ChemVAS

ChemVAS = Chemistry + Art Visual Study

Periodic Table Story Book

Dentist (1).pptx

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Dentist Discovery is about a boy named Terry that has an upcoming chemistry test and goes to the dentist and dreams about his typical school day. While he's dreaming, the alkali metals of the periodic table appear whenever he comes into contact with them. He learns about their characteristics and where they're found. He wakes up and feels more prepared for his test.

The alkali metals have various characteristics: highly reactive, silvery in color, malleable, soft, low melting points, low densities, and good conductors. They are located in group 1 and periods 2-7 and include lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium.

This video was made with some stop motion which is similar to gifs in that frames are changed slightly so that it appears as if it is moving. In reality, many pictures are taken of the same frame and the main idea is the only part that moves. In this, it's important to not move the main frame so that it isn't moving when the gif is playing.

We decided to do it this way so that the story could be relatable to the ones that see it. We wanted it to apply to someone's daily life so that it could be easier to remember where the elements are found.

Through this project, I learned about where the alkali metals could be found in everyday life, their characteristics, and how detail-oriented stop motion is. It was difficult to combine the audio and the slides because I used an alternate method to what we were instructed to do.

Textiles Art Experiences

Friendship Bracelets

I gave it to a friend that I don’t see very often and they were thankful for the gift. It might have been more touching if I said what the quote was on the bracelet before I gave it to them. I learned that there are a variety of ways to make a friendship bracelet, whether that be through two, three, or four strings of yarn/twine. The quote on the bracelet says “It’s okay not to be okay” because sometimes life doesn’t go the way you wanted it to and that’s okay.

Loom Weaving

I learned how to loom weave yarn without using an actual loom but with only a piece of cardboard. I started off with lines of twine going in and out of the cardboard with cuts that I made in it. I then weaved yellow and pink strings of yarn in and out of the twine and this is the end result. If the cardboard was much longer, I may have been able to make a scarf.

Knotting

These types of Chinese knots can be made for good luck or decoration. When making a special type of knot, it’s important to not let it unravel while you are tying because everything can become undone. One hand is used to keep the strings down while the other is used to make the knots.

Net Making

Net making involves tying and twist a series of knots repeatedly. You start off with one string and tie knots using more string to make the pattern and continue it for however long the string is. Net making can be seen with the Gullah people in South Carolina that used nets to catch their food but it has its roots in Africa.

Knitting

Knitting with a loom makes the process of knitting very straightforward. For a beginner like myself, I found the process to be easier once I knew what I was supposed to do. Yarn was wrapped around the looms and once you had two levels, the bottom one was taken off the loom. I had made bracelets and other figures from using a loom and rubber bands as a kid so the process was somewhat familiar.

Dyeing

I drew a series of lines that created parallelograms on a bandana with clear Elmer’s glue. After it was dry, it was rinsed and dyed red and orange and left to dry. Typically after it dries the next step would be to remove the glue. The glue prevents the dye from entering and bonding with the fabric that it is put on so when it is taken off, the amount of dye that has entered the fabric with the glue is much less than if it were exposed. The wax printing process can be traced back to an Indonesian method of dying known as batik that uses melted wax instead of glue.

I found the method of wax printing very interesting because I was only familiar with the method used in tie-dying, which did not involve dye-resistant materials. However, I found a few parts difficult throughout the process. Due to the fact that I used clear glue instead of the traditional white, dying was hard to do. I wanted specific colors in certain areas in correlation with the design that I made but I was unable to see the glue. Also, I wish I used more glue because as I was wringing out the fabric from the first rinse before dying, I believe a few strips of glue came off. If I re-did this project I would use white glue, use more glue, and try a different design.

Basket Making

This basket that I was working on was made up of only newspaper. Strips of newspaper were rolled thinly and continuously wrapped around each other until it became a basket. Traditionally, these types of baskets are made out of vines or willow but the focus on this project was using recyclable materials so the material of choice was newspaper.

Pulping

For this project, we made paper from already processed paper that we had left over. It was shredded with water to make pulp that was then put in a flat pan that was filled with water. After that, a screen was inserted to catch the pulp and was removed along with the wet pulp. It was put onto another surface to dry and this is an example of what it would look like.

