Supertramp Musings

Class Review

The blogs were helpful because it made you brainstorm about your projects and process that has to go in it and then you had to write out your plan in the blog. It was like having a blueprint in front of you in case you became unsure of a certain step or concept about the project. I think it would have been more helpful, though if we just had to write this out in a normal journal so we can carry it around with us wherever we go instead of looking it up on a computer.

The most memorable thing about this class to me was the day where we were working on our final projects and we got on the topic of rainbow poop. I don’t know how we got there, but I sure love poop jokes. 

I believe the part that benefited me the most about this class was essentially what the class is about: 3D design. I tend to look at certain pieces of a structure or other three-dimensional piece as planes rather than a whole. Although I’m still a person who tends to look at things two-dimensionally, by experimenting with various 3D structures, I have a better feel for how to create a sculpture. 

The piece of advice I’m giving you can be related to all of your class that I have taken in the past year; I believe that the class would be more beneficial if we were given more time to work on projects. I know I’m not the best at time management and I have come to terms with that, and frankly I’d love to do nothing but work on various art projects all day.

But I can’t.

I have my other class assignments to think about, bills to pay, making sure my house does not become a disease-ridden place, a job which has become first priority because that’s where the income is, and so on.

To be quite honest there are very few projects I have done in your classes that I feel a sense of accomplishment for (like two). I worked hard on all projects, but I also feel as if I was rushed, and thus I have been very critical of everything I have created this year. If I don’t have a feeling of worth for my own works, how can I expect any viewer to appreciate it, too? 

Art starts with the artist and their aspirations. Most of the artists that I have a feeling of admiration for do not create art for other people but for themselves and that’s exactly how I feel. Most pieces that I feel a great connection to have been cared for in such a way as if it were living.

I do not care if a random stranger does not like my art. I do not care if my friends do not like my work. I do not care if my family does not like my art. I do not care if my peers or co-workers do not like my art. I do not care if you do not like my art.

My art is for me and if other people enjoy it or hate it, that’s fine, too.

Blog 14

p

For Cheyne’s Design Challenge, he wants me to construct a texture that is appropriate for my sculpture and optically engaging. I have to utilise 100 thumbtacks to create this texture.

I’m thinking that I will push the thumbtacks into my sculpture rather than glue them on because they will be more stable and less likely to fall off. I’m thinking about doing some optical blending so it will look close to an areal view of a landfill. I might even stack some of the thumbtacks on top of each other to make it more organic looking.

Blog 13

“Afterbirth” by Olga Galindo

Origami Tessellation Piece by Jennifer Linderman

For my design challenge, I will be providing wrapping paper, scissors, glue, and tape. For the first 30 minutes, the designer must cut as many 4x4in squares of  wrapping paper. The goal from there will be to compile the squares onto the sculpture, creating an interesting texture somewhere on the piece. The designer is allowed to fold or add other cuts in the pages as long as it is aesthetically fitting for the sculpture. The paper texture must cover at least a 1/4th of the sculpture.

Blog 12

In my future, we have failed. We became too greedy for what our planet had to offer, and because of it, our natural resources have run dry. Our laziness and lack of respect for Mother Earth led to us throwing away items frivolously, eagerly waiting for bigger and better breakthroughs in entertainment and technology. We forgot what it meant to be conservative with our materials. Now, our world is one gigantic landfill. Mountains of garbage cover up all the luster Earth once had. 

Like homo erectus before us, we have evolved—our spines have stiffened and become more dense, allowing us to be able to hold hundreds of pounds upon our backs. We have all become nomadic since the ideas of homes have disappeared under heaps of trash. We carry only the essentials on our backs: food, water, protection from the elements, and shelter. Tribal instincts have rekindled and flourished. Man tends to travel in tribe-like fashions.

The need for tribes isn’t just for bonding and human compainionship—it’s essential. Our lust for money and material possessions made us blind to how we disposed of waste, most importantly nuclear. The underground caverns and caves where we kept the waste became overflowed with other types of waste. The materials mingled and soon overran forests, rivers, and other natural ecosystems. Our wildlife has mutated into horrific beasts, the stuff of nightmares now a reality. Animals with vicous features, toxic and poisonous defenses, and a thirst for blood. Tribes band together to fight against the beasts or defend themselves with the materials on their backs. 

