Materials Project: AVM Difficulties

Okay so it is 11:30pm the night before this project is due and I am desperately scrambling to put my light diffuser together. I had planned to do the entire project on Saturday but I had difficulties in my mold making and ended up only being able to finish the molds in that whole day's work. I then spent Sunday molding the sugar but found that it was near impossible to get out of the molds before it sets and letting them set in the mold makes it shatter when you remove them. Through the week I tried various methods for molding this sugar. I tried breaking the mold off, which worked decently but made each cast have a slight variation in shape. I then tried to spraying oil in the molds, which only made a huge mess and made them impossible to firmly hold together. In the end I found a semi- successful method involving lots of sugar-coated masking tape, completely broken molds, and a technique involving sliding a piece of card stock under the mold while holding it at a particular angle.

I made about 30 slices, only to have ten mostly-together pieces. I made 3 main pieces, as each takes about 30 minutes to pack in the mold correctly. I have broken more pieces than I choose to share and screamed profanity at a material I never thought I could hate. There is at least a cup of sugar ground in to my poor carpet and it somehow made its way into my sheets. I have a broken spirit and several hand injuries (not having to do with this project but they don't help in delicate processes with sugar). I am attempting to glue the slices into their slits as I type and I have a feeling this will not be up to par with my intentions. If this piece makes it through crit I will thank whichever Gods I have to.

All in all it was a good experience in dealing with a crystalline material. I appreciate the knowledge I gained and enjoyed researching the innovative uses of sugar out there in the world. I don't, however, like my end result. This aside, the project was a success in researching and understanding the limitations and possibilities of a base material.