Hey there! Last week we blogged about our trip to Thieves’ Market, this week, it’s time to realise what we’ve envisioned – making an animal out of junk (there probably is a nicer word for this, but let’s be realistic, they are junk).

I wanted to make a bird, and here it is!

I was initially unsettled at first as I thought that the materials I had scavenged wasn’t enough or ideal, but I am pretty happy with my end product!

I started off with the giant spoon and the tail feathers, cutting up pipe for the feathers. I liked how they turned out and how I could organise them differently for the feathers to fan out differently. During the process, I also noticed how you cut the pipe (inner/outter) affects how it curls (outwards or downwards).

 

I knew I wanted to use the forks for the legs. Initially I was afraid to bend them in fear of breaking them. Being careful not to over bend and break the utensils, I made the decision to pose the legs apart, so the sculpture can stand and look more dynamic all at the same time solving my initial problem. It is regretful that one of the toe broke as I was trying to pose it to look like it was propping up.

 

Aaaand meep meep! It looks like the road runner!

I knew the creature I had in mind existed, but I couldn’t find what it was until I actually started with the sculpture.

The general idea of how I wanted to use the materials maintained, though the head and base of the sculpture were pretty much impromptu.

Let’s talk a tad more about the base which I thought was a rather smart and resourceful solution. I needed something to hold the forks, so I was walking around class scavenging for something someone didn’t need. I found the left over metal bowl of a tea-light candle – perfect! Cutting two slits on opposite sides, I slid the forks in and topped it with hot glue.

Ah yes, not to mention, initially my bird had door knocks for wings, but I deemed them unnecessary because without them, my idea was still conveyed and after all, less is more, right?

The whole project was stuck together by hot glue gun, which worked amazingly well. However, I could have been much more careful with it (to avoid screaming profanities as the hot glue touches my skin), as well as improving the workmanship of the sculpture.

All in all, this project was fun to make and it turned out surprisingly well, in my opinion.

I was really rather clueless with all these junk that I procured at first.

Last but not least, this sculpture was really cool. With more practice, perhaps my project could also have been way more abstract.