Experiment with Nature » glass http://experimentwithnature.com Shwood Blog Tue, 16 Apr 2019 20:07:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.34 Neon Sculpture by Eric Franklin http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/neon-sculpture-by-eric-franklin/ http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/neon-sculpture-by-eric-franklin/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2014 22:52:25 +0000 http://experimentwithnature.com/?p=3723 Local Portland Sculptor Eric Franklin works in an extremely interesting, if somewhat macabre, medium. He utilizes clear glass tubing, vacuum sealed and filled with noble gases such as neon, krypton, argon, and xenon to create stunning renderings of the human form. The process is extremely tedious and painstaking, sometimes taking thousands of hours per finished piece to ensure that there are no leaks. Any leakage in the joints of the glass connections or molecules inside the sealed piece would affect the reaction of the gases within.

 

 

He uses the glass as a container for light and space, with each piece being unique and unexpected as there is no real way to tell how the gases will coalesce as they work their way around the glass housing. The gases even react to your body’s electromagnetic field and flicker and change as you move close to them.

See the photos below for examples of Eric’s work and follow the links at the bottom for more information.

eric-1 eric-5    skull2-1 skull2-2

Visit Eric’s portfolio site, or watch this Discovery Channel feature to find out more about his work.

]]> http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/neon-sculpture-by-eric-franklin/feed/ 0 Solar 3D Printing http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/solar-3d-printing/ http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/solar-3d-printing/#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:55:36 +0000 http://experimentwithnature.com/?p=232 We just stumbled across this intriguing video by Markus Kayser and were completely blown away.  Everything from the concept, to execution, to the final product is absolutely incredible.  Markus’ inspiring work is the epitome of Experimenting with Nature, and hopefully he will continue to progress this project over time.

Here’s what Markus has to say about the experiment:

In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance.  In this experiment sunlight and sand are used as raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process, that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technology.

Solar-sintering aims to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and trigger dreams of the full utilisation of the production potential of the world’s most efficient energy resource – the sun. Whilst not providing definitive answers this experiment aims to provide a point of departure for fresh thinking.

This project was developed at the Royal College of Art during my MA studies in Design Products on Platform 13.

markuskayser.com

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