Sculpture -- Like a Museum

We had studied a number of artists whose work was at the intersection between art and science. A good example of this is Herbert Distel and his Museum of Drawers. Another example was the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles. As part of this assignment we had to form teams, study displays in museums and do a proposal for a display that was "like a museum". Our proposal was The Twinkies Project, in which we would document all the wild myths, unbelievable truths and slight exaggerations about Twinkies.

Some of the artifacts for our display included the Twinkie (on the left) that was found among the stomach contents of a 25,000 year old frozen Woolly Mammoth. Next to it is a Twinkie where the chemical process was stopped right in the middle so you could see the interior bubbling up. Next to it is a Twinkie that has been dissected. The items that were labelled include: Rocket Fuel, Glue, Embalming Fluid, Tracer Bullet Phosphorus, Colorants, Petroleum and "Just Chemicals". Next to it is a light that is being powered by the chemicals in the Twinkie. The light was able to stay on for the whole two week display. One thing that we asserted was that there is enough power in a package of Twinkies to run a VW bus cross-country. On the right we showed "Twheaties" a cross between Twinkies and Wheaties, a product that is available in some other countries. Finally in front you can see a Twinkie from which someone took a bite. We don't know what happened to them afterward.

Sculpture -- Book Art

In class we had studied the work of Tom Trusky and the Idaho Center for the Book. Our assignment was to create a sculptural work based on a book. Our professor passed out instructions on how to create an accordion book and a long list of possible topics. I went from there. Here are two photos of my book art sculpture. One photo shows the places & poems and the other photo maps & directions. my artist's statement is below.

The Book Art sculpture, Places, Maps & Memories, is an accordion book of sixteen pages. It is constructed of simplex-printed paper, glue, thread, tape and graphite. Each page is 3 1/2 x 5 inches. The construction includes eight photographs associated with places I have lived and eight traditional maps showing the locations of these places. In addition there is a poem associated with each place and a psychological map that shows the way to each location.

When the accordion book is closed and flat, it fits into a hand-made envelope which can be closed with a paper-button clasp and thread. This envelope is approximately 3 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches.

When the accordion book is opened, it ties together with a paper-button clasp and thread. When joined together it forms a symmetrical, standing sculpture approximately 11 x 11 x 3 1/2 inches. The sculpture should stand slightly below eye level. It is a closed form and should be viewed from all sides. It is interactive, and fragile.

When the accordion book is joined it has two continuous faceted surfaces. One surface has eight photos associated with places I have lived. Each photo has a poem associated with it and next to it. The other surface has eight traditional maps that show the location of these places. Each traditional map also has a psychological map that shows the way to it. These are located next to each other.

When joined, the structure forms a kind of circular tube where the inside may be pulled up to become the outside and the outside rotates under to become the inside. Because of the offset nature of the structure, the map associated with a particular place does not sit exactly opposite it. To tie the place with its maps, all are lightly color-coded. The colors, in order, are: red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, light blue, dark blue and gray.

The sculpture is designed to explore the idea of home and place and how one moves from place to place and why.

Drawing -- Moth

Our final assignment for the semester was to select a number of objects (piece of black paper, smaller piece of white paper, picture of a moth, a short length of rope and a disk with odd shapes on it), place them in a composition of our choosing and draw them in graphite on white paper. Our format was 14" x 17". We only had a short amount of time to complete this one, so I feel it is not quite finished yet. I'm glad the semester is over though.

Drawing -- Fabric

Our professor prepared a piece of black and white striped fabric, draped and mounted to a board. Our assignment was to draw it in charcoal on white paper with a toned background and in a 10" by 20" format. When I did it in class my toned background ended up so dark that when I tried to lighten it for the white stripes, I could not get it light enough. I had to do the drawing over, from scratch, outside of class, without being able to look at the actual fabric. In spite of that (or perhaps because of it ;^) the final drawing turned out very good. This is my best work for the semester.

Drawing -- Still Life with Dinosaur

Our assignment was to select a number of black and white objects, compose them and then draw them on a toned background. We used charcoal on newsprint. We used the charcoal to establish an even tone across all of the paper and then darkened and lightened portions to complete our drawing. This was practice for the following (fabric) assignment.

Drawing -- Master Drawing

We were given a black and white photocopy of an oil pastel by Mary Ann Currier called Onions and Tomato. We were then to do a 10" by 20" drawing of it. We could choose either graphite or charcoal. I chose graphite because I thought it would be harder for me. This was the only assignment where we used a grid. It made the assignment much more doable. This was the first time that I drew using a grid. I like the result.

Drawing -- White Objects

Our assignment was to draw a still life of white objects on a white table with a white background. The drawing was graphite on white paper. (Sorry that this photo is so poor.)

Drawing -- Bird

We were given a small photocopy of a bird. Our assignment was to use that bird in our composition and then in a free form fashion build a composition around it with shapes that were similar to or derived from the basic bird shape. The work was charcoal on white paper. This is what I came up with on my third try.