The Long Over Due Spring 2006 Art Update

So, I meant to do this way back at the beginning of the summer....but then I didn't. Anyway, better late than never. Here it is, my spring 2006 Art update!

Wood Sculpture

Laminates


This was my second wood sculpture project. We cut strips of plywood and made 3 layer laminates. In this way we were able to form curves that held their shape quite well. We then cut the curves into smaller pieces and used bolts to assemble them into a 3 dimensional form. Because we had a small class, we all met outside of class and worked as a group making all the laminates, then divided them up later. It was really nice working together like that and I think it brought our class together.

Complexity

More Photos | Structure Guide | Destruction | Aftermath

This was my final project for wood sculpture. It got off to a very frustrating start of multiple failures and miscalculations, and by 2 weeks into the project I still had absolutely nothing to show for it. But finally I got my system for producing the triangles to work, and after a 18 hour marathon session in the studio, I was able to make about 1500 triangle units and assemble them into this.

The Crit went really really well. I still remember Ray pausing to collect his thoughts before we began. Then he said to everyone, "we're not even going to talk about how much work went into this, because that goes without saying, and there's a lot more to talk about here". To me that was one of the greatest compliments I have ever gotten.

The basic idea was to create a unit, in this case a wooden triangle with slots. I knew they would fit together, but I did not know what structure would be inherent in the smaller unit. Once I had made enough to experiment with, I began to see how I could fit the basic units together into slightly more complex units. In this case, my second level of complexity was made of 7 triangles and somewhat resembled a 'C'. 12 of the 'C' units, along with 4 triangles fit together into a ribbon like structure folded into a sphere. 3 of these combined into a globby triangle, and 3 of those into an even bigger and more complex globby triangle. There are 1008 triangles in this structure.

The universe is built in a similar fashion. No, not wooden triangles, but atoms, molecules, amino acids, protine chains, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and entire societies. It's all increasing layers of complexity of the same thing.

Ok, I just wrote more on this subject, but it's long and so I will move it to it's own post so as to stay on topic here.

Anyway, after the crit, I decided that the destruction of the piece was the next logical step, and would be fitting to the whole concept of the piece. So spontaneously I grabbed a few friends from the hallway, telling them I was about to do "spontaneous performance art". I gave my camera to one friend to video tape. Then I climbed up a ladder and dropped my creation.

Ceramic Sculpture

Amorphaces 3D

More Photos

I decided to take my Amorphaces into the 3rd dimension. This is what I was working on the night I posted about spending 11 hours in the studio.



Thingy (for lack of a better name)

More Photos

This was my second project for my clay sculpture class. I produced 10 of these forms made from 3 slip cast parts joined together. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the installation, which involved the repeated form in different groupings and arrangements.



Rock Thingys

More Photos

This project was very experimental, and I really had fun with it. It was based on Andy Goldsworthy's "torn stone". I collected a bunch of rocks, covered them with raw clay and placed them immediately in the kiln. As the clay was fired, it shrank around the rocks and cracked. Many of the rocks too experienced a change. Some crumbled, others cracked, and most turned red.

Udus!

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In Spring 2005 I took Ray's "Percussion Design and Fabrication" class. It was a fun class, and my favorite part was making Udus, a type of ceramic drum. During Fall 2005 I took a pottery class. Tim (one of my classmates) was also interested in Udus, so we decided to do an independent study with Ray in the Spring. We spent the semester making Udus, and a few other experimental pieces. My good friend Jenn, who was in the percussion class with me, also made a few more of her own. At the end of the semester we did another barrel fire. It was a lot of fun!!

Scholarship Show + Long River Review

More Photos

I submitted some of my work to the scholarship show for the first time this year. I didn't win anything, but I did get a few pieces in the show, and a lot of compliments. I also submited some work to the Long River Review....and won this year's Photography Award!