Illuminated Box

Our First project of the new semester for Environmental Design class is this illuminated box.  Using the materials such as corrugated cardboard or  foam core, wooden skewers and bristol board we were to create a space.  The space was to be a five-sided box (one side open for viewing).  The interior of the box was to be white.  The dimensions of the box were 12''x 12''x 18'', with one 12'' x 12'' end left open.  By using a remote light source, e.g. desk lamp, flashlight, etc., that shines through a series of openings in the box, we were to create a pattern of light (illuminated space) within the box that divides the space into four parts.  For this project I had to think three-dimensionally, including all three sets of planes:  horizontal/floor, horizontal/overhead, and vertical/wall.  For my box, I wanted to keep it simple, keep it very minimal, because in my mind I envisioned this dark space where the light would do all the talking and give the box life.  Not to mention we were then going to add in the skewers and the bristol board.  So I proceeded to cut three slender and long rectangles on one side of the box.  Those cuts then created a space that was dark, but divided into four parts by light rays seeping through.  I then had to think of a creative way to incorporate these long skinny wooden skewers.  It would be a tricky process because these skewers would then interrupt the light that was already created.  We used the skewers to articulate and modulate (selected) planes of the space to reinforce or complement the illuminated parts of spaces that were created.  As I was working with my box and trying to figure out what to do, I thought to myself, "I want to manipulate this box to do something completely different, I want it to take on a different shape than just being plain and flat on the side that rested on the ground.  So I took my skewers and lined them up with the holes that I had cut, and pierced the box on the top side from the box.  The skewers then went through the inside and came out on the opposite side of the holes.  I did the same number of skewers as I did with the holes (three).  I then took three more skewers and did the exact same thing to the bottom of the box.  This technique created a new skeletal half box that allowed me to pitch my box onto an angle.  This allowed my box to have a corner of the box on the bottom and give my box a sense of floating.
Photo Cited: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2008/08/20/the-second-international-conference-on-music-and-minimalism-looking-for-presentation-proposals/