Final Sculptures

These are the images of my final sculptures, I found this project I huge success. After the first tutorial with Dave I was left really interested with the theme of Art and Reproduction but was confused about how to portray any ideas through sculpture. The casting workshop with Rob really engaged me in the possibilities of creating sculptures through casting and inspired my research into artists that use plaster casting in their sculptures. The idea I decided to pursue required a lot of persistence and continuing visits to the workshop over the period of the four weeks in order to create the five moulds as was set in the criteria, but in the end I created a set (or mini army) of sculptures that have interested me and shown my progress with using many casting techniques for the first time. 

This exploration has really opened my mind to the potential of sculpture in my art which I had previously found overwhelming as I had kept in my comfort zone of painting and drawing. I look forward to exploring sculpture further and taking advantage of the resources available. 

Creating Book

Below shows the pamphlet book I made to discuss in the next session. When deciding what taxonomy to fill my book with I chose to link back to my previous drawing elective and incorporate the Mandala designs I had created, which represent the world and are symmetrical. I thought these would be pleasing in a book and interesting because naturally the readers view of a book would be from left to right, however with a mandala design the eye is drawn to the center of the page. 

I made small changes to the cover template in order to accommodate for not having paper 5x the width of the pages, so I created a tab on both the front and back of the cover. To create the end pages I covered a sheet of paper the same width as the pages unfolded and covered both sides with pink dots using a blotter, this added some colour and interesting shapes to the book. 

Week 3 Creating Sculptures

Once the latex had dried by the third week I needed to create a two-part mould over the latex which would be removed and used to secure the latex as the plaster was being poured in and setting. This required estimating how the mould would have to shape around the latex to be easily removed and re-applied. The problems I found once I had removed the two-part mould was trying to remove the latex from the dolls. As I suspected it damaged the wax beneath by pulling it off with the latex and it even caused one of the dolls heads to fall off (though I found this interesting due to the significance of the contrast of the head and body in this project), so I was glad I kept one doll as wax in order to preserve that stage of the process.

The last image shows the plaster poured into the latex mould being supported by the two part mould around it.

Lee Hassall Lecture

This lecture focused heavily on the idea of the culture and context of art. 

E.P.Thompson (1924-1993) was a British historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He was also a member of Workers' Educational Association (WEA).

Hassall commented on his own experience of culture, saying the culture of London for example is on the surface with public museums, galleries and theaters. In contrast to the more remote areas of Wales, where you have to become more involved with the landscape and the people in order to immerse yourself in the culture. An experience he commented on was a walk through the landscape in which he found an arrow head and pondered on the idea that he was probably the first to hols this since the person that used it, questioning when did this object become aesthetically pleasing and not functional?

Hassall also spoke about his own piece of art entitle 'Fetal', in which he spent days in an old storage room of a wine cellar whilst people could come and view him at work. This mixed audience, of people who knew about the show, as well as people who happened to come across it, creates a god-like perspective of looking down on the artist at work. The idea of working in an enclosed space is also somewhat meditative.

In conclusion, I took from this lecture to consider how I can determine my own cultural map. Is it by judging the types of clothes I wear, the types of clubs I go to, what I vote for? Ultimately, my cultural map is a mixture of everything, being subjective not objective and in a constant flux. Culture can be both ordinary and extra ordinary.

Book Binding Elective

In this first session we explored different artists that use book binding in their pieces. We also made a pamphlet book.

History of book binding in art...
Since the creation of paper artists made books, including monks hand painted illustrations.
William Blake, early pioneer 1789.
William Morris, set up Kelmscott Press 1896.
Book binding one of the earliest forms of collaboration in art.
Pierre Bonnard Lithograph 1900, a form of owning a painting and poem at the same time.
Dieter Roth, series of diaries 1967.
Ed Ruscha, pioneer of American Art Book Movement 1962-78.
Laura Oldfield, 'Savage Messiah' 2006, borrows form from press/political pamphlet.
Richard Tuttle, series of compositions and colours.
Lawrence Weiner 

Below is the pamphlet book we made in this session, you can see the fold of the cover, which helps to hide the spine of the book, as well as the middle page of the pamphlet where the stitching can be seen. For next session we have to create another pamphlet book, this time also including an end paper, and fill the book with a taxonomy similar to the work of Lawrence Weiner.

Painting Experiment

In trial for my larger scale painting, I explored working on a smaller piece of canvas stretched over A5 size mdf board. This allowed me to explore colour mixing and colour contrasting. 

