New Approaches in Glass Investment Casting: Creative Practitioners Researching and Innovating in the Field of Digital Fabrication

摘要

This paper describes a research project aimed at delivering innovation in a combined sphere of digital fabrication and glass investment casting. The project has established an entirely new method for creating glass casting moulds directly from three-dimensional computer files without the need for a physical mould pattern, by using a moulding approach based on Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) technology. While the paper includes a narrative of the development of the moulding process, the central argument of the paper is rooted in the project's research/innovation methodology. This argument concerns our profile as creative practitioners and the impact this position has on the research/ innovation scenario. Also central in this argument is the use of 'emergent methodologies' and 'reflective practice'. A new type of rich media enabled research journal to aid the use of these methodologies was developed as a part of this project and is also presented in this paper.