Themed Fabrication Design
In the Cave of the Shark King
My goal for my senior capstone project was to design and fabricate an immersive installation piece for visitors to experience, complete with lighting and audio. This piece takes a fantastical twist on deep sea hydrothermal vents and the creatures that live near them, bringing viewers face to face with the Shark King in his cave.
March-May 2023
Preliminary Sketches
1/2" Scale Drawings
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Creating the Shark and the Throne
Moving from planning into fabrication, I started by creating full scale drawings to reference while making the shark and the hydrothermal vent throne he is sitting on. From those, I started building PVC pipe bases to support the chicken wire.
Originally I had wanted the shark to be connected to his throne from his side so the support pipe wouldn't be as visible from the front. The shark ended up being too heavy so I made changes to the base so he was supported from below instead. The throne was built in two pieces for easier transportation.
Paper Mache and Painting
Once the everything was sculpted from the chicken wire, I started adding layers of paper mache. It didn't stick to the wire as well as I thought so I had to let one side dry before I could work on the other side. Once everything was covered, I used a paper mache clay mixture to get rid of visible chicken wire texture. I also used this to sculpt the shark's gills and eyes. I used crumpled paper to add more texture to the upper part of the vents.
Creating the Rock Interiors
Making the "infinity rocks" was one of the trickiest parts of this project. I had to build the rocks from the inside out to get the effect I wanted. I used two double sided mirrors so when lit up from the inside, the rocks look deeper than they actually are.
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I started by making frames out of the chicken wire to hold the mirrors in place. I attached chicken wire tubes to these frames, which would be the interiors of the rocks. I paper mached the insides, leaving holes to place the corals and tube worms. The tube worms were sculpted from polymer clay and the corals were cast in resin. To create a mold I sculpted a coral from clay and poured silicone around it.
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Creating the Rock Exteriors
After completing the interiors, I closed up the open ends with the other mirrors and cardboard for extra support. I drilled holes inside the corals to insert the lights and glued them in place.
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I built the exteriors of the rocks with chicken wire based on full scale patterns I made. Since the LED lights are battery powered I made holes in the backs of the rocks and made pockets for the battery packs to sit in. After the rocks were constructed, it was just like finishing the shark. I covered the rocks in paper mache, then the clay mixture, then I painted them. At the last minute I added some corals to the outside of one of the rocks. I felt like it pulled the project together.
