About a year ago I started some research into a group of box-like sculptures. My initial impulse for this search was the sudden insight that an open box can't be folded from a single piece if it is L-shaped. Therefore it would have to be constructed from separate pieces. This type of construction is especially difficult when trying to connect very thin panels in any sturdy fashion.
Around the time I finished the first sculpture, I had also realised this initial insight was wrong. It is very much possible and in fact quite easy to fold a box in an L-shape, as long as one positions the center piece off-center.
Despite this simple truth, the packaging industry has not embraced its value in any straightforward sense, as recent packaging for an IKEA chair demonstrates.
The structure of the packaging is complex, consisting of multiple parts that are only kept together by an external plastic strap. Despite this, the problem of my initially perceived impossibility inherent in folding an L-shaped box is circumvented by the diagonal cut found on the inside corner of the top and bottom parts. The slight gap this creates is compensated for by the larger single piece of the main body, with the advantage being less glue being necessary during its fabrication.
The focus of this packaging designer lay on ease of production during each individual step, rather than the deftness of the final product.
This is in contrast to my approach as a sculptor, where every single step during production is often complicated in order to a achieve an honest singular final result.
