Process: When this project was introduced to us I was very confused. I did not understand the project and I had no ideas. It was a little out of my world of art that I knew. My first idea, I took organic vs. industrial as a literal sense. I made a piece of a deer surrounded by flowers created with my make up to represent the use of animal testing in certain brands. But, that did not work because the project was supposed to be a sculpture. I primarily work in 2D, so doing any type of sculptures aren't my favorite and out of my comfort zone. |
Organic vs. Industrial
March, 2015. String & tooth picks. Size: 30.48cm tall Exhibition Text : This piece is representative of our ecosystem and plant life. The struggle our ecosystem has to go through and the defense it needs to put up to survive against humans. It is made out of a wood base, string, toothpicks and a fake flower. My artist inspiration was Sharon Weiser. |
I kept building on it until it was about 10 inches tall. I continued to use hot glue to attach the string and keep it stable. There was a lot of hot glue showing and a lot of little strings though. So I eventually, made a seconded layer of string around it. Just used to cover up the large amount of hot glue used to keep the hollow cylinder together. Also to create a larger amount of thickness to the cactus or to make it look tougher.
The picture to the right is how the cactus looked with the seconded layer of string wrapped around it. After this step, I wanted to add the arms of the cactus. I ended up cutting the string and attaching to the bot sides and wrapping it around. The top and the tip of the arms had holes showing through to the hollowness. So I added in fake flowers to cover up those holes. I then found toothpicks to use as the spikes of the cacti. I cut them at the tips, only having them at about an inch long. Then hot glued them all over the cacti. A lot of people recommended in me using nails instead of toothpicks. But there was no way I would be able to cut nails into just points. Also, I have cut myself doing so much art over this semester so I am pretty done with using dangerous materials. Even though, I burnt myself twenty times on the stupid hot glue gun.
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So I started with this triangle wooden shape. I reused it from my MIAD urban landscape project. I used the longest side as the front of the piece. Then used the point opposite from it as the template for the middle. Then I got green string and used hot glue to start the base for the cactus. I hot glued one end of the string and just began to build on it. I created a cylinder shape. The cylinder created was hollow.
As you can see in the image to the left, you can see the large amount of hot glue visibly. I still think hot glue was the best option but, it was a little difficult to use.
Sharon Weiser's paintings are full of colorful, full or life, cacti. I wanted to make this sculpture colorful and full of life, even though it is fake. It represents the ecosystem as a whole. Even though humans constantly want to tear it apart, plant life will stay strong.
Desert Garden by Sharon Weiser
http://s1.postimg.org/sbzjing4v/Desert_Garden_600pix.jpg |
Reflection :
I was really confused about this project at first. I didn't quit understand it but, in the end I really like how this piece turned out. It is of my favorite plant and is representative out all plant life. I am against fracking and the destruction of our planet. The hot glue may have not turned out great but it will keep the cactus stable because it is hollow. I like the color's used. I like the contrast in the green and blue. I think this piece was a success. Even though, sculptures and 3D work is not my favorite and I am not very comfortable with it. I would definetely rather do any type of 2D work over sculpture. Hopefully, I can open up to more 2D work at some point. But, I think I am going to stick to creating 2D work. It was also a little difficult to find materials to use. Well, I have plenty of things to use around my house but, it hard to imagine how to use certian everyday objects. I am so used to just using paint to create art. Overall, the project was pretty hard and maybe the hardest to find an idea for this whole semester. But, this piece turned out all right. It's cute at least. |
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