Magnetic Silicone Screen Update

by sfollmer

My final project is a screen made of cast silicone that has two main properties. First, it is embedded with magnetic material, and second, its form is such there are slits where the material is very thin and the slits have the ability to open into larger apertures if the adjacent slits are pulled back. Combined, these two properties allow the screen to modulate based on the position of an array of exterior magnets. The exterior magnets will be on a system of rotating rods that can be individually controlled to change which apertures are open or closed.

Currently, I’m trying to determine the best scale for the project…a large enough array to get a sense of the object as a screen, but not too large to make it unfeasible.

PROCESS IMAGES:

Basic mock-up of design:


Experiments in embedding silicone with iron powder:






Trimmed silicone:


Testing the silicone with magnets:

Mock-up of the rotational device:

DIAGRAMS:

Casting Method 1:

Casting Method 2:

Full Assembly:

PLAN OF ACTION:

this week:

– mill test MDF surface

– test best method of embedding iron (innie versus outie pocket)

– mill final MDF surface

– cast iron-embedded-silicone

next week:

– construct plexi frame

– assemble wire and magnet elements

– final assembly