Fusion Melted Plastic Chandelier P1

So for the third Chandelier in my room I have a conundrum. My other fixtures are so dark. The plastic, thought translucent, really mutes the light. And this third light is the main source of light in my room for getting dressed and seeing the room; I've gotten used to the absurd brightness of 3 bare bulbs. So it just cannot be so dark. Let's take a step back before we face that dilemma:

I was walking through Ikea's warehouse very shortly after Christmas of 2015 when I saw ornaments were marked down to almost nothing. I saw some ornaments that looks like crystal chandelier pieces that had been painted. I immediately wanted them. But I'd need so many for my project! Luckily they were marked from $7 for a pack of 8 kinds to 99 cents! So naturally I bought 32 packs of them in gold. I then took them all out of their plastic packaging, organized them by shape and shoved them into grocery bags for storage...18 months of storage.



Shopping list ($74):
32 packs of 8 Vintermys Gold ornaments in 7 shapes (see above)
3 large purple swirl bowls 9 small purple swirl bowls
6 tall purple flared bowls
9 small purple flared bowls
6 large purple flared bowls
Of course: a heat gun. Maybe a glue gun, too.


So going back to our light intensity conundrum. My other lamps are plastic almost all the way around the bulb. I decided maybe this time I could let more light through by making the chandelier only be melted plastic on certain sides, the lovely gold pieces hanging on the other sides, distracting from the bulbs within without blocking so much light. I also considered buying clear plastic and interspersing it with the purple - but I like the more saturated effect for my room's Arabian Nights theme.

So for months and months I've delayed the project because I wasn't sure how to design it. This is a big step up for me - utilizing the melted plastic AND the ornaments together - it's not something that's easy to find and duplicate from the internet. Chihuly seems never to have had a crystal phase. Gah!

I decided my design would be a circle (oval) or large open purple pieces at the top along the ceiling. A point of small bud-like pieces at the bottom would be connected to the top by multiple levels of hanging gold pieces on circles, cascading down from the top to the point.

First I started just melting as some of this plastic I've never melted before - I wanted to see how it'd behave under the heat.
 
Once I had melted down all the large pieces I made a lump (with old jeans) in my drop cloth to mold the top oval part around.

The overlap was difficult - these new blue purple pieces did NOT want to stick to each other or the other redder purple plastic. Ugh - it look forever and a lot of finger burns to make these pieces stick together.

I left it like that - still not sure how I wanted it to look. My Artist's block was stubborn and when I run at that wall, it has maybe shaken but never crumbled. So I left it for 2 months all over my bedroom floor to basically shame myself into finishing the art.

Then one night It was dim in my room and I missed my depth perception. And I kicked the piece. It cracked - leaving jagged edges. I felt something break inside of me. Dammit. It can't be fixed. and then the next day I hit it with my foot again - more damage. Eventually it all broke down and I felt like - ugh! I just need to put it all together and make an organic piece of my soul. Whatever comes out I'll cover it in the gold stuff and get it done. Somehow I'll make it work. I'll let it stream from my somewhere and allow it to be. Worst thing that happens? I throw it out and stay in my current situation. Or I just use the gold pieces. Whatever. It will work. Here goes nothing...

Molded Plastic Lighting

I was going to hold this post until I was done with the final lighting installment but at this time I'm having artist's block. So - I'm going to write this for now and try again soon. Basically, I was inspired by Chihuly and my past project melting plastic to make some translucent light fixtures out of melted plastic.

So one thing adults do in the privacy of their rooms makes you want to not have too much harsh lighting. And pink light makes the skin look best. So I set out to make a full bed canopy with a light in the center. You know, to set the mood. I spent a few days on a ladder draping fabric and came out with this view from laying inside my bed (disclaimer: I was really into snapchat at the time):

Buying list ($19) for this chandelier was as follows: 

One package of 20 pink cups 

One large red bowl 

Six small red bowls

First I made the large bowl into a center base. If you need to know how to use a heat gun please see my previous post. So I heated the edges down to flatten and create textural interest. Then I heated the center so much it became a large hole. That's where the light bulb hangs. I then heated the small red bowls much the same way - flattened and textured - but I accidentally gave them holes in the center, too. So I used the bottoms of the glasses to fill them in. Honestly I think it looks stupid - like a demented wheel. But luckily for me that part (the top) is less visible because of the drapery.
Then I melted down the cups - I would heat them, so they became a little wonky - remember: "textural interest" and then I'd stick them to the bottom of the big bowl in an overall conical shape. I kind of sat the chandelier top upside down and then pushed a bunch of wonky cups together so they formed a nice gradual point - then I heated them so they stuck together. Making sure they stuck together was a terrible time - many scorched fingers as the cup plastic isn't as "sticky" as the bowl plastic. Finally I made sure any large holes (mainly where the 'wheels' hit the base big bowl) were covered with the cup bottoms. And it was done!

 

Once I had finished, I hung it - this took forever and so much balance on top of a stool on my bed. At one point I fell down and the lamp fell and broke into two pieces so I had to stop and fix it. Crying may have ensued. Why do I make my life difficult? The pictures below are me holding the completed chandelier (that's my hand inside it showing where the bulb sits), and views from laying in the center of the bed staring straight up with the chandelier off and the bedroom light on, then with chandelier on and bedroom light off. 

