Mill it Like You See it

– Marc Miller –

Toolpaths and by association milling are typically treated solely as a means to represent the boundaries of a surface with little to no attention paid to expressive qualities. This is related to the reliance on software, plugins, and the embedded assumptions about how the material is to be finished. This prevents designers from treating milling as an expressive practice, analogous to drawing or other qualitative practices. In this workshop, students will create toolpaths to explore how milling may be made to be expressive. We will examine how line work may be used to illustrate the qualities of a surface and then subsequently be used to create a toolpath for milling. At the end of the session, students will have created a physical representation of a surface. Time permitting, we will explore alternative uses of the milled artifact. Students should be familiar with the rhino/grasshopper work environment. While clearance to use the woodshop is not required, familiarity with shop rules and expectations is required.