Assignment Description

Etch or engrave a graphic on any material using one of the methods discussed in the class.

Assignment Prompts (Respond to these in your Notion post as relevant to your process):

1. What is the relation between the substrate you choose and your making process? How does manual process fare against the machine?
2. What is the relation between time and the detail that you color/stamp/etch/raster output? How does elongation or shortening that time effect that output?
3. Can the material that is etched away become the output?
4. Think of the local, global, cultural, historical context of the thing you're making -- how is it related to a historical/cultural practice and it's tension with machining/industries? What makes this making more human vs not?

Motivation

I‘m really interested in the process of glass etching so I decided to focus my project on this particular technique. I wanted to try it on different objects and surfaces so I decided to collect everyday objects that works with etching cream from my apartment, and try to add a pattern or symbol to them.

Process

First, I did some research on etching cream and what kind of materials work with them. Generally, it works well with glass, porcelain and glazed ceramics.

Source: https://craftknights.com/what-materials-can-you-use-etching-cream-on-a-full-list/

From here I collected objects I want to work with from my apartment: two empty beer bottles, a mirror, and a mug. These are all ordinary objects that are used on a daily basis.

Objects to work with

#1 Beer Bottles