I’ve always been inspired by nature and it saddens me that we don’t recycle as much as we should. I didn’t want to buy anything for this project that I didn’t absolutely need because I simply cannot afford it. So, I’ve dug through my room, recycling bin, trash can, and other nooks and crannies for possible materials. My hope for the future is that we learn to be less wasteful, less materialistic, and become more self-aware and accepting of what we can get by with.

Blog 11

I have never worked with plaster before this moment, and it was a fun and challenging project. The word that I chose to represent through form was pompous. When I think of this word, I usually picture pompous people, chest puffed out, well dressed—the very picture of arrogance; but I also wanted to make a small base in comparison to the main form, to show how pompous people balance their ignorant behavours on top of their insecurities. 

For lack of a more politically correct analogy, I wanted to show the “fat rolls” of pompous through my form, showing how compressed the figure gets when it builds up on top of something fragile. The way the “folds” in the clay overlap each other represent stress being put on the base. I wanted the form to appear unbalanced, as well, showing that a pompous person can only hold themselves up with arrogance and lies for so long before they collapse.

I guess, since I’ve never worked with this material, I’ve improved in widening my list of materials used to create art. I definately was hesitant to cut off so much plaster, making the project’s time management spread out over a long chunk of time. If I broke something, I couldn’t glue it back on. I have to admit, though that my original concept and my final result differ in some ways. I intended to have an even smaller base with a small cylindrical pole that curved “under weight” would connect the top to the base. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about that connection point as in-depth as I should because the one I made out of foam was connected between two blocks with glue and pins. However, I did succeed in making my “fat rolls” more compressed and heavy that I originally had in my first foam sculpture.

In conclusion, I somewhat succeeded in my final result, but since it was my first time working with the material, I didn’t consider some aspects of the piece as much as I should have. The project also reveals that I have a harder time working in 3D than 2D because I have to consider all views of the form at all times. I’m not exactly sure how I can improve that latter problem except through practice, though.

Blog 10

Choosing a material to work with was difficult, but I really wanted to use something that would represent my creativity and child-like nature. I ultimately chose crayons because it’s the most basic art medium that we are familiar with from the time that we are little. I’m also planning on an art major so I thought using crayons was very fitting. It was actually more expensive than I thought it would be just because I needed so many cool coloured crayons for the outside of the cap. Crayons are very durable, not flexible, and if glued properly, will not move. I didn’t calculate the weight of the crayons in rows, so I had to use a piece of tag board as the base. Although there were a few set backs, I believe using crayons as my main material was most appropriate when representing my initial idea.

I believe that if I had used another material for my project to represent my future dreams and ambitions, the project would have been a disaster. I needed a material that would hold itself up under pressure, so the mortar board would not collapse, but most importantly, I needed something that would identify my themes and ideas to the viewer. Using crayons to represent my major and aspirations was a good idea and I believe everyone can relate to it because most people have used crayons at least once in their lives. It is a very nostalgic material and that’s what I wanted to evoke from the viewers.

Using the crayons in some places proved to be very tedious. The glue I ended up using for most of the project was Elmer’s school glue which took a while to dry, but proved easier to work with than super glue, wood glue, or even gorilla glue. I used a carpet adhesive to stick the rows of crayons onto the tag board which helped secure them in place. For the base of the mortar board, I ended up gluing a few different levels of crayons, playing with the stability of their bottoms and inter weaving them (like with the button that the tassel secures around) so they would be more stable. I glued the different levels at various stages to represent the folds and wrinkles in the fabric, making the base more organic and giving it a nice contrast from the very geometric top.

Blog 9

Strengths:

• With their large, rounded shapes and smooth texture, I think it describes the word pompous very well because when you think of a well-to-do person, they have a very large appearance and personality and want no “wrinkles” in their appearance and mannerisms
• I made their bases tiny on purpose to go with my theme for this piece, “pompous people are unbalanced”. Their large structures on top of such small bases gives it more contrast and makes it feel as if it would snap and crumble
• The left and right one have “limbs” that stick out which gives it the feeling as if it wants to stand out among the rest

Weaknesses: 

• They are not perfectly round all 360 degrees, which I’m not sure if it helps with the “unbalanced” theme or makes it look less pompous. Either way, I need to work more the the piece as a whole and contemplate how something will turn out
• The middle one I was experimenting with and I find the crevices and craters I made in the piece to take away from the piece’s largeness. I should stick to the appendages that stick out at random from the sculpture
• Even though I made the bodies much larger than the bases, I still have trouble finding a sense of unbalance for my sculptures for I am worried they will fall over if I make one side too weighted

Chapter 9: Elements of Three-Dimensional Design (Cont.)

