Studio: Plasma Cutting Experiments After London Inspiration

The off cuts could be filed down and made into work. 

Reflections:

• After being inspired by Misbah Siddique's hanging sculptural metal wall pieces, I was eager to try out the technique for myself. 
• Testing the settings out, I used the tool on a lower power setting the second time and it created a smoother edge, which I prefer. This can also be filed down and polished if I wanted, though I do quite like the rougher edges and the discolouration it leaves. 
• On this test piece, I created a pattern that followed the lines of light and reflections in the steel at that moment in time, which is something I have been liking the idea of within my work, and making the work about the reflections more, and also the process, making it more process-led. 
• As for the discolouration, I quite like the effect it produces and it turns slightly gold toned, though this can be polished out, I don't think I would want to get rid of it all as I really like the multicolour edge details within the material that it creates. 

Developments

• A thicker metal would make more distortion and could work more effectively, but this would be out of my price range for stainless steel, I could use mild steel though but this would not be shiny as stainless steel, and the shiny surface is a key element to my practice. 
• Further developments with this could end up changing the forms of my outcomes, rather than it being a cube form it could go back to a material outcome, or I could add this texture detail to the form of a cube. 
• As the material and processes develop, so does its form, so it will have to all evolve alongside each other.
• The next step would be to experiment with more of this cutting and welding, and then polishing and filing the metal. Perhaps I could go back to my texture research or 'detail within material/ plinth research' where I looked at paint cracks, and instead of go down that route, this method of creating detail within the material works better. 

Further development: Filing and polishing:

• I have filed the upper edge of the lower curved line in this image. This is also the line that I created using the lower power setting on the welding tool. This worked well to create a smoother edge which was easier to file down, and when I polished it it did remove some of the discolouration. If I could get the lines smother during welding, and file it down after, I could get some neat cuts out of the metal. 

Further Designs:

Perhaps I could weld around the shape of a previous piece of work such as this:

Or there is possibilities to go back to my aluminium pieces and cut sections out of that: