This week I continued to work on the tree that will form the center of my sculpture. I finished the main central branches, and made a couple smaller off-shoots that I formed around pieces of the high-temp wire to give them a little more stability. I also had to make a decision about the texture of the tree, as the clay has been slowly hardening. My initial thought was to make the tree as realistic as possible, so I thought about how to represent bark. I tried taking a bit of clay and scribing lines into it, however that looked nothing like bark. I also tried taking some of the wood I had experimented with earlier in the process and pressed it into the clay to try to get the same look. Unfortunately, that just made it look messy and incomplete. I came up with another idea, somewhat based off of Raina's work, to make the tree geometric. I liked this idea somewhat better because the result would look much cleaner and more finished, whereas the "bark" texture would just look sloppy and unfinished. I decided that that really was the way to go, and that it wouldn't really harm or change the content of the work. With the geometric shape, it merely further emphasizes the role of humans in the shaping of the natural world. Next I have to work on the frame - which should be relatively simple. I just need to make a solid plan so the construction of it goes smoothly. I'm really excited for how this project is going.
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Working with thread and hoses, exclusively in black, white, and red, Chiharu Shiota creates large scale installations within and between rooms. Shiota creates networks out of space and thread, and moves between creating completely non-objective and organic spaces and more rigidly defined areas framed in wood or steel. In her complex and almost psychedelic networks, Shiota often includes everyday objects, and meaningful items that tie into her themes of "life, death, and relationships." Her work, shown at the Try-Me Gallery, inspired me and connected with my ideas of representations of suspension, support, and unstable balances. In addition, the 'obscuring' effect that much of her work creates intertwined with my concepts of limiting view to my sculpture and balancing what is hidden with what is shown.
Sources to Look at: Look through Shiota's other work. Take some notes and save a couple pieces that stand out to you and that show the different styles/mediums/concepts that Shiota focuses on: https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/works Read this Article about Installation Art. It's a little long but get through as much as you can: https://www.theartstory.org Watch the following short video. Pay attention to the cross media concepts she discusses. Questions: 1. Shiota talks some about other media in the video, and had experience with performance art among her other artistic work. What connections do you see between Shiota's different styles and mediums, and what differences? Compare her use of an unorthodox medium to Mark Bradford's "painting with paper." 2. What is something you learned about the use and purpose of installation art as opposed to traditional art that is contained as an object? How does Shiota use installation to augment and emphasize her work, and would her art work without the installation aspect? 3. What lessons or ideas do you take away from Shiota (either negative or positive) for your own art and sculpture? Do you think your work might benefit, either now or in the future, from becoming more of an installation-style work? Sources Used:
https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/six-boats http://www.try-me.org/gallery/shiota.php https://www.artsy.net/artist/chiharu-shiota https://www.blainsouthern.com/exhibitions/direction https://www.theartstory.org/movement-installation-art-history-and-concepts.htm http://www.arndtfineart.com/website/artist_9799?idx=s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51F-TLl_Tk This week I continued work on my sculpture, building the various parts of the tree. Unfortunately, as usual, my progress with clay was slower than I anticipated and wanted, which is very frustrating at times. However, I think I am making very real progress, and as I figure out my process, it has become a lot easier and quicker. I want to add two more major branches, and a couple small pieces that I will probably attach with the high-fire wire. I think my major concern at this point is finishing in time to fire and glaze the piece, as well as the question of texture. I think the texture of the clay will be the aspect that makes the piece most resemble a tree, and thats not something I've perfected or even really figured out at all yet. I have a couple ideas involving scoring or scratching the surface lightly, but I'm not sure yet which way to go. I'm excited to move on to the next part of this process - constructing the frame and figuring out exactly how to suspend the tree. This week our class visited the Try-Me gallery and saw a variety of extremely impressive two and three dimensional work. One of the sculpture pieces that really impressed and inspired me (below right) was what appears to be a ceramic dress suspended in what is almost a matrix of thread. This sculpture really resonated with me, and because of my frustrations with the material that had caused me to be pretty much unable to realize my vision, I decided that I should take my inspiration from that piece and embark in a different direction. I still really wanted to focus on the interplay of nature and industry or the modern world, but I wanted to reverse the situation - so the man-made material (the wire) was no longer inside the element of the natural world and holding it together, but was instead outside the natural element and essentially holding up. With this in mind, I decided I wanted to create a frame, almost like the stretcher of a canvas, and in the middle of the frame create a miniature tree that would be suspended by radiating wires that were tied and stretched to eyehooks screwed into the inside of the frame. So this week I began constructing the ceramic tree out of stoneware. The tree will be made in segments in order to retain structural integrity, and then will be assembled either right before or after firing.
I'm very excited for this new approach and I think it holds real promise and possibility. |
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June 2019
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