For the insect I based my creation loosely on a Golden Tortoise Beetle insect. I wanted to replicate this shape but in different colours using colourful drinks cans. For the metal I chose a Monster drinks can that I saved to create the main body and wings for the creature. I chose this because it was colourful and had an interesting pattern that I could envisage being used to represent the shell of the beetle. As I wanted to recycle material to use in this projected the can was a good choice as it would have just been thrown away. It was also ideal for what I wanted because the illustration design of the can was just what I was looking for to make the shell of the beetle because it had a very bold design.
The can was made of aluminium which made is quite soft and could be cut with ordinary scissors although it had to be handled with care as the edges of the cut metal became quite sharp. I made the shape of the beetle by using a wooden former and tapping the metal around it with a hammer.
I then added a wire mesh over the wings this was cut twice the size to allow it to be folded around the tin wings to give the effect of the wing structure that I had seen in some primary research. I also added a lower section of the body of a second layer to give it more structure. For the legs I use metal which I flatten and shaped in to a S shape this gave it a more stable structure and it also looked like the insect that I based it on.
In deciding how to make this project I wanted to use my inspiration for the piece from the beetle in that in that it did not look perfectly symmetrical also I wanted to use the random colour combinations on the recycled can to add extra interest and to make the design my own.
I was inspired by Victor Vasarely and Carlos Cruz-Diez when making my final piece, Vasarely inspired me by the way he would shape objects in his pieces and how they would warp around his artworks. I used Vasarely’s pieces as examples and decided that the insect shell should look more dented and warped rather than perfect and whole, I did this by using wooden hammer to make the insect piece more dented which also looked more accurate to the Golden Tortoise Beetle. I took inspiration from Diez who’s work is mainly about colour and how it is viewed, I chose to use that aspect by making the wings of the insect look almost faded, I did this because it made the wings look more realistic with them not being completely solid but I also wanted at add colour to the wings so I added a mesh to displace the colours and give it a more interesting look.
Reflecting on my finished product I was pleased with how it was built structurally as it held together well even though the final piece was quite heavy. If I remade this product I would not used the Iron Brew can again as I did not like the effect of the lettering which was too bold and tonally did not match with the Monster can material. Also I would like to improve the shape of the beetle wings to make them more like the source material. I would also like to experiment with gold or other metallic finish as the beetle actually looked like it had a metal shell.
James Artwork 