A surgical manipulation of an object's likeness uncovers geometries and possibilities of the essential form. This analysis is not an exercise of re-presentation, but rather an investigative process that will extract and productively engage the underlying logics of the studied object. A single cut through the center of a bottle carefully considers the seam, and two intrinsic axes of rotation from which the form is derived. The cut of the original bottle generates two profiles, one following the back seam and the other off-kilter from the front seam.

As part of the exercise, Object A and Object B are produced from the cut, which reveals two different attitudes to the object's 'wholeness'. Whereas Object A considers one axis directly perpendicular to the bottle's cap, Object B reveals two intrinsic axes. Rotational moves along these two axes reinforce their centers and approximate the j shape of the original 'Parent Object', while revealing symmetries and asymmetries, similarities and complexities between the profiles.

From the investigation the bottle's objectness is found: the profiles have to transition between the two axes of rotation. The original 'Parent Object' is removed, and a synthesis of the pair creates the final Object C, or the 'Portmanteau Object': derived from two distinct forms.