Open Casket - Blender modelling of mattress shape plus discovering Gormley's Bread

 I'm slowly gearing up to the idea that I'm going to have to create the shape of my body into the mattress by hand. Given I think I will cover the whole caboodle in paper mache, there are a few of ways I could do this:

• Carefully tear out small lumps until I have a good approximation of the shape (destructive build)
• Use thread to pull the foam down in strategic places like upholstry (reversible build)
• Cut out the whole outline and then fill the hole with shaped wedges of foam or indeed anything I can put under the paper mache (constructive build)

The second approach is an obvious one to test out as I can cut the thread after and the mattress will spring back unharmed... Although it does run the risk that the thread might snap mid-show and the foam will spring back screwing up the paper mache... The first one I can try on a discreet corner, or even on the spare. The last one is a go-for-broke-its-all-sort-of-going-to-shit-anyway approach - but might actually prove the most robust and versatile!

In preparation, I decided to do some renders in Blender to try to give me a better sense of the shape. I tried just rendering the 'raw' shape:

And then tried again using a cloth simulation:

The images, especially the depth maps, look kinda cool ;) I think my key take-away is that the shape isn't hugely important - as long as the outline is good (and I'll do that by drawing around me) and the shape is a bit more deeply excavated around the back of the head, the shoulders and the bum, pretty much anything goes... Of course this isn't exactly right because it represents the 'impression' of me standing up, not lying down, but I think it's near-enough for jazz.

While helping an art friend de-install her sculpture, I mentioned my idea and she mentioned Gormley's Bread. I don't think I had come across it before, and I was a bit thrown at first. Ironically he describes his process and it's very similar to what I described above! However, having looked at the piece a bit more, I'm less worried - there is definitely some similarity in appearance, and my work is clearly inspired by Gormley generally, but I think the intention and the presentation will end-up looking quite different, especially as I intend to fill the depression with something (maybe ash?) and I intend to get people to participate in writing on the 'sheet'. Overall I think I'm moving away from a 'bed' aesthetic towards more of a 'slab' aesthetic - more practical, but also less loaded with connotations of sleep, and passing similarities to Emin (who is also an influence!).