Monday, November 29, 2010

:)

Fierce! lol Bug eyes and all!

Cosmos Harness



Well . . . here's the final product!
Excuse the lazy paint bucket on the last one :)
What the piece represents is the space around us: our personal space, buffer zone, aura, electro magnetic field, whatever you want to call it. The orbitting circles are meant to make the person wearing it to become conscious of the space that s/he occupies. I wanted to create more and more orbits of varying thickness and sizes but time didn't permit. You get the idea though.

Now that the term is over, it's back to painting! awoooooooo. I've got a couple of canvases on the back-burner that I can't wait to start! :)

Some pictures with me wearing it.


Friday, November 19, 2010

Paintings for a snowy night

Couple of paintings I was working on simulatneously. It always interesting to see what happens when you play paintings off of each other: the contrast in the work helps you to understand it. The motivation behind these paintings were to test my knowledge of line: my relationship with the inherent characteristics of line and how it evokes mood in the painting. Colour plays a significant factor in determining the mood aswell but in these cases, it's really the line that stands out as the main expressive feature.

Metronome, 18" by 24", Oil and charcoal on canvas
A Man in Time, 22" by 28", Oil and charcoal on canvas
Triple-take, 30" by 15", Oil on canvas

Monday, November 15, 2010

Concept discusions

Well! I never thought one of my ideas would be too "conceptual" for an art project. (metronome/pace maker) Mind you, it's a first year intro to sculpture class where the purpose is to familiarize ourselves with process and material not concept (necessarily). Kind of neat though . . . I usually gravitate to the visceral mode of working than the intellectual . . .
But anyways, after discussing things with my prof and ta, we think it would be more beneficial to my understanding of material if I went with the "cosmos harness" idea. Essentially, it's a series of rings that make reference to the edges of my body: my hips and shoulders. I wanted them to rotate and spin around the body but that might not be physically possible. Maquette photos:

















I'll also have to think about the joins. It's wood, not cardboard so the joins have to be awesome for this thing to work. Also, I'll have to make sure I have an extra sheet for cutting "test" pieces so they are sweet looking circles. Pretty exciting.

Ike helping me with my maquette :)
The neat stuff you can make with the leftovers!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Re-storming

So I'm pretty sure that I missed the point of the assignment. I'm to create a sculpture that fits all or a portion of the body. It's more about how the body relates to sculptural form than how the body relates to space. In an abstract way, yes, they are one and the same: form and space, can't have one without the other . . . but I think I leaned too heavy on the space side of things.
So . . .
Here's a couple more ideas:
1. A frame type of thing that would fit snuggly on my shoulders that I would be able to push along the ground. Rethinking free movement.
2. A screen of sorts that blocks out certain portions of my body from view. Creating that contrast of barrier and exposure.

Some interesting possibilities. I'm leaning towards the screen idea because I haven't explored the use of the flat plane in sculpture as much as the linear. Although I did make a linear sculpture from a flat plane hmm . . . boggle boggle :)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Assignment 2 brainstorming

Changing everyday perceptions of how the body moves through and understands space:
How do I relate to space? How do I move through space?
I am the figure, it is the ground. Space is the air and atmosphere up to and around me. I gulp it in when I breathe. I like to walk at a brisk pace. I'm tall so my strides are long. My arms are lanky and I often gaze up at the stars or trees or people or buildings and mountains. I walk to clear my head, to ground myself. I also like to jog. I like to feel the wind blowing past my ears and the steady rythme of my legs pounding away beneath me, propelling me forward. Up and down the streets and sidewalks. Leaping over puddles and crunching dry leaves beneath my sneakers. PROPELLER BELT I take for granted how seemlessly I can move into a room, with the occasional ducking down under a low door frame. I move in and out of rooms, from enclosed spaces to open ones. As I move through space, there's always the accompanying sound of footsteps STOMPER It signals my progress down the hall in a steady rythme. The pitch dependent on the quality of my shoes and the material of the floor. METRONOME TO KEEP PACE I like to take the stairs when ever I can because I like the feeling of my legs pushing me up. I guess it's akin to climbing a mountain. FOOTSTEP COUNTER, SPEED BUMPS I like to skateboard. The average street turns into a playground when you're a skater. The curbs and sidewalks and stairs and (gulp) handrails take on new meanings. An entirely different sensation of space: faster, distant, related to the board and then the body. TINY SKATEBOARDS When I'm groping around in the dark to get back to bed, I'm acutely aware of potentially hazardous objects that I might bump into or stub my toe FEELERS LIKE A LOBSTER OR A CAT'S WHISKERS I'm good at seeing where I'm going. Eyes are very handy for this EYE BLOCKING GLASSES

Monday, November 1, 2010

2nd Sculpture Assignment

"Only For You – A Structure that Fits the Body

For your final assignment you will create a structure that fits all or a portion of your body. The structure is to be made out of wood and may incorporate one other material. The structure is expected to be free standing or use the body as an element of support. Focus should be placed on the craftsmanship of the structure, particularly how the wood is joined together and finished.

The intent of this assignment is to understand the relationship between sculpture and the human form; changing everyday perceptions of how the body moves through and understands space. Think about your materials, process and structure: how do they convey meaning to the viewer? As well as how do you elicit interaction?"

Hmm . . . where to start?

Rebecca Horn
Jana Sterbak
Mowry Baden

Sitters

Sitters, 27.5" by 35.5", Oil and charcoal, 2010