Ivy Donnette: Pepakura Model

I created a new model that would make more sense in a large size for this project. During my undergrad I created a 2" copper hollow-form dice with screws as the pips which was the starting place for this dice. I chose to build off the idea of a dice because of their inherent tactile quality and I wanted to play on that by enlarging it exponentially. 

The new model gave me a bit of a hard time when I uploaded it to Papakura due to the way I constructed the model. After several frustrating tries to make the model unfold in a way that made sense, I decided to separate out each mesh instead of trying to unfold the object as a whole. This change also made construction pretty simple.    

Because a dice is something people want to pick up and roll, I wanted to play on that by adding a rough texture to the dice’s exterior. I thought about using sand paper but felt that there was a better option. I decided on coarse sand that would then be painted. Amanda suggested mixing sand with glue as a way to adhere sand to the cardboard but I was concerned that the glue would prevent the texture of the sand from being as rough as I want it so I decided to brush glue onto the box then sprinkle the coarse sand onto the glue.

The sand also allowed the tape and seams fade away. I didn't want it to look like separate objects taped together. After the dice was covered in the sand, I spray painted it gold. The gold paint creates a feeling of importance and value even though it’s just cardboard. The phrase I thought of as I covered the dice in gold was “false decadence”.    

Paint and sand has chipped off as I transported it to campus and as I struggled to wrangle the dice out of my car. I wanted the dice to be perfectly covered but realized that the mangled and chipped edges added to the reality of the false decadence.