Space

Westwind Sentinel by Mike Roig plays with the negative space between the birds in flight, forming a contained area most like a tornado. The angle and placement of the birds gives us a sense of anxiety, just like when birds fly away from natural disasters or storms, and when the wind picks up, the birds actually move to add to the anxiety and activating the space. 

A labyrinth allows you to enter the artistic space and examine it internally. The space created by the hedges gives us the sense of being trapped, but overall it gives us a sense of fantastical mystery like it’s protecting us from something within, or protecting something within from us.Everyone wants to  solve the labyrinth and discover its secrets, but you first have to allow yourself to enter the mystery.

Texture

This textured vessel by Sakiyama Takayuki has a pronounced texture that emits graceful, flowing energy with the grooves made in the ceramic material. The grooves all lead into the centre of the sculpture, creating volume that seems to spiral all the way down into the base of the piece and repeat the motion. The texture of the piece helps us to understand that the ceramic has many potential textures, natural or artificial. The overall appearance of the piece is a smooth and flowing, but upon further examination of the individual grooves, it is a grainy line that produces a rough exterior.

Light

Chinese lanterns are used in many traditional festivals and holidays. The translucent body of the lantern gives off a gentle glow from the inner light, producing a feeling of tranquility. The volume of the lantern appears fragile against the night, but powerful, like a beacon of otherworldly power.

Michelangelo’s Statue of David evokes many different emotions from viewers and the light source on the form helps to capture David’s many feelings. From the first picture, the frontal view emits a sense of wisdom that David holds, contemplating his move against the mighty Goliath. His stance is powerful, his muscles emphasized in the ambient lighting. However, if you look at his face from the different angle in picture two, his demeanor seems almost hesitant, unsure of himself, as if he wishes to flee from battle with the giant. The angle of light changes from first to second image and helps Michelangelo portray David’s inner and outer strife. The choice of stone makes him a mass, solid in time and sure to make a decision. The statue would not be as effective if David was made up of a translucent or transparent object like the lantern. 

Chapter 9: Elements of Three-Dimensional Design

Form and Function:

A form is a two-dimensional that gives the illusion of or a three dimensional object or subject that evokes ideas or emotions. The function of the form depends upon the artist’s ideas and emotions that they want to portray to the viewer, or what the viewer thinks the function of the form is. For example:

Above an obstacle course is pictured with military officers using it to train for combat. But if you were to paint it in a variety of colors, remove anything dangerous, and let children play on it, you might get this:

The function of the obstacle course depends on who is using it, children or the mlitary. The military will use the kinetic form to train soldiers for combat and keep them in shape, while children will find joy in the bright colors and thrill of climbing on the form.

Degrees of Dimensionality:

There are four different degrees of dimensionality within a three-dimensional form:

• Relief

Battle of the Centaurs by Michelangelo di Lodovico is an example of a relief form because although the image appears three-dimensional from the frontal view, the form relies on the base (the wall) for support.

• Three-Quarter Works

Apostles of the Central Portal, part of Last Judgement Sculptor Unknown is an example of a three-quarter work because you can view it from the front and sides, but not a full 360 view of it.

• Freestanding

Le Penseur by Auguste Rodin is a freestanding form because it can be viewed from all sides to get the full emotional and idealistic sense of the form.

• Environmental Works

Environmental works can be installations, which are indoors, earthworks, which are outdoors, or site-specific forms. The image above is a scene from the movie Labyrinth and is a site-specific installment because it relates to the fantasy themes of the plot and would not make sense in a normal setting (please also note my efforts to use the excuse of homework to talk about my favorite movie).

