Offering up a new way to create art, London-based Poligon has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for its self-titled sculptures. The foldable metal sculptures are known to be inspired by the animal kingdom.
Explaining the cool art kit, the Poligon team noted, “We’ve created a set of animal sculptures inspired by someone of the most wonderful creatures on earth. We have taken their form and simplified it whilst keeping their identity. We then take these 3D forms and develop them into foldable metal sculptures. The metal sculptures arrive in flat sheet form.”
Each individual component is chemically etched to product perfectly cut parts. The creators made sure to also etch in fold lines that will make it very easy to achieve great results of each sculpture.
The magnets are already fixed on the sheet, that way the individual elements of the sculpture are quickly assembled into the final piece. This process is achieved by hand and does not need any additional tools.
Describing how they created the sculptures, the team wrote, “We use a process called photo chemical machining (also known as photo etching). It is a chemical milling process used to fabricate sheet metal components using a photoresist and etchant to corrosively machine away selected areas. The process is amazing – flat metal sheets are covered with a chemical resistive film. The film is super precise – covering areas you want to keep. If you cover both sides the sheet is kept fully, cover one side and leave a gap the other you get a half cut on one side. Have gaps lined up on both sides and you get a hole – or you cut out a shape. We cut out sheets and leave half cuts for fold lines.”
“It’s actually an ancient method of very intricate detailing on metal. Chemical etching was used regularly in Europe during the fifteenth century when it was used to decorate suits of armour. The earliest reference to this process describes an etchant made from common salt, vinegar and charcoal acting through a hand scribed mask of linseed oil paint. The process is still used for decoration but advances in accuracy mean it is used in a wide variety of applications from the automotive industry to the space industry to air filtration (you can etch thin sheet so finely that it can filter air!).”
The first of the sculptures include:
- Penguin
- Gorilla
- Hump Back Whale
The team revealed, “We have also developed a range of insects especially for Kickstarter. They are simpler designs with no magnets. Each insect is one sheet that is folded by hand. Some folds are small and supply folding tools for these when necessary.”
Set to close on October 24th, the campaign has received well over its original goal and raised over £25,000 from close to 315 backers.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!