COMPING TECHNIQUES - Trials and Errors
In any project, whether it be a high-school art project or a commissioned painting on the Sistine chapel, there will always be setbacks. Why? Put simply, life is unpredictable. I like to think of setbacks as challenges that push me to go farther, work harder, and think faster.
And so it was we encountered a setback last Monday, when trying to execute our mannequin installation.
We started by wrapping the mannequin in wire, and planned to detach it afterwards and reassemble it independently. However, this proved to be harder than we expected. While the wrapping part was quite easy, taking it off proved to be a challenge. For one, our wire wasn't stiff enough. And secondly, we did not have enough of it.
We used paper tape to hold the wires in place indefinitely---our plan was to reattach them later with metallic adhesives or superglue. Then we cut the backside of the mannequin, which proved to be fatal.
This is us trying to achieve some sort of cohesiveness with our installation. Although it faintly resembles a body, we were NOT satisfied with the results and decided to revamp the idea.
Plan B and C.
In Plan B, we pretty much go forward with our original idea, but use different materials---chicken wire. This is denser and harder to mold, but will provide sound structure.
Plan C, however, uses chicken wire only for the torso and head, and newspaper/tape for the rest of it.
At first, I must admit I was averse to Plan C. I didn't think the idea of using newspaper and duct tape was polished enough. However, I realised it was better---it will work faster, and newspapers aren't hard to come by. Furthermore, it's more "comping", whereas our initial idea may be a little bit too "abstract" for some. So, we decided to go forward with Plan C.
Overall, I am unsatisfied with Monday's outcomes, but it has to happen sometime. I think we've all gained a better understanding of the materials, as well as how to manage our time better. We also learned how to keep our heads in a crisis, and how to improvise. The last one is especially crucial, since things almost never go to plan no matter what you're doing, so it's good to always have backup plans, or at least the ability to generate one on the spot, whenever the need arises.