Sculpture Analysis:

Line

The connection of the hands of the forms of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney represent the connection between them n several ways: Disney created, voiced, and animated Mickey. Mickey was Disney’s first character and is a symbol of his company and legacy

Plane

This is not a great example of a plane because the sculpture is a definite thickness to the forms

Volume

This is also not a great example of volume because it is not an enclosed space. We cannot go into the statue, we can only view it from the outside

Mass

However, this is a wonderful example of mass because it a completely solid statue. The statue itself is a freestanding form and is made out of some metal material which I think was used on purpose to ward off the ware of the statue and to symbolize how strengthened the Disney legacy is in family values and friendship. It is a symbol to last for generations and a symbol of childhood. 

Greatest Strength/Unrealized Potential Critique: Wire Shoe Project

Working with wire was an entirely new experience for me. I have learned many new and important techniques when working with wire and hopefully I’ll be able to utilize them on other projects in the future. As for the critique on my shoe:

Strengths:

• I chose a shoe that was old because I knew that the wire shoe wouldn’t turn out to be exactly like the real thing, but it gave it enough of a believable shape and the contours turned out nicely, as well

• Utilizing large pieces of wire throughout many different areas in the shoe, such as the one that created the sole and the toe of the shoe, helped pull the subject together, creating more unity

•  I was originally going to go back and crimp all of my cold connections, but I decided because my shoe looked so ratty and was very malleable, I only crimped ones that were solid in the shoe’s structure and other connections are somewhat loose

• I started my shoe several different ways: starting from the sole, the tongue, and (three time’s the charm) with the opening of the shoe. Being able to try and determine where I should start and what worked and didn’t was very beneficial to the final structure of the shoe. It is always important for an artist to come at a situation from many different angles so that they will have a better understanding of their problem, goal, and solution

Weaknesses:

• It was a bit of a  handicap to have never worked with wire as a material previously because you are not always certain how your new material (in this case wire) will react. In the end, I learned a lot, but there is always room for improvement

• The front left side of the shoe became really “busy” looking with all of those connections in one area and it tneds to draw your eye away from the shoe as a whole

• Some areas of my shoe look flatter than others (The left side of the shoe, the bow of the shoelaces) If I had more wire I could probably make them pop out a bit more, but unfortunately I ran out

• Again, to have never worked with the material before, I didn’t realize how time consuming it could be to just bend the wire into a comprehensive shape. Next time, I’ll be sure to plan my time management with new materials more carefully

Chapter 8: Constructing Meaning

Iconography:

Iconography, the study of symbolic visual images, is something everyone has experienced when analyzing an image for its surface or hidden meanings. 

“Yellow Jacket” by Lily Haole (aka Lily-Fox) is a great piece which we can analyze for iconographic meanings (http://lily-fox.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1xctck) Also, check out the rest of her work on DeviantART, she’s one of my favorite modern artists, she’s just lovely C:

On the surface, we notice the extreme contrast between the colors and how the subject takes on an ambiguous look. If we sit here and dig for deeper meaning, we would find that yellow and black, especially in tandem, are universal symbols of caution and warning. We see this in everyday examples such as road signs and traffic signals. We also notice that the young woman has a sort of “rough” exterior from her hairstyle and nose piercing. Together, the image gives us the notion that this woman is dangerous and we should approach her gingerly. 

From analyzing this piece anyone can guess what the simple meaning of this picture is, meaning that iconography happens to be an example of a shared language, a language that overtime one will learn to understand in greater detail, just like any other language.

What is Art?:

Art, the creation of beautiful or thought-provoking works e.g. in painting, music, or writing.

A five-year-old might say that art is how you express yourself yourself through drawing, painting, or singing. Short and sweet, to the root of the question. I would have to agree with them

I think art is how one expresses themselves in any creative fashion. There are so many creative things you can do that are considered art: drawing, knitting, singing, composing, writing, dancing, autobiograph-ing, the list is endless. Art is what you make it: whatever you feel, taste, smell, see, and hear put into a constructed and aesthetically pleasing form that expresses whatever meaning you and others give it.

  Stereotype and Cliché:

Stereotype, a fixed generalization based on a preconception

Cliché, an overused expression or predictable treatment of an idea

 The two have similarities, but even more similarities. I believe that a stereotype holds more power than a cliché because they are usually negative in meaning and if the wrong person believes a negative stereotype, then it can become a dangerous situation. For example, Nazi propaganda images featured people who practice Judaism as physically “disgusting” with “long noses” and have a greedy personality. This is obviously an extreme example, but some stereotypes can become the norm for thinking and that could be potentially dangerous.