I think it's pretty boss. And so does really everybody else. Every person who has gotten lucky (pun intended) enough to see it has been like "HOLY FREAKING WHAT. THIS IS CRAZY AWESOME." And the red light from it makes it seem like I'm blushing under compliment - when really I'm drinking that ego stroke in like "oh yeah, tell me I'm great again." Even my Mom, who I had talked to about it repeatedly, and also gives a lot of (deserved) side eye to my crazy projects, asked me why I was doing a real people job instead of putting my art in the MoMA when she saw it waiting to be hung up. Yeah, I was pretty smug about that. 

But as a disclaimer, heat guns are VERY hot. I sustained a large burn during this project that, 11 months later, is still visible. I also burned straight through my multiple layers of canvas drop cloth and burned my carpet. (strangely enough I was able to clean the burn out of the fibers....still not sure exactly how...seems wrong.) So don't try this at home without proper precautions - like a covering clothes and a substantial drop cloth/ floor you don't care about.

So the second lamp is blue (my bedroom is mildly "Arabian nights" themed - decadent drapery, jewel tones {Reds for the canopy, Blues for the desk/shelves, Purple closet/bedding} and Gold accents.) The light sits above where I should keep my desk - that's a long story I might tell in this blog in the future if I even find a good arrangement for my furniture. But the desk is dark blue, the shelves go from medium blue to very light aqua.

On a very snowy day I got everything out and prepared. The $22 buying list is:

One package of 20 royal blue wine glasses

One large Aqua bowl

3 Small blue bowls

6 small aqua bowls

So I started with some sketches this time around (snapchat actually helped here):

I, of course, melted down the big aqua bowl as a base with a hole burned into the center. Then gave the cups and bowls some melty texture (flipped the base on it's head) and started making them into a conical shape. 

 

Finally I finished it by breaking the dark blue bowls into thirds and attaching them to the top of the base. It's not my favorite choice. But it's hung up now and Done is better than favorite. The lamp really blunts the light that it puts out now. (This is the reason for my artist's block as the next lamp is the main light of my room and I need it to put out a generous functional amount of light.)

Here are videos of the lights going on an off so you can see! (They do have sound...so mute as you like)
 

Heat Gun going Gaga

Convocation? at a normal college: Some faculty and newbie students with their parents listening to the President recite statistics and predict never-ending greatness. SNOOZEFEST.

Convocation at Smith College? Grab a bottle of Liquor, interpret your house's "theme" with a costume that features the most skin you feel comfortable showing, get ready to chant and scream.

Oh and if you're a senior you'll need a hat. Seniors wear hats.

During my senior year our theme for Lamont Haus was Lam-ady Gaga. I was stoked and I set to work finding an appropriate way to costume up. (This was still in the Bad Romance Phase of her career).

I stumbled across this as my inspiration:

And I was off.
I could make that - right? It's just melted plastic... And my mom already had a heat gun!

Now what's really a pity is: I think I've thrown out the original sketches I made. It has been over 5 years. UPDATE! I found the original sketch - It was in my old folio. FTW!

So I went to Party City and bought the following:
1 Pack of Big Dark Purple Plates
1 Pack of Small Lavender Party Plates
4 Small Purple Bowls
1 Large Purple Bowl
Phantom Mask
1 Purple Lei
1 Box of lilac rose petals that apparently aren't sold there anymore?

Anddddd.... I started melting on my mother's back porch! You do that by moving the heatgun like a hair dryer in back and forth motions - if you heat just one spot it will melt through and the nearby plastic (still cold and hard) won't give so the hot spot with melt straight through and pull apart. I have done this on purpose but for this project - no good! Do about 4-6" sections at a time or the bottom of a whole bowl.
I first took the large bowl and melted it to make it fit my head a little better. If I'd been smarter I would have just bought a plastic hard hat as a base- then it would have fit, been more sturdy, and not given me sore spots/headaches.

I then added the "stems" of the flowers by "folding" the big plates and adhering them to the base. Then overlapping a small folded plate to gain height. The center is a melted small bowl on the top.

The front flower got an extra layer of small bowl because I had an extra small bowl.

The inner petals were made from small plates pressed into upper stem.

And then you can see the outer petals being installed. You can see the process I had to go through to remove the icky patterning around the edges before I affixed and shaped them.

Then I made some extra head support with 2 plates on the back and side.

Then I hot glued the fake rose petals and the dark purple flowers from a lei to make the face piece on top of a phantom of the opera mask. And the night of? I used a lace ruffle to secure it, using my neck of course. I'm all about safety. The rest of the costume (again - a shame you can't see the original sketches! BUT YOU CAN!) is lace that was put on my body by spray adhesive (ill advised!) and excess petals that are literally hot glued to my body. I still have scars. (Don't try this at home, folks.)

And a great convocation was had by all!

I then used the hat for rally day and to win $150 Halloween masquerade contest.

And finally after 5 years together it made it into the recycling. A long life for plastic plates and bowls. But it will always be my first plastic melting project that make my think of myself as crafty.