Self Reflection

one. The map project and the artist's activism project were the projects that were most engaging to me. They allowed me to express all three ideas of an interesting conceptual, emotional and physical piece. In both, I felt especially motivated to finish the project and create something that made people think deeper about my project.

two. I think I have become more invested in the emotional and conceptual parts of my art much more than before this year. Before this year, I think I made projects solely because they were visually pleasing, and had no real deeper meaning behind them. I think this year, I have become more comfortable in creating something that is conceptually and emotionally interesting in addition to being visually pleasing.

three. My map project and activism project were the most successful as they expressed the three important aspects to me: visual, conceptual and emotional. The most frustrating piece was text in images because it was conceptual difficult. My ideas for what I should do constantly changed, and was hard to stay invested in one of them. It was hard to feel motivated to complete something that I wasn't fully or mostly invested it. I think my teacher allows for a project to be very broad, which can be good and bad. Projects that feel so broad, ex. text in images, make it hard on the student to gain inspiration on something. Additionally, projects that are broad can be good because they allow for more growth as the student isn't confined to one subject. I think starting the year with more focused and less broad projects and gradually making them more and more broad as the year goes on helps the student find what they like to create and how. 

Artists statement

I make art as a means of better understanding subjects I am interested in: the political, sociological, and economical questions of the world. Creating visually intriguing objects provides a different access point to consider the subject. I endeavor to create something that is visually pleasing when first seen, but under deeper inspection, it evokes emotions from the viewer and makes them think more about it.  I like to have a balance between the conceptual, visual and expressive elements of every sculpture I make.

I am most often drawn to wood and plaster to create my artwork; wax, clay, plastic, paper and other materials also come into play..  The flexibility in how each is able to be used allows me to explore the large amount of things I have interest in while keeping each of the sculptures based in the materials I enjoy manipulating. While creating my pieces, much of the materials I use and how I express reflect my feeling about something. The normally smooth and white plaster or the rough and dirty wood can also be transformed to the opposites. I like use the materials as how they are originally, as well as change them completely and change the perspective of how they might be used.

I began my project with the idea of a head, cut in half, with computer parts coming out of the back. Computers are very prevalent in my life as well as American society as a whole, so having the representation of part of my head/brain being a computer comments on the reliance on computers in our lives.

When I first started my project, I thought of using a foam head to cut in half, then carve into, or simply glue the computer pieces to the back of it. I did this and it seemed very informal and the foam face did not represent me well. From there, I then used plaster gauze to form a face on top of a flat foam head. I wasn't satisfied with this either, it did not look human nor clean, so I decided to use it as a base for a clay face. I wrapped the clay around the head, from which I created the different facial features: eyebrows, eye sockets, lips, cheeks, etc. The dried clay looked much smoother and rock-like, similar to a marble bust that you'd find a museum, opposed to the rough plaster gauze or foam. If I would have redone this project, I would have started with clay, and not try to take the easy route of a foam head, which ended up not working for me due to it being not very clean, and looking more like a rough draft, not a finished piece. 

No artist in particular inspired me, but thinking of the smoothness and simple nature of busts you'd find in a museum made me want to make something similar to that for me, but with a twist.

Many of the comments talked about my interest in technology, and how the face looked like mine, and how it obviously was supposed to resemble my thoughts. Additionally, they talked about the point of view, and how it appears very smooth and formal from the front, but as you came closer you would notice that that wasn't the case. Perspective and self examination are the things that I want to continue to explore in other projects. I want to make art not just because it looks cool, but because it says something about me as a person. 

My original intentions of this project were to create a circular globe with red film covering it with a lightbulb inside. Then I would research the countries that consume the most energy per year, and the countries that consumed more would have less film covering them, allowing more light to shine through, and the countries that consumed less would have more film covering them up, allowing less light to shine through. I then changed my idea of a circular globe to a wooden cube (seen above), due to it being an easier 3d shape to make, and also having be more abstract. The ideas meant to be displayed in this project were supposed to be showing something statistic while also having an abstract art piece of the world; I wanted to explore the beauty of abstraction of information.

Growth and Destruction Sculpture

Consider our goals for this project:  Group collaboration, audience participation/interaction, 

Create a blog post.  Images collected are on the server for you to use as visuals.

There are three parts:  

1.  Reflection of the Process 

A.  describe the initial concept.  

The initial concept of our group sculpture was to create one that was interactive, attractive, and made the viewer think about what their actions caused. We wanted a sculpture that could be used by more than just the sense of sight; we wanted one that could use touch, sound, smell, and even taste. 

B.  What surprises came up for you in the process of creating this piece. (Interesting or inspiring Ideas, insights, opportunities that emerged in the process)

The transferring from our initial sketches to the final design. I think that the inspiration used from Rube Goldberg machines helped us a lot in where we landed with out final design. While creating the piece, it was surprising to see how a larger sculpture is created differently than a ceramic piece or something else much small. Doing things like digging holes, using exact measurements, etc. as opposed to just creating it from the mind shows the difference in a larger sculpture that requires may working components to a simpler one that does not. 

C.  Reflect on your participation in a group collaboration:  How well were you able manage and organize your work as a part of a larger collaborative team? To what degree were you able to assert your creative voice into the group?  What creative opportunities emerged as a result of collaboration (ways of working you would not have tried on your own.)

Having the initial meetings about what we were actually going to create was helpful with collaborating ideas. Being able to create a sketch and use it to give others inspiration while gaining inspiration from their ideas helped in creating a refined piece. Managing what one group or person would do in that class was relatively easy with the size of the class, and would normally be figured out at the beginning. With a group, we were able to create a piece much larger than one that would be created by myself. Using inspiration and help in construction of the piece from the group resulted in a collaborative effort. 

2.  Analyze the overall success of the product - conceptually, formally, aesthetically.  Consider observations of audience interaction during FAB as well as any direct responses.    

While watching the responses to the piece at FAB, it was generally successful in what we were trying to convey. Conceptually, the final result of the piece nearly matched our intentions, with almost all of the same core concepts(hammers almost hitting window, causing water to spill on a plant). At FAB, many people realized after swinging the hammers that they would not hit the window, and that they would cause the pitcher of water to splash some onto the plant. Aesthetically, we could have changed it to hide the watering can and plant, but the simplicity of the final design also caught many people's attention. 

3.  Consider your creative practice as a whole.  Compare working collaboratively to individual project development:  which is more comfortable?

Collaborative work allows for different ideas to be spread around and enables larger and more difficult creations. With smaller pieces, being individual is good because you are able to work on your own with something that can express only yourself. With a group, you are trying to express all of the groups ideas, which can be more difficult. I think being individual is more comfortable overall.

Where do you want to go in your artistic study for the remainder of the year?  What medium?   To what degree are you engaged conceptually, formally or expressively in your artistic practice (which areas are most important to you)?

I want to continue to explore with clay and the wheel. I like the idea of pottery and ceramics because the malublity of clay and the variety of the pieces that you are able to create. I enjoy working with the wheel because it is something that you need to learn and work on to be better at, and allows for the creation of many common items(plates, bowls, cups). Becoming knowledgeable in many different mediums of art is something I desire, but I would most like to continue working with clay. 

All of my selections were chosen because of the very perfect form. The "bulb" shape and nearly perfect circle attracts me because of the simplicity.

Artist Choice Blog

I chose the Holocaust Memorial by George Segal. I like this piece, and especially the expression and posture the man has. I feel a sense of hopelessness, and the quote "To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless." by Gilbert K. Chesterton