I hear that we are not really to post many pictures until we have done a great deal of work. So, with that in mind, this picture shows the beginning. It includes a (nearly) whole block, falling somewhere around our designated size range. I have, as you may or may not be able to see, begun the actual carving, but have made very little progress. Hopefully, indeed, unquestionably, the next picture will show improvement.

Who is this sculptor? (sculpture 1 only please)

This is the kind of image that could end up on the final exam.

Sculpture II Proposal K.Lunsford

This summer I became interested in George Segal's figurative work with plaster. (Note: ECU's library has some great art books on his work if anyone is interested). I was attracted to the way he developed his sculptures and displayed them interacting with objects like windows, chairs, beds, doors, etc. he also created installations with political statements. So I was hooked.

My proposal has two parts: First, to make a life size plaster sculpture of a male figure. This will be the first time for me to do any kind of body casting. Second, to have the figure interact with an object.

The statement of the piece will be dealing with how American Indian objects are displayed in museum cases. I will also be using humor to take a jab at archeologists and ethnologists misinterpretation. Working title: "Hey, I was looking for that."

Proposal

     I propose to make a series of work that will use plaster as a combining media.  Using plaster as the main material will be experimental to myself since I am unfamiliar with this media, but I am confident that I will be able to create a series of 3 sculptures.  My theme is reaching.  I came up with this concept last year when I created a sculpture of a wooden hand.  The world seems to be reaching for someone or something and with my approach to this particular idea I will be to relay this message in each of my sculptures. 

Sculpture

This sculpture of an eagle sits in front of the Prague Police Department. I've always thought it was pretty cool, so I figured I would share it with you guys.

Art reception today 4:00. EXTRA CREDIT! Please be there

Woodcraft.com coupon

Woodcraft has a coupon code that is good until Aug 27th..spend $100 get $20 off or spend $50 get $10 off! The codes and info is on the website=)

http://www.woodcraft.com/Category/1001051/Project-Supplies.aspx

This is an example of an "artist post" for the blog.

In this posting there is a mixture of facts from a documented source and my own insight and opinions.  It's about the right length and includes both images and videos.  Your artist posts should look similar to this one.

Tim Hawkinson (model entry)

Tim Hawkinson is a contemporary sculptor from California. His work is from a pluralist approach. Many pieces do not resemble one another unlike most artist's work. The similarity lies in concept. His work begins with clever ideas that usually involve movement and change over time. His craftsmanship is unlike most sculptors as well. Bent wires, plastic buckets, exposed bolts, duct tape, and fingernail clippings are all things that most sculptors, including myself, don't want viewers to see. in his case, these items become part of the piece or are the piece. He once made the skeleton of a bird out of his own nail clippings. Another piece is a chicken egg made from pulverized nail clippings mixed with super glue. He made a crude contraption that writes and rewrites his own signature on receipt paper and continuously cuts them off and drops them to scatter onto the gallery floor. When I saw his mid-career retrospective in Los Angeles 5 years ago I was very tempted to take one of them! There is a monolithic teddy bear on the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology campus made out of about 8 giant stacked boulders and a several room sized installations that use viewers as musical conductors that arrange percussion and wind instruments made from PVC, plastic, and wood. I really respect his work because of his unorthodox approach and use of material. Humor, play, time, and identity are all very important themes in his work.

Below is a bio from PBS.


"Tim Hawkinson was born in San Francisco, California in 1960. A graduate of San Jose State University, he later earned his MFA at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1989. Hawkinson is renowned for creating complex sculptural systems through surprisingly simple means. His installation “Überorgan”—a stadium-size, fully automated bagpipe—was pieced together from bits of electrical hardware and several miles of inflated plastic sheeting. Hawkinson’s fascination with music and notation can also be seen in “Pentecost,” a work in which the artist tuned cardboard tubes and assembled them in the shape of a giant tree. On this tree the artist placed twelve life-size robotic replicas of himself, and programmed them to beat out religious hymns at humorously irregular intervals. The source of inspiration for many of Hawkinson’s pieces has been the re-imagining of his own body and what it means to make a self-portrait of this new or fictionalized body. In 1997 the artist created an exacting, two-inch tall skeleton of a bird from his own fingernail parings, and later made a feather and egg from his own hair. Believable even at a close distance, these works reveal Hawkinson’s attention to detail as well as his obsession with life, death, and the passage of time. Hawkinson has participated in numerous exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including the Venice Biennale (1999), the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, (2000), the Power Plant in Toronto, Canada (2000), the Whitney Biennial (2002), and the 2003 Corcoran Biennial in Washington, D.C. Tim Hawkinson resides in Los Angeles with his wife." PBS Art 21

Art Reception

We will be having a reception for the opening of Paul Heaston's show "Urban Spaces" this Wednesday, August 17th from 4-5:30 in the gallery.

