing to experience. Assembling the pieces was faster than I thought it would be, which was shocking for me. Other than the process of this piece, I incorporated many forms of how the metal can hold, zig-zag-shaped lines, curved lines, and twisted waves. While exploring these different forms a metal sheet can hold, it was nonetheless a delightful experience.
