Today's Class- Today we began a new graded project involving found object assembly, but unlike the plastic (manufactured) version from a few weeks ago, this time the requirement was all natural materials. I showed few slides of cave art, including figures and animals carved from stone, wood, bone, antlers, and other materials available to, and workable by, people of that time. The subjects of these pieces often took forms that resembled the shapes of the materials.
How to make this up- In class today I provided an assortment of shells collected from my local beach, and dried bamboo from a grove behind my home. As with the coffee trays, I asked students to take some shells, consider the shapes and what they might resemble, and then come up with an idea of what might be made from them. Also available were small pieces of wood from the scrap boxes in the room, and some went out foraging for stones, or brought in things from home, such as pine cones, twigs, etc. Our one nod to the 21st century was to allow hot glue to be used to assemble things.
Since the most common subjects of the cave period were human figures or animals, your subject must be one of those. They can be whole, a recognizable portion (such as a human hand, an animal's head), or even a mythological creature (human animal hybrid, unicorn, etc). They don't have to be anatomically accurate, but recognizable to average person. All materials must be found in nature, and can be used whole or broken up. Wood can be carved. At least one of your materials must be something hard (not easily carved or modeled) like stone or shells. Although not required, paint may be used on the sculptures if you want. Below are some student examples from a previous semester:
Above, a bull made from classroom wood scraps, shells, and bits of bamboo. Below, a spider made from acorns and sycamore seed pods.
Additional instructions and student examples of this project can be found here.
Homework- This natural found object graded project is due at the beginning of class on April 22, 2014.
The book sculpture project begun a few weeks ago is due at the beginning of class on April 15, 2014.
The museum assignment is due on April 22, 2014.
For next class 4/15/14- We will return to using foam core and bristol board, with an exercise and project involving proportions. Bring those items, plus scissors or x-acto knife, glue, and pencil and eraser.
