March 2019

Part 1: The 4 study objects

Puncture: The way the straws are strung is as though the string punctures through. Also, Because the straws are held at one end, when squeezed together, it looks explosive, like the aftermath of puncture.

Wrap:

The weaved ball wraps around a styrofoam ball. Even though, the ball is wrapped up, the weave pattern allows people to see what is inside.

Slide:

The individual blue rectangles can be moved along the string. Its an interactive object.

Bind:

Instead of binding 2 objects together, I chose to incorporate bind as part of the weave. This weave pattern is created by binding string together at a point alternately.

Part 2:

Based on the study objects, I wanted to incorporate more than one element. It led me to think of a fidget toy that a child would normally play with. Since it needs to be a vessel, I decided to incorporate this idea into a box meant for children to carry around and store their things, at the same time putting in some interesting elements tailored for children.

Process:

Before I started weaving the basket, I had to cut the rattan into strips of identical length form the base weave. After cutting the strips, I realised that the strips were too curly to work with so I decided to soak them in water to straighten the strips. After the strips dried, they became straighter and easier to work with.

After I had the ideal number of strips, I laid them below a box that has the measurements and size which I wanted my box to be. I added rattan strips until the size of the base weave is that of what I wanted.

I realised that if I used the close weave for the base as shown above, after I fold them up to form the sides, there will be gaps in between the weaves and the gaps will be uneven in terms of size for each side. As such, I decided to space out the weave as shown below so that when folded up, the gaps in the weaves on the side panels will be more evenly distributed.

Before having the box shape, I light damp the base with water so that when the lose ends of the weave folds up, the area where it bents will not snap. In order to weave the box, I taped the lose ends of the weave to the styrofoam container as shown below. This will help to hold the box shape while I weave in the rattan strips to build up the height of the box.

After trying to weave in the first strip, I realised that it would be very difficult to do so. The strip then is being weaved in doesn’t have a defined shape and and cannot hold the box shape in place. Hence I decided to prepare rattan strips that has already been bent and measured to size to insert into the base weave pattern, as shown below. It holds the shape well.