Based on my previous promising experiment, I began to continue with other experiments, as I had to leave the agar brain to grow.
I made arrangements to have my 3D brain printed by Adam Sadiq in the Fab Lab studio. Mark mentioned to me that he could hollow out the brain for me, as the software Fusion 360 was a little challenging. Once Mark had successfully hollowed out the brain, he sent it over to me, so I could forward it over to Adam for printing.
In the process of the 3D printing process, I did find that there were multiple stages that took longer than anticipated. The particular material I wanted PLA also known as Polyactic Acid, needed to be ordered in, this took around two weeks to come in, which stalled this process.
Once the material was available, it was able to be printed. During the printing process, there were some issues with the 3D printer. On many occasions the printed had stalled overnight, this was possibly due to the software of the brain.
In the end the brain came out well, however the delayed process made it challenging to fit everything in.
As well as the delays in the printing of my brain, there were also delays due to my Covid 19 diagnosis and my second time self-isolating. These delays did cause several set-backs in my progress; however, through re-adjusting my timeline and making to do lists, helped me to keep track of my progress.
After getting the 3D printed brain, I also needed to drill holes in the brain so that I could thread the plant through the brain.
I booked a meeting at the 3D workshop and worked on drilling holes into the brain. Before arriving, I plotted out several holes on the brain. One big one in the bottom of the brain so the roots can grow out, and then two smaller holes on top of the brain, so that the plant could grow out from the brain.
At first I was slightly concerned if the drill would work with this sort of material, due to the rigidity and durability. However, upon drilling the brain, I found that it worked very well. Once I got home, I took some test shots of plant growing through the brain to see if the plant would fit.
I was really pleased with the look, and considered taking some more professional shots that could be a form of cover picture for the exhibition.
When inserting the plant into the brain, I did find struggle viewing the plants inside the brain, as it was not too transparent. I thought about using lighting inside the brain, so the brain would be more illuminated.
After purchasing the lights, I tried inserting them into the brain, and took some tests shots to see how they would work with the plants. One issue, was considering how I would stick the lights to the brain, as inner surface was quite texturised.
Based on these key insights and experimentations, I found the result looked particularly aesthetic, the only last thing to do was to put it all together.