2025｜AP 3-D Art & Design｜SI #4
- Title
- Silicon Constellation
- Size
- 21x29.7
- Medium
- Rhino, Twinmotion, Canva
Artist Statement
Taiwan is the number one country in silicon wafer manufacturing. Thus, at Kris Yao Artech, I was tasked with designing a Christmas tree for a silicon wafer company. I wanted it to feel like the products they make, which were precise, modular, and engineered.
The installation is built from concentric rings that decrease in diameter as they rise. Each one is lined with silicon wafer discs hanging from hooks around the perimeter. This tree installation embodies the customizable nature of a silicon wafer, where different ornaments can be switched out for another through the hooks. I modeled it in Rhino to calculate how many wafers could fit on each ring as the circumference shrinks, optimizing for density and visual rhythm.
The structure needed to be practical—easy to assemble, then to dismantle and store. Thus, I designed an intuitive joining system that allowed for each level of the tree to be assembled on top of the other. The wafers do most of the visual work, catching light and creating depth as they layer upward. To test the structure, I built a model that was 3D printed in sections and assembled using mortise and tenon joints. What started as a corporate Christmas tree became a way for me to show how silicon is more than a component.