Polystyrene Base

Within this experiment I decided to change the base from a canvas to a square of Polystyrene. I first decided to apply ink to the surface of the Polystyrene to alter the typical white colour and to find out the outcome. The ink seemed to emphasise the bumpy texture of the individual balls that had been compressed together to form this square shape. 

The Polystyrene is a flexible and easy to cut material, so I tried to fix the can into the material by pushing them into it. However, the looseness of the material meant that after awhile it began to fall apart. I tried fixing it using PVA, but it didn't seem to help. I decided in the end to continue fixing the cans and other mediums to the base using the metal wire, which seemed to work effectively in the previous experiments. 

I applied a plastic sheet over the top again in the hope that it would shrink holding the piece together, like the vacuum forming process. However, the heat from the heat gun made the situation worse, by Polystyrene having a low melting point than the plastic sheet and cans, it quickly melted into nothing within seconds. Through this unsuccessful experiment I will not be using Polystyrene again as a base material.