Marco Carofalo ART

Employing apparatus that is driven digitally is an important part of my practice. I’m keen to observe how these technologies render my drawn marks. It’s a way for me to activate the memory of surface and connect the work together. I want the viewer to be able to see this in the work, especially when installed for my end of year show. 

I have taken sections from my prints that focus on the physical marks I have made and turned these into illustrator files. When discussing the images with the technician, the files were too complex to make using the CNC router due to the amount of texture and overlaying elements to the work. I went away and worked on the files in Adobe Illustrator to turn the images into vector files. We were getting somewhere now, however the programme that runs the router would not match up all the linear elements and would not be able to route the image. After much discussion and experimentation with the files we managed to come up with a solution by using two different router head tools. The programme was able to read and distinguish the various layers that were to be routed and new files were made. A central cut would be made in the MDF panel using a standard routing tool then a V-shaped tool would be used for the rest of the image. Another issue was that the plates would take too long to route as one panel could take over 12hrs. This was where an element of negotiation and compromise came into play with the technician. I adapted my design to reduce the width and depth of the routed marks and adjusted the design so that there was more of the plate surface left. By making these changes the average time to route each panel was four hours. This was a great and informative experience for me as proved how important planning was and building a good working relationship with the technician was to get the work made. This was a piece of work that was being developed throughout the year where I went to the technician to establish what the requirements were in terms of file format, lead times and availability. All my images were planned and prepared, where I had a firm idea of what I wanted to be routed and how I saw the MDF plates being finished.