Johnathan Jiang
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Form of A Wooden Comb

2024.9 — 2024.12

A deep and thorough exploration of the Form.

Four wooden comb sculptures, top-down

Explored systematically how the form of a wooden comb is through 7 lenses and topics.

Role
Visual explorer
Project type
Graphic
Timeline
3 months
Tools
Photography, Photoshop
Weeks of exploration
12
Visual topics
7
Developed
A system to produce images

View the process book below

Endless Exploration

Throughout the project, the challenge was navigating the unknown, constantly asking "What did I learn from it?" and "What new things can be uncovered?" The documentation process revealed that sometimes it's not about overthinking but letting the act of making drive the thinking. Embrace boldness — moving beyond the comfort zone of seeing the comb as a simple object and exploring more unconventional materials and combinations.

Weekly pin-up

Every week ended the same way: that week's exploration printed in black and white and pinned to the studio wall. Seeing the work at a distance turned the wall into part of the process — patterns emerged, dead ends became obvious, and the next week's direction usually announced itself.

Pin-up wall — woven fabric textures and close-ups of comb teeth printed in black and white Pin-up wall — deconstructed comb parts: teeth pried apart, laid in rows and radial circles Pin-up wall — comb teeth reassembled into lattice and cage structures, photographed from multiple angles Pin-up wall — comb teeth rearranged into spine-like symmetrical compositions Pin-up wall — dark comb fragments recomposed into dense sculptural forms Pin-up wall — freestanding comb-tooth structures and close-up details of stacked joints Pin-up wall — comb teeth fanned into arcs and radial sweeps along a spine

What I learned

The documentation revealed that the act of making can drive the thinking process, and then uncover the essence of a single object.

2022
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Thanks for reading. If anything caught your eye, I'd love to hear about it.