Week 2 Creating Sculptures

The process of covering the dolls in latex was equally as time consuming as building up the layers of wax. I first had to secure the dolls to boards using moulding wax, as well as fill in any large gaps or over hangs from which the latex could not be removed from after setting. Then I started coating them in the first layer of latex, I continued with a further 5-6 layers of the period of the week to allow the latex to be really strong and able to be removed from the dolls and make casts from.

Week 1 Creating Sculptures

Firstly, I needed to remove the hair from the dolls, so that the object was completely smooth to allow the latex moulds to peel off from the dolls. I photographed this stage, and continued to do so throughout the process, because at each stage they created an interesting new piece and I wanted to capture the development. 

I also began the first few layers of wax, which as can be seen it required many in order to have a more solid and less recognisable figure. By dripping the hot wax from the head down it created the sense of the doll melting and it obscured any noticeable features of a human other than the face, linking to Plato's Cave theory of people like slaves only able to see shadows of the pure object- the doll is manipulated, so the object is recognisable but not in it's pure form. Furthermore, the lack of identifying features gives the dolls the appearance of slaves, further linking to the theme I have explored of Plato's theory. 

At this stage I decided to leave one of the three dolls in it's wax form, rather than covering it in latex to create moulds, because I found the wax sculptures interesting in their own right. The contrast of the skin colour and facial features which can still be seen through the thin layer of wax on the head against the opaque layer of wax over the body that distorts all sense of what is beneath it.

Developed Mandala Designs

I developed the initial mandala designs, combining the most interesting shapes to create a set of larger scale pieces.

Designs for Painting

Following the research into Georgia O'Keefe's paintings, I sketched some designs for my own large scale painting. With these designs I incorporated the shapes of yonic imagery I found in the natural and urban environment.

Ultimately, I have chosen an abstract yet still very suggestive design that captures the vivid colours found in yonic imagery in the natural world.

First Series of Mandala Drawings

Working on an A5 scale, in order to concentrate on detail and accuracy, I produced a series of mandala designs. I started by using a ruler and compass to section the page and to create lines to follow for symmetry.

Angela Bartram

Georgia O'Keeffe and Yonic Imagery

Georgia O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist from Wisconsin, who distinguished herself as one of America's most important and most celebrated modern artists. She revolutionized the tradition of flower painting in the 1920s by making large-format abstract paintings of enlarged blossoms, presenting them close up as if seen through a magnifying lens. 

In the below paintings, O'Keeffe explores yonic imagery in a floral and seductive way. I am interested in the use of soft colours and smooth lines that create a sense of peace and beauty. This is something I wish to explore as I create my own series of paintings. 

What I find interesting about O’keefe’s art is the ambiguity of the subject of the painting to make the viewer question its resemblance to flowers and the female genitalia. This links to my previous idea of bringing awareness to the meaning of the word ‘yonic’, as an ambitious in scale and ambiguous painting will certainly lead to questions by the viewer of the painting, including my peers and tutors. 

Independent Project

For the independent project I wanted to explore a personal interest in symmetry and shapes, with the precision and accuracy of perfect forms contrasting with the freedom and expressive drawing we have previously been exploring. At the same time though, I will use the skills developed from this elective to influence my independent work, including the exploration into drawing with fine liners. 

When researching such designs I found many references to 'mandalas' in terms of symmetry and shapes. The word mandala comes from Sanskrit meaning "circle", but while forming a circular shape, mandalas are also full of triangles and squares amongst other shapes. Mandalas offer balancing visual elements, symbolizing unity and harmony.

I wanted to start this project by creating my own series of mandala designs, combining mandala designs that interest me, then forming a final series of larger scale designs using aspects of all the templates. 

Online Research: 

Research Following Plaster Workshop

When researching sculptures that work with plaster and casting I found the artist Laury Dizengremel and was drawn to her series of scultures- 'Artists of the Silk Road' an installation sculptures Created between May 2006 in China and August 2006 in England. I like the clarity of the face in contrast to the vague representation of the body. This reminds of Plato's Cave Theory, with people like slaves in a cave, this idea of slavery is captured in the lake of identifying features, as well as the way the body seem to slump to the floor. 

Ideas- 

• Use small dressmakers dummy or small dolls (eg. barbies. Could find in charity shops) and sculpt using clay then layers of latex to create a mould to cast from. Pros- latex will be able to produce many casts. Cons- time it take to create latex mould. Also, all moulds will be almost identical, is this pro or con?
• Use more than one model to create different moulds.

