Today's Class- Just 5 weeks left in the semester. I spent a few minutes discussing the career of Buckminster Fuller, a significant designer of the 20th century who has been an influence on how I teach this class. Then we looked at the manufactured materials projects that were due today. After that, we started the next graded project of the semester, the book carving project.
How to make this up- Although I know of no example of Bucky Fuller working with books as a medium (he was more of an architect/inventor type), there is a relationship to this project. In the 1950's and 1960's he was a design professor at Southern Illinois University, where he had a student named Buzz Spector, who went on to have a career as an artist and educator, currently teaching in St Louis. Spector has often used books in his artwork as a sculptural medium, and when I was first putting together this class, I decided to turn to a fellow Saluki for inspiration.
A book is a three dimensional object, made mostly from wood derived materials (paper), and thus can be sculpted. It can be opened and closed, the pages turned, and still be returned to its original state. The common codex format (front and back covers, with all pages bound along a spine between them) was a Roman invention, but it still works well- one can easily access any part of the book without disturbing the rest of it. And as one opens a book and works through it, one is changing the dimensions of it, creating the opportunity to use these three dimensions in a variety of ways. You can choose one of two approaches for this project:
A. Single View
In this approach, the book is opened at a particular point (front, middle, or whatever you like) to reveal a sculpted image. Negative spaces in the block of pages create the scene. Everything left behind must be part of a page still attached by its original binding. You may make use of printed text and illustrations from the publisher as part of your design, but you may not draw or paint on the pages. There should be at least three layers of objects/space in your scene. No specific assignment, so what you produce can be a recognizable scene (as in the student examples above and below) or it can be an abstract design.
B. Changing view
In this approach, you will create a series of negative spaces that change through the book. Some spaces may pass through the entire book, while others may end or be revealed as more pages are turned. Aspects of the sculpture change continuously as the viewer moves through the book. There should be at least 4 distinct sections of the book. Above and below are two views of a single student project from a previous semester.
Additional examples of both varieties can be found in last week's blog post.
Some general rules-
The book must be able to open and close repeatedly.
All pages must remain attached by the original binding.
Glue can be used to repair torn pages, but not to build structures.
Homework- This book sculpting project will be continued in class next week. Due date for the completed piece will be announced after I see our progress.
The installation sculpture (figure in space you create) is due at the beginning of class on April 12, 2016.
The due date for the museum assignment is April 19, 2016. All reasonably complete papers turned in by then can be resubmitted for a better grade before the end of the semester.
Next class April 12, 2016- We will continue with the current book sculpting project. Bring your book in progress (or a new one if you want to start over), x-acto knife and spare blades, and glue.
