Sorry what? Glee?...

On a lighter note, I defy anyone not to love Glee :-)

Sculpture Week One: Experimentation; Research

Hardened candle wax

Because of it's brittle nature, wax (for me) seemed like an obvious place to start, material-wise.  It's translucency and softness reminds me of skin.

Sketchbook: "When I think of cracking, I think about a sort of fragility and vulnerability; whether as an attribute of the human spirit or as physical change, or state of being..."



Polly Morgan's 'Morning'

(...a taxidermined robin in a sheet of cracked glass)

Sugar Glass

(Heating and melting sugar in a pot)

Paper Simulating Cracks

(Black and white photocopy of scrunched up paper)



Note: This is just a simple test process, using paper, to create something that maybe emulates the appearance of cracking.  The areas/spaces in between the folds, look to me like the cracks in the skin or even in the landscape - seen from high above; a vast desolate landscape of craters and canyons stretching for miles...

Sketchbook: "I have realised that creating something that looks like it has undergone a physical process such as cracking, is entirely different from the action/process itself.  I have learnt through this simple test that I am much more in tune with the latter rather than the former...One of the reasons I am so interested in the word 'cracking', is because the very nature of the process allows me the freedom to be less precious about my work.  The experimentation is in the cracking, so whatever I make or collect (i.e. materials) only exist in that form for a short length of time before I find a way to crack/smash/damage it.  That is why it is extremely important for me to document my process..." .

Cloud Control 'There's Nothing in the Water We Can't Fight' 

Elective One - Sculpture

The brief for Sculpture was a broad one, dealing with my existence or 'corporeality'.  That in itself could mean anything, from my understanding of my existence or non-existence, to the mind or my emotions; to the reality of my body (i.e. how bodily parts organise themselves, function and cohabit).  This brief however, specifically states that I deal with the five senses and/or the vital signs (i.e. blood pressure, pulse, etc).

One of the first things my tutor said, was that these two weeks are not about making art, but about conducting experimentation.  I am to think of myself as a scientist and this studio is my lab.

So, now for the brainstorm.  I was not to go into this with an already preconceived idea about what I was going to make, whatever it would be, it needed to be fresh, to allow me the option of exploring different avenues and letting the ideas grow out of the process - while still keeping the control.

After a group session of spider-maps and racking our brains for verbs and processes.  We began to look at practising artists in the field of sculpture.  Artists such as Bruce Nauman, Antony Gormley, and Damien Hirst, amongst others.

to run, to watch, to blur, to taste, to survive, to melt, to crack, to pinch, to laugh, to beat, to project, to smudge, to damage, to poison, to smash, to touch...

materials like: lead, metal, wire, fabric, paper, foam, ice, stone, slate, nails, string, people, photos, ink, glass, prints, plastic, etc

to freeze, to eat, to blow, to expand, to compress, to bend, to connect, to stain, to leave, to twist, to capture, to forget, to fade, to stick, to burn...

Sketchbook

"Cracking...I feel myself being drawn to this word.  What does it mean to crack something? To crack glass, to crack a joke, to crack bones, to crack a smile, to crack under pressure..."

(My brother's hand)
The cracking of the skin and the dryness and fragility of that.

"Once I latched onto the word I knew that I would immediately have to explore the processes...experiment with the consequences of forming a crack in a substance/material..."

I must remember to research artists that incorporate the concept of/include some form of cracking in their work.

The assessment and a new year

So in January I got my result back from the Semester one project and I did okay!
I passed :-)
But this whole experience is a learning curve and there's always room for improvement.  Remember that, kids.

Here are my three elective choices for Semester two: Sculpture, Print-making, and Visual Communications

That bear...

(huh, interesting, very interesting...)

TV on the Radio 'Wolf Like Me'