Plaster Workshop

For this workshop we explored many different methods of creating casts and moulds. We started by creating a two part mould using (bandage). We also started creating a latax mould, which requires many layers of latax being painted over the object. As well as, a mould of the fruit by pushing it into plaster that has been poured into a square box, then allowing that to set and pouring more plaster on top.

Second Session and Ideas

Lecture One- Andrew Bracey

This lecture involved a talk by the curator Andrew Bracey at The Usher Gallery, concentrating on his exhibition 'Detail' which consists of snapshots of 118 artists work. The pieces are all of the same size and are displayed randomly at different angles and spacing, as seen below. This removes the use of setting to enhance the work, instead the eye is drawn to individual pieces that stand out rather than the eye being focused to a certain piece that is displayed pleasingly. 

Phallic and Yonic Imagery in the Natural and Urban World

After researching my theme of gendered objects I decided to explore phallic and yonic imagery in the natural and urban world. To do this, I took a series of sketches of imagery I found outside around the University and centre of Lincoln. Below are my sketches, I found that there were far more examples of phallic imagery in the urban world, but interestingly more yonic imagery in the natural world.

I decided to make sketches of phallic and yonic imagery found in the urban environment based on what I would come across on a day to day basis, so I chose to sketch the imagery found on the walk from my flat to the art studios. The sketches depict phallic imagery most commonly found in structural objects, such as columns and barriers. It was also noted a lack of yonic imagery in the urban environment, with the few examples from this journey being an electric fan and a modern street light. Of course it must be considered the practicality of the long cylinder shape in architecture as opposed to a triangular shape at supporting the weight of a structure, hence the reflection of more phallic imagery than yonic found in the urban environment.

It is also interesting to consider peoples understanding of phallic and yonic imagery. Whilst in general conversation with peers, it was often noted that many had heard of ‘phallic’ but none had heard of the female counter part ‘yonic’. This idea is something I would like to build on in my proposal project, raising awareness of the word yonic and its meaning.

Proposal Feedback

The feedback from the initial proposal picked up on my interests in the theme of gender and the method of drawing and suggested combining these interests as a basis for my work.

Ideas-

1) To explore gender from a masculine perspective, as well as a feminine perspective.

2) To go on a walk and document gender in both the natural and urban environment by taking pictures and through drawing.

3) To consider the surface I work on, if I decide to sketch on paper, consider the quality and weight of paper.

4) Produce rough sketches from life, as well as more detailed drawings.

First Piece and Feedback

Think about the potential and possibilities of drawing.

Feedback 

• Good idea and size and shape of piece by working on a long landscape surface over 2 sheets of paper.
• Work over the drawing to add more depth.
• Concentrate on detail of the back of the head.

To improve

• Create a drawing specifically focusing on the back of the head.
• Use water colours and fine liner to create more depth and shade.

Art and Reproduction Task

Task: 
You must produce a series of 5 cast reproductions of different objects in different media. Together these cast objects must explore some of the issues we have discussed during the intro session. Pairs of words below can act as starting points for your investigations. You will be taught how to cast using various mould making techniques with Rob and cast in different materials during workshop sessions. You are expected to work independently in the studios and workshops over the next three working weeks. 

Prompts: 
Geometry/Nature 
Technology/Control 
Beauty/Hold 
Surface/Anxiety

Art and Reproduction Introduction

Earliest Reproduction

Cave painting is the earliest form of reproduction dating approximately 17,300 years ago. 

Why were they painted?
-Ritualistic: Trying to make the next hunt more successful.
-Documentation: The recording of a successful hunt.
What to consider about reproducing...
Is it the thing itself containing the spirit of the object or a representation of the thing?
Magical or logical?

Greek and Reproduction

The allegory of Plato's Cave is a metaphysical theory of a world beyond the world we see, with humans like prisoners in a cave. To Plato, everything is a reproduction, with art being the furthest from the pure form. Plato's theory is one of a hierarchy suggesting humans are below 'The One' and see only a shadow of the object, a vague representation of the real thing. The hierarchy is as follows:

The One

Geometry and Trigonometry

Pure form

Object in the real world

Reproduction of objects (art)

The importance of Plato's theory is still significant today, with the idea that art is an imitation of what already is an imitation resulting in the need to validate art in some way. However, Aristotle had a higher opinion of art, thinking art can help us understand the world. Where art strikes a balance between being not too real but real enough.

15th Century and Reproduction

The 15th Century held the development of the 'Mathmatical Linear Perspective'. The shift towards science rather than religion.

Technology Development and Reproduction

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm meaning the destruction of an image was coined about 500-600 years ago. The busiest period was the conflict between Catholics and Protestants