 
Please make plans to attend if you are an art major.  Regardless, I will give extra credit if you attend.  Just write your name and class name on a small slip of paper like a post it note.  Then give me the slip at the show.  See you there!

Sculpture II assignment

You will mostly be working independently this semester.  There is a chance that we will have a visiting artist coming to class on a regular basis to work with you on a special project.   So we may have to shift gears if this happens.

In the meantime, I want you to type up a proposal for series of sculptures of your choosing.  The series should be ambitious, cohesive, and thought provoking.  The materials, concept, process, and form is up to you.  Please address those 4 points in your proposal.  Post your proposal on this blog.

The series should be completed by midterm.  I look forward to reading your ideas!!!

Also, you may use room 100 in the old art department as your work areas.   Wayneath is teaching Jewelry down there so you will need to clear off the tables when you are finished working.

Relief Sculpture Assignment (I)

A "relief" is a flat sculpture created by adding or, more commonly, removing material from a flat surface such as stone or wood.

Some reliefs are cast out of concrete, bronze, resin, or gold.

*NOTE:  While similar to a "relief print" a relief sculpture is carved much deeper and isn't meant to ever be printed from.  Therefore, there is no need to maintain a flat outer surface.

Regardless of material or process there is one defining characteristic. Unlike other forms of sculpture that can be described as "in the round," a relief is one sided and meant to be viewed from straight in front. This means that a relief is the type of sculpture most closely related to 2-D forms of art like painting and drawing. Paintings are also meant to be viewed from straight in front.

Reliefs can be described as being either high relief (alto relievo) or low relief (bas relief). In high relief, material is removed in large quantities creating substantial depth between the surface and interior contours. Low relief has less depth. A coin is a good example of low relief.


Below is an example of high relief.



Assignment: Sculpture I only

Create an ambitious high relief sculpture out of laminated wood or a solid block of basswood. The surface area should be at least 144 square inches and should be the thickness of at least two 1" bys. I would suggest using select pine boards. At home depot you can get "pine" and "select pine." Pine has knots and is usually warped or bowed somewhat. Select pine is free of knots and is much denser and straighter making it more suitable for carving.

The subject matter is up to you. It could be representational, abstract, or non-representational. I only ask that it be ambitious.

Please remember to post pictures of your pieces on this blog on a regular basis.



Lastly, there are some carving tools that you can use, but you should try to get your own ASAP. There isn't enough time to wait around for someone to finish using a particular gouge. For this scale, you do not need gouges that require mallets. You may not use a Dremel tool for this project.

Woodcraft (OKC and Tulsa)
Rockler Tools (online)
Grizzly Tools (online)
Harbor Freight (OKC and Tulsa and online)
Red Earth Art Supply here in Ada
campus book store
eBay (I have have purchased new and used tools for a lot cheaper than stores on eBay. The problem is that I takes extra time to receive them and you have limited time. If you are going to use eBay, I would suggest buying sooner than later).
Home Depot

Brands - Flexcut, Pfeil, Robert Larson, Buck Bros.

Carving tools made in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan will be superior to anything made in China; better steel and better design.

low relief 

Adding Photos to this blog

Probably the easiest way to add photos from the internet to the blog is to...

1. locate a photo on the web
2. right click and "save photo as"
3. save to desktop or flash drive
4. Then click the icon above (see screenshot below)

5. Click "choose photo"

6. Now click "upload image"

7. now delete the photo from the computer (move to trash on a Mac)

How to add a video to this blog

follow this link for video instructions

http://ecusculpture.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-put-video-from-youtube-on-here.html

carving tools

5 piece Japanese kit Power Grip (I demoed this set) for $39.99 plus tax and a 7 piece set for $49.99 plus tax (same set plus 2 more) I recommend

6 piece USA set (not one that I demoed) for $49.99 plus tax should be good too

8 piece Asian made (based on price it's probably China) for $19.99 plus tax very risky and probably not worth it

6 piece unknown origin for $39.99 plus tax Woodcraft store brand

www.woodcraft.com

Example Artist post

http://ecusculpture.blogspot.com/2010/07/tim-hawkinson-model-entry.html