Leslie Martin: Milling

For the milling project, I decided to make an inverse imprint of a foot. With the milled result, I can cast it, make vacuum forms, or possibly even make an imprinting stamp.

I first modeled the foot in Maya using polygons, then converted the polys to subdivs, and subdivs to NURBS. transition left me with a gross pinched surface on the back, but I intended to cut that face off anyway so it didn't matter.  I exported the NURBS surface as an .IGES file, and imported it into Rhino.  I did a Boolean union to put the backplate on the foot, which got rid of the pinched back and gave the foot some context.

Maya Polygons

Maya NURBS

Rhino final file

The idea behind this project is that I can use this foot to make imprints in materials like some weird creature has been there, or I can use it as in inverse footprint (more would be created with vacuum forming) and make it seem like these creatures are walking on the other side of the Earth's crust, and making inverse imprints on our side.

For the keyshot render, I used materials that look man-make as if it were an installation piece. This is because the backplate makes it obvious that it is not a real footprint, and it could be a statement about the unknown.

Keyshot

For the sculptural setting, I chose a flat cobblestone background on which to place the foot. It is actually in a parking space in the image, which is understandable because were it a large sculpture I would want to place it in a spot that is out of the ordinary.  I want to make people think- what good is a piece of art if it doesn't serve a purpose? Placing it in a parking space would at least make someone question what it is and why it is there, and that questioning is the first step towards rationalizing.  Rationalizing requires thought, so even if the spectator comes to an entirely different conclusion than was intended, my work is successful.

Keyshot sculptural setting

If there were more options that I knew how to use in keyshot, it would have been interesting to give the foot a dirt texture and place it in the woods or on a barren plain, making it seem like there actually were creatures walking upside down from us underneath the Earth's crust.  It would be funny to see the reactions of spectators viewing such a sculpture.

I will post a better Keyshot render (with passes) later.