Human Body Needed Inspiration

This American Life: Episode 468 ~ Reflection

Unable to view video 

Lick and Lather ~ Reflection

I think that Janine Antoni is a very note resting and dynamic artist. She loves to have meaning behind every project and even within each project. She is very specific about what materials she uses and were they come from. She is also careful and particular in her process, of how she creates the art. She doesn't want the materials to become lost in the final piece. 

I love how important it is for her to use her body in her art pieces. It brings out the factor that we often forget, that art is labor intensive. In the scene where she is painting with her hair, it struck me as an odd but beautiful thing. Janine thinks outside the box as an artist, but she does so simplistically. Everything she uses in her pieces and everything she does has a purpose and a meaning and I admire her for that. 

The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas ~ Reflection

I found the story disturbing. A whole community of people turn their backs and forsake one child for the sake of their own happiness. How selfish.

This first part of the story describes the Festive of Summer.  "In the streets... Processions moved. . .  The music beat . . . And the people danced." As I read this section of the story I imagined a great festival, of all the colors and noises, and I though of gallons. Lots of ballons. 

I continued reading the story until I reached the part about the small captive child. "The room is about three paces log and two wide...in the room the child is sitting." This made me think of a cage.

"They all know it is there, the people of Omelas. . . They all know it has to be there." This is the reason the sculpture s displayed upside down.

The Easter eggs are though of as balloons. They are clear so that you can clearly see that they have nothing on the inside. They are empty, devoid of real meaning. The cage is black on the inside and contains the purple egg, with repreces the small neglected child. The colorful, outside of the smaller cage and te larger geometric cage are attempts to detract from the truth of what is going on. The purple egg that is inside the cage contains the ring that holds up the intire group of eggs. The whole sculpture is hung upside down for this reason: the child is keeping the whole society from collapsing. 

Touch, A Natural History of the Senses ~ Reflection

Touch is important to us. It makes things tangible and real. We are constantly touching something, whether it be our feet on the floor or our back on the bed. Touch is how we communicate and how we understand things. Texture is important, it help us to recognize objects.

Our world is three dimensional, doesn't it make sense to portray it in three dimension? The third dimension makes sense to our brains, because we can reach out and touch it. Its right there. Its concrete and solid.

This also makes it interesting to play around with. Can we create something that is real but unrealistic? I can create something that you can touch, therefore it is real. However my creation can portray something that is so far from reality that it doesn't exist. But it does, because you can touch it.

The Tokens ~ Reflection

The Tokens shows how important and sentimental some objects are to us. It isn't  necessarily the object itself that we hold valuable, its what the item means to us. We often assign sentimental value to object for a variety of reasons. We could attach a specific memory or feeling to an object. That object can remind us of a person, or a place.

These items hold value for us because we want them to. The serve as a reminder of times and thing past, and they allow us to hold on to our memories in a physical way.

On Longing ~ Reflection

absent for in class discussion

Suspended Short Story

[in process 1]

[in process 2]

 

 

 

 

 

Materials: Hot glue, plastic Easter eggs and paper. Secondary materials include fishing line, black ink and pan pastels. Process: I began by constructing a cage out of paper. I cut strips out using an exacto knife, painted on black ink on the inside and used colored pan pastels on the outside, and then used rubber cement to put it together. I then built a slightly larger cube, and cut geometric shapes into the sides. I then placed the small black cage inside of the larger colored one. I then began to work on the other section of the sculpture.First, I built a ring out of hot glue by continuously running layers over each other (in process photo 1)  Each eater egg cam with two small holes drilled in the top. I strung fishing line through each egg and then tied it to the ring I made earlier. The ring I hung from a hanger that hung from the ceiling to keep the lines from tangling. After I strung the eggs, I placed the ring inside an egg and then hot glued it shut (in process photo 2). After this, I maneuvered the  purple egg into the center of the colored cage. Statement: This was probably the most difficult sculpture I created all semester logistically. I kept running into road blocks and had to continuously problem solve. However, I believe that in the end, it conveys the image I wanted to express. 

Final Drawings

 Memento 1

Memento 2

                                          

Memento 3

Elements 1

Elements 2

Elements 3

Its About Time 1

Its About Time 2

Suspended 1

Suspended 2

Suspended 3

Human Body Needed 1

Human Body Needed 2

Human Body Needed 3

These Shoes Are Not for Walking 1

These Shoes 2

These Shoes 3

3D to 2D

For this project, I chose one of the first sculptures I made, the texture sculpture for the Elements of Paper project. I took a photograph of my sculpture, and then I manipulated in in Adobe Illustrator to create the final piece. 

Human Body Required

[In Process]

Materials: white crape paper, calculator paper, tracing paper, staples, wire. Process: I began by cutting strips of calculator paper and fastening them to the models arm with staples. Then I tied strips of white crape paper in between each of the eight previously fastened strips (In process photo). I measured out and cut tracing paper and  fastened it over one shoulder and then at the opposite  hip. I repeated this with the other side as well. Then I coiled and stretched wire and looped the ends so that they could also be attached to the models arms. These tangled in transit, so instead a portion of the tangle was twisted together and bent to hook onto the models dress, and two other loops were formed for her to hold in her hands.  Statement: When I heard about this project, I immediately had this image of strips of paper hanging for someones' arms. My sculpture is based off of this idea. I specifically wanted to use line to create a new and graceful way to portray the body without totally masking it. The sculpture evolved as I began to create it on the model herself. I love to work like this, having a basic idea or image for a project, and then altering and changing and coming up with new ideas as I work. It allows me to be flexible and create true art. Because I tend to be a perfectionist, this process really allows me to relax and be more freely creative. I am extremely happy with how the sculpture turned out. I believe that the photographs of the model really express the co-working of the human body and the sculpture. The sculpture accents the body and creates this beautiful and graceful flowing element. The different positions I asked the model to take also show of all the different aspects of the sculpture. The sculpture and the model compliment each other, which was the original intention I had when I began. 

It's About Time ~ Changing State

Original 2nd Carving

Stage 1: Subtraction ~ Using an exacto knife, I cut the turtles shell into three different sections although they were still attached. I also cut a line through the center of the turtles belly.

Stage 2: Addition ~ I dropped blue ink into the cut I created during the previous stage. 

          

Stage 3: Subtraction ~ I pour half a bottle of hydrogen peroxide over the soap carving. This caused the soap to begin to dissolve and become sticky, and also caused the ink to fade.

Stage 4: Addition ~ I added silver glitter to the sea turtle, and it stuck because of the effect that the hydrogen peroxide had on the soap.

Stage 5: Addition ~ I smeared gel fixative on the the top of the turtle and allowed it to dry.

Stage 6: Subtraction ~ I used an exacto knife to cut the turtle into sections 

Stage 7: Subtraction ~ I placed the pieces of soap into a mug, and poured sparkling water over it and allowed it to sit for about 30 seconds. This caused the soap to dissolve further. 

Stage 8: Subtraction ~ I put the pieces of soap into the microwave for 30 seconds. This caused the sculpture to breakdown, specifically the gel fixative. 

Stage 9: Subtraction ~ I crushed and mashed the sculpture further. 

Stage 10: Addition ~ Finally, I wrapped the pieces of soap carving in clear packing tape, creating something unrecognizable from the original soap carving.