So just because I wanted to try something new - I thought I'd try working with plastic.

In my previous project I'd made some little curved plastic experiments and it made me wonder whether if you used clear plastic there would be a way of shining a light through it and making some sort of pattern. You can see the plastic sculptures from the City project here.

I found an acrylic sheet that someone printed on and discarded to the scrap pile. Using the heating element in a vacuum former it melted and dropped into a bowl shape, with the surface bubbling and stretching (so cool!).

It cooled down pretty quickly and I took the opportunity to put it on the projector. It made some great patterns as you can see if you scroll below:

the sheet melted and dropped into a bowl-like shape

a very blurry close up :)

in the vacuum former

before

through projector

Not sure though how I will actually be able to use this idea. I really want some pattern in the work and I like the idea that it can come from the way you frame the light source. Overall, I think the plastic will be too difficult to source and work with, but it was a cool experiment!