New Materials and Scrim

Testing Flexibility of Materials

Currently, I am experimenting with the flexibility of the materials I have chosen to use in order to determine where my experimentation will develop to next. 

I decided that the best way to test the flexibility of the material was to test it on another flexible material.
Scrim was the material I chose to use because of how it is made up. Rather than being a strong material, the different strands that make up the net like form are very loose and can be pulled apart very easily. this means that even when coated in plaster, the material will still move below.

The first material I tested was a mix of sugar and water. I mixed it so that it wasn't to dry or wet,but just in the middle where the granules would make a thick liquid. I applied it in a thin layer and spread it across evenly and left it to dry.

The next material I chose to use was sand. I had doubts about this material already, knowing that it could be knocked loose very easily when dry, and was probably the most like to crumble when tested.

I added small amounts of water until it was the desired consistency, similar to the sugar and water mix, and then applied it to the scrim. 

In comparison to the sugar and water mix, the sand didn't apply as smoothly to the scrim, and would easily pull up if spread to thin.
I also made another mix using both the sand and the sugar and water mix together.The colour it produced was a lot darker than that of just the sand alone, and it also took the longest to dry.

One of the to sand experiments I made was put outside to dry, while the other was left ith the rest inside.

I also mixed ink and the sugar/ water ix together to see if it would affect the drying time. It didn't.

Finally, the last material I tested was clay, knowing that when it dried without the proper conditions it would crack. I put this experiment outside to dry because otherwise it would have taken a long time.

My conclusions from this experiment:

• Sand: The outside experiment dried quick but as predicted would flake off and crumble when the scrim was bent and moved. The inside experiment took a lot longer to dry, but would already crack and crumble when moved.
• Clay: Dried quick because it was outside. It had surprising flexibility because it had been pressed into the strands of the scrim. when the scrim was bent it would crack, but it didn't crumble off of the scrim.
• Sugar/ Water mix: Dried the quickest despite its appearance, which was wholly unchanged. When the scrim as bent, it would flake off, and took on a crystalized form. 
• Sugar/Water + Sand: Colour of the sand became darker when added to the sugar/water mix. Took the longest to dry.