Asteroid Fields Forever

As promised, my entire snow day was devoted to homework, which was mostly four classes worth of art history readings. And, thanks to the sweet, sweet internet on top of it, I am even later in posting final sketches. But, to make up for it, I will post the absolutely amazing steel and duct tape necklace models too! 

The left image is the sketch of the asteroid necklace from the last post and the right is the wire model version. Not visible is that there is no chain in back, its entirely wire with a gap to fit around ones neck like a cuff bracelet fits around a wrist. These types of necklaces are as commonplace as this design, though they're usually one plain wire to accomodate a slide pendant. I knew this design was going to be boring: the only way to make it futuristic would be to flip it upside down and wear it on my head for the tiara project next.

Very Silly.

So what if the gap in the necklace wasn't in the back but in the front much like this style here? well then we wind up with this:

Once again the idea isn't agressively bad, it just lacks that certain special sci-fi something. What makes this design leap that extra step?

Zipping right up off the shoulder! Much of science fiction is taking an idea to its extreme limits and that includes all the impractical doodads jutting out of helmets and headdresses of scf-fi costumes, examples I have surely seen, yet what ever terrible movies or book covers they graced have been completely blocked out from my memory. Nevertheless, what started out as a simple desire to melt brass has quickly grown into something stupidly complex, curiously like nearly every other jewelry project I design. I swear I don't plan for these things to be this way!



I'm sure everyone by now has noticed the missing asteroids from the models. This is due in large part to being too afraid to find out how much the extra weight will deform the necklace, and realizing clay does not have the same mass as metal for testing purposes. Plus, I only have five feet of sterling silver wire, which means there are only three 20 inch pieces that aren't quite enough to make it around a neck. So, after much discussion with the professor, we devised the master plan illustrated above and detailed below.

• First, we cast a silver ingot for the back of the neck piece highlighted in blue, and lengthen it with a large asteroid on one end.

• Next, I solder three 20 inch pieces of 12 gauge round dead soft sterling silver (which is in the mail) to the other end then bend and hammer to work harden and shape it. the ingot will provide extra length to keep the necklace on the body and hopefully have more wire rising off the shoulder for a dramatic effect.

• Lastly, melt, reticulate, and drill brass asteroids to string on the wire with spacers of some sort between them.

Right now I'm hoping the necklace comes together as planned, and if im extrodinarily lucky I won't need any of the structural reinforcement ideas on the above sketch, I have no idea how to incoporate them into the piece smoothly. Until next week however it's time to do some reticulation research!