Clichés, however, tend to lose their impact after a period of time. The first time you heard “the early bird gets the worm” you probably thought it was a cute expression and believed it. Now, as adults, most of us tend to resent mornings just because in America they are quite busy and many do not have the luxury of enjoying it, thus early birds become quite annoyed and mornings lose their luster.

Effectiveness:

The effectiveness of a piece depends upon the following characteristics, the purpose, intent, and context. For example, an artist wants to display an image that means love but doens’t want the idea to be cliché. The artist then might think of an abstract way of portraying love, such as an older brother carrying his younger sibling. The intent of the piece is to portray love, but depending on how the context is layed out (such as the older brother’s facial expression looks annoyed) might show another type of meaning. It is key to think of your piece as a whole so the viewer might understand the true meaning of a piece, making the artist’s effectiveness much greater.

What is Truth in Art?

I am not exactly sure which category I would fall under for this question because I agree and disagree with values on both sides, but I guess I tend to lean towards postmodernism just because I believe in many different truths for different ideas and materials. Everything has multiple meanings and possibilities given the right kind of mind set. I don’t think this would change my previous answer on art just because artists describe themselves in so many different ways and not one piece of art is identical in use and meaning. 

Chapter 7: Developing Critical Thinking

The Wire Shoe project is challenging before you even start it; there are several challenges and obstacles one needs to tackle in order to complete it. However, the process does not have to be as confusing as the concept may sound. Chapter 7, Developing Critical Thinking breaks apart and blocks out a process that can be very beneficial to the amount of work one has to do and to one’s sanity. For the first week, the book states that you should have a firm grasp of your problem, start blocking out the general ideas, and then turn those general ideas into specific goals. During week one, you should explore other possibilities and then decide which one would work better for your project. The Week Two Assessment says that after completing the project you should make tweaks, see if anything can be looked at from a different perspective, and ultimately see how this could possibly help others.

During the brainstorming process I came up with some sketches and possibly ways how to attach the wires together. We discussed in class that having no “loose ends” and working on the project as a whole would be the best approach to completing the project. We also tested different ways that we could bend the wire to best suit our needs. While constructing the shoe, it will be important to make sure you are creating a contour , three-dimensional image of the shoe from all angles. It will be tough, but in order to convey it as a shoe through our materials we will need to stay simple. “Less is More” is key to making an interesting shoe with volume.

It is also important to make sure to be efficient and manage your time wisely for the project. It will not be a simple task, but it is doable. Having respect for others and yourself by means of time, materials, and attitude towards this project is an important step to assuring yourself satisfaction at the end.  

After discussing the project in class and reading the chapter on Developing Critical Thinking, I know this project will be a very new and frustrating challenge, but it will also be very interesting and when I finish it, I will hopefully feel accomplished and proud of my work. 

Chapter 6: Problem Seeking and Problem Solving

After reading Chapter 6 it is apparent that all of the groups working on the Candle Project were using many of the ideas and techniques described in the chapter. The Candle Project required previous brainstorming before we could even begin building it, such as writing a list and gathering the materials we need, thumbnail sketches, and full comprehension of the problem at hand.

This was one of our first sketches of the machine. As everyone in the class can tell, our original idea went through many different designs. Our convergent thinking skills were pretty decent: we thought out our machine many times, working out kinks, throwing out ideas that didn’t work, and working towards our deadline. Unfortunately, our convergent thinking could not get us to the solution of putting out the candle effectively. This is where our divergent thinking process came in handy. We had never worked on a project like this before, so our minds were very new to this project and we kept coming up with weirder and weirder solutions for our project (even incorporating a whoopie cushion at one point).

The project, at times, was very frustrating and required us to scrap many ideas that we had planned out in its entirety. For brainstorming, we implemented sketches on paper and a chalk board, looking at common items with a new eye to see if it would be useful to us, and working together towards a common goal. Some ideas that we had to scrap included a water balloon putting out the candle, a platform that lowered when a cup was placed on it and filled with water, a cup smothering the candle, and a teeter totter lowering a heavy object onto a whoopie cushion to blow out the candle. It was a very frustrating process, but hopefully come Monday, we will be prepared to extinguish the candle.