Today's Class- Students were a little slow in arriving this morning, but eventually we had enough to start looking at the natural materials projects that were due today. After that we moved on to starting the next major project, the artificial materials project, or commonly called the plastics project. While the natural one was building on the origins of human art and the traditions of stone age artists, this new one makes use of materials that are very abundant and available to contemporary artists, cast off manufactured goods. Things that were manufactured for some other purpose, but we can now use to make representative art. The first 6 images below are from a fellow Jersey Shore artist, named Lisa Bagwell, who specializes in making art from such things.
plastic utensils, pencils
giant hoagie, with bread made from corks, and filling
that includes plastic cup lids, gloves, disposable razors, etc
the donut is made from paper cups and plastic utensils
above and below bird feathers are made from plastic information tags
found in potted plants, plus lots of cigarillo mouth pieces have been
used to a great extent.
How to make this up- Your next graded assignment is to create a representative sculpture using nothing but manufactured items. This can include any form of plastic, metal, plywood (laminated, not natural grown), synthetics- anything not found in nature. It must be at least 8 inches in one dimension, and all colors and textures must come from the materials you used to make it. No particular subject is required, but it must be something we can all recognize. You may use any material you want to stick stuff together. Below are some student examples from previous semesters.
Homework- This manufactured materials graded project is due at the beginning of class on April 5, 2016. All back homework due since early February (starting with the foam core relief project) can still be turned in for partial credit, but with each passing week fewer will be accepted and available points will be less.
The initial due date for the museum paper is April 19th. Papers will be accepted after this, but with a point deduction. No papers will be accepted after the end of class on the last day of our last meeting of the semester.
For next class 3/29/16- We are going to go back to a previous assignment, where we dealt with canons of proportions in a pair of figures. That completed set is a portfolio exercise, and as such is due by the last day of the semester. However, you will need the original scale version of that figure for next week, so if you haven't gotten that one done yet, you need to complete it by next week.
The project will be to create an installation style sculpture to go around that figure piece. Installation art is not just a single artwork, but objects and their environment meant to be seen as all one big piece of art. We will look at some slides next week, including New Jersey native George Segal, and you will have the opportunity to create an environment for your figure. Two main options:
A. Classroom Installation
For the first few years I taught this class the project was to build pieces of the classroom to the same scale as your figure, using foam core. This includes one large work table, one stool, plus one other big items from our classroom, as in the student examples above and below.
Alternative Installation
In this other option, you will create a complete environment for your figure, using the same scale as your figure. The subject may relate to the original photo you had worked from, or be a completely new concept of your own. You can stick with foam core construction, but because found objects are often part of contemporary installation art, you may also use found objects in this option. These student example include a photography studio, a living room, and a surfer amidst waves complete with pretzel goldfish.
Bring your completed figure, foam core or other materials for construction of your installation (a defined space, such as a section of floor, is necessary), scissors or a knife, and glue.
