November 15

Today I had a critique in Drawing. I presented this piece where I made natural objects and placed them in nature. I was thinking about those huge cell phone towers that are disguised as trees but look nothing like trees. It's like our society recognizes our need to be around nature, but rejects it. Here are some pictures...

I also did not want to put them in a forest, but in a kind of fake nature setting, like on the college campus.

My next thing is to start working on a chandelier-type item (which is what I've been talking about all year, I know). I'm going to start with something that does not actually contain a light but all of the other structures of a chandelier still exist..like a Petah Coyne kind of hanging sculpture.

Field Trip! Nov. 4

Today was the field trip...we went to look at artists' studios. I was disappointed we only saw two, but the navigation of the bus through the tiny streets was more difficult than expected. I was surprised by how dirty they were! I was really interested in Alyson's work and she was a good speaker, I wouldn't mind listening to her even more. Maybe I was just tired, but I was less interested in Bruce High Quality.

Also, I've been working on these maps:



The top one is London and the lower  is obviously Manhattan. I really like the idea of cutouts and have been thinking of maps and space and maps vs. space...and this is what I've come out with so far. We'll see how it goes.

Also, I won an award at the Chance show woo! I'll put up a picture when I take a good one.

cute

Also this is just too cute:

Wednesday, October 19

Today was the critique for the installation project that I have been working on. I presented it this way, although I am still not totally sure about the overall shape. I am thinking of making it bigger still.

I was also experimenting with moving it beyond the wall. So far I have it moving onto the floor and around the corner to another wall.

Although I don't feel totally finished with this installation, I am going to move on for a while...I want to work with light more, ideally building a lantern or chandelier.

[http://www.paperny.com/gehry2/gehry_fish_lamp.jpg, Frank Gehry]

Response to Critique, Friday October 7

 Our critique group came to my studio to look at and talk about the two installations that I have been working on all semester. I am using both of them to study the light and shadows that are created by what I am making.



This piece is made from cut bristol board. I am taking the shapes for the individual pieces from photos that I have taken of tree bark. In the crit, we talked about how you can see "rivers" of more detailed shapes within the larger shape.

We compared my installations, noting that in the first one, while using organically-inspired shapes, the overall shape still appears pretty unnatural, whereas in the second installation, which is constructed of iridescent perfect circles, the shape is very organic. I also mean for this second installation to be displayed near a low-powered fan that will cause the individual pieces to be constantly moving. Someone noted the relation between this movement and the movement that we had earlier observed within the difference in the shapes in my other piece.

Andy Goldsworthy

Today I watched Rivers and Tides, the documentry about Andy Goldsworthy. I find it amazing that he can spend all of his time outside creating sculptures out of natural objects. It seems like a childhood dream come to reality. His work is temporary, set and made from objects found only in nature. Especially in our society, it seems more important than ever to spend as much time as you can enjoying what exists outside. I would be interested in pursuing a similar project, spending time getting to know what surrounds me and creating a project strictly with the materials found outdoors.

Tara Donovan

Since I'm interested in light and shadow, I have been looking at some of Tara Donovan's work. As much as I am interested in the product of her peices, they all seem to have a overwhelmingly tediousness about them. Monumental pieces made of such small everyday items. I am also intrigued by her use of nonconventional art material.

The idea of light's effect on her white on white pieces is what I would like to study with my own work.

[images: Tara Donovan, installations constructed of paper plates and drinking straws, http://www.acegallery.net/artwork.php?pageNum_ACE=1&totalRows_ACE=58&Artist=8]