Making Fibers

This woven basket is made entirely out of newspaper because the focus of this project was to use recyclable materials. Using any recyclable material that we wished to use, our class created pieces that used the techniques that we learned previously before this project(seen above). We learned about the chemistry behind different types of fibers and how the bonds between them affect their reusability. The stronger the bond, the greater the reusability. At first, I considered making a basket out of plastic straws but I changed it to newspaper because it was a more familiar material. Since I’ve made a different type of basket of of newspaper before, I felt more confident in what I could make. I first rolled up strips of newspaper and bonded them close either with tape of glue. Then I followed the steps that you would normally take to make a bramble basket but instead out of newspaper. The sites that I looked at in order to build the basket used different thicknesses of stems but I mostly used the same thickness all around the basket. If I had used different thicknesses, I believe that I might have more success with getting the newspaper to stay close together as I built it. The end result is stable and makes a great basket but I would use different thicknesses to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Impressionism Artwork

Layered Washes - Negative Painting

I painted grapes by using many overlaying layers. I started with a diluted violet that covered the entire paper before I began drawing the first set of grapes. Once everything was dry, I used the same violet to paint around the first set of grapes as well as the rest of the paper. This process continued until I had around four layers of paint.

Observational Drawing

Using the image on the left, I replicated through a drawing that only used markers. I could only use dots and dashes that were less than one centimeter long. This unit focused on the artist, Georges-Pierre Seurat .

Still Life

The task for this assignment was to arrange a still life piece using the items that were in the classroom. Afterwords, I used the image to draw the drawing on the right. I decided to use oil pastels because it would have been my first time working with this medium and I wanted to try to use it. The image itself was difficult to replicate but I was very pleased with how my drawing came out.

ChemVAS Cooks - Albert Einpie

ChemVAS Cooks was an event that showcased the connection between Chemistry, art, and cooking through the preparation of various dishes.

Menu Card & Photo

Lemon Meringue Pie was the chosen dessert for this project and was nicknamed "Albert Einpie" for its white meringue

Ceramics

I made two kinds of ceramic pieces. One is an element tile of the element, Einsteinium, which was assigned to me. I was tasked with combining my element with any relation to food, whether that be the food itself or materials surrounding it. However, due to einsteinium’s limited uses, I didn’t combine its usability with food. Instead, I turned the element into icing coming from a piping bag. The red letters have been made possible by using the piping bag full of frosting that spell out “Es” to represent einsteinium’s symbol on the periodic table. My second piece included a lemon and a few of its slices. Our overall project surrounded the task on making lemon meringue pie so I decided to make a lemon to go along with it.

The process of making the ceramics included many different steps: wedging, forming the shape, drying, bisque firing, glazing, and glaze firing. The first step was mixing and wedging the clay to remove any air bubbles before it is fired. I formed the shapes that I wished to make and allowed them to dry for at least a week before firing so that there isn’t any water left in the clay. After it is bone-dry, it is put into the kiln to be fired and this is the first firing. To add color to my pieces, I used different colored glazes to color it do what I wanted. It was then put in the kiln again to be fired and to allow the glaze to bond to the clay. It also during this step that the pieces received a glossy finish.

I liked the way my lemon centerpiece turned out but I was disappointed that all of the glaze on my element tile did not appear. I’m not sure if it was the glaze that I used or that I didn’t put enough of it on the piece because we had to put three separate layers on before it was finished.

Next time I plan to make sure that I use three layers of glaze on my piece and if I feel like my glaze is faulty, I will switch to another.

Digital Drawing - Gas Laws

I have created an image of someone that has stopped on their road trip to view the surrounding terrain. The objects present represent the different gas laws: Boyle’s law, Charles’ law, and Gay-Lussac’s law. The hot air balloons in the distance represent Charles’s gas law in that the fire under the balloon makes it float. The increased temperature from the fire expands the volume of the balloon, making it float. The tires of the car represent Gay-Lussac’s law by explaining the increased pressure from the warm climate. As the temperature increases, so does the pressure in the tires. The soda can on the ledge represents Boyle’s law because as it was opened the pressure from inside the can was released, causing the volume to increase.

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