Kristina Lewis

This artists work isn't entirely relevant to my final project, but her handmade principles and captivating forms really appeal to me.



Cultivated Zipzippers, thread, chain, metal hardware, rubber, adhesive
88” x 6” x 1”
2008
 





It Leaves a Shining Wake (at Johansson Projects, Oakland)
zippers, thread, cotton piping, black paint
size variable, approx. 7’ long
2010

Her work is known for its use of unorthodox materials such as in some of the example where zippers are her primary material.





Her work which most interests me is her series called Tape Systems where she creates natural looking organisms from completely artificial products

Tape System No. 3 (at Johansson Projects, Oakland)
embossing tape, drinking straws, vinyl resin, acrylic dowels, adhesive
4.5’ x 3.5’ x 1.5”
2008

Boundaryplastic boundary tape, plastic and vinyl tubing, cardboard, vinyl resin
11” x 6” x 3”
2009
 





Cautionplastic tape, plastic and rubber tubing, cardboard, rubber, wood, paint, adhesive
10” x 12.5” x 2.5”
2008
 

Nursemasking tape, stir straws, cardboard, wood, paint, vinyl resin, adhesive
24” x 15” x 2.5”
2008



embossing tape, drinking straws, vinyl resin, acrylic dowels, adhesive
4.5’ x 3.5’ x 1.5”
2008

 







The simplicity of her materials that result in intricate and delicate designs is really beautiful to me as you can sense the handmade and lengthy process that would have been involved.

Final Project - Artist #5

Marie Watt

Blanket Stories: Objects

We are received in blankets, and we leave in blankets. The work in these rooms is inspired by the stories of those beginnings and endings, and the life in between. I am interested in human stories and rituals implicit in everyday objects. Currently I am exploring the history of wool blankets. I find myself attracted to the blanket’s two- and three-dimensional qualities: On a wall, a blanket functions as a tapestry, but on a body it functions as a robe and living art object. Blankets also serve a utilitarian function. As I fold and stack blankets, they begin to form columns that have references to linen closets, architectural braces, memorials (The Trajan Column), sculpture (Brancusi, for one), the great totem poles of the Northwest and the conifer trees around which I grew up. In Native American communities, blankets are given away to honor people for being witnesses to important life events – births and comings-of-age, graduations and marriages, namings and honorings. For this reason, it is considered as great a privilege to give a blanket away as it is to receive one.

Blankets hang around in our lives and families – they gain meaning through use. My work is about social and cultural histories imbedded in commonplace objects. I consciously draw from indigenous design principles, oral traditions, and personal experience to shape the inner logic of the work I make. These wool blankets come from family, friends, acquaintances and secondhand stores (I’ll buy anything under $5). As friends come over and witness my blanket project in progress, I am struck by how the blankets function as markers for their memories and stories. (artists website)

 

 

I've included this artists work Blanket Stories as I feel it shows both option a and option b from my last post. These works are all stacked in a mass but also show a sagging and precariously stacked structure as well as well lit - showroom like exhibiting.

 

Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Cousin Rose, Four Pelts, and Sky Woman 2005

 

Again the success of these works is heavily reliant on the large number of collected objects, which may be difficult for me to replicate as each bowl, depending on size can take up to 6-8 hours to make.
I think the use of different heights for the plinths is an interesting concept as I have been thinking of using physical and intact magazines between the bowls to increase mass but also to highlight what the bowls have been made of. I think this is a practical solution but also adds a differentiating factor as it could add variety to the stacked towers.

 

Final Project - Artist #4

I've been having a bit of trouble figuring out how I will position and set-up my final installation. Because my initial space has been taken, and my idea was fairly fixed in it I have to try and find another way to express what I need to. I could either
a) Line them up in a very orderly way - looking almost like a shop display- this would add to the notion of consumerism and excessive buying of material goods from large stores.
b) Precariously and messily stacked on one another so as to point to ideas of instability and an unsuccessful system.
I've included the next artist MATEJ KREN as she uses the second option, albeit in a different way, to create a stacked mass of books

"The Prague Municipal Library is now home to a spiraling tower of hundreds of carefully stacked books assembled by Slovakian born artist Matej Kren. Dubbed Idiom, the staggering installation reaches up to the ceiling, and Kren installed a mirror inside the funnel to create the illusion of a magical, unending spire of books.
Matej Kren’s ‘Idiom’ book tower originally appeared in Sao Paulo’s International Biennial in 1995. It consists of hundreds and hundreds of books stacked in a cylindrical pattern with the overlapping style of a Jenga game. A narrow tear-shaped opening creates a ten-foot hole in the side of the tower. The colorful spines of the various books create a rainbow pattern on the outside, while on the inside the well-worn, yellow-tinged pages of the books cast a warm glow.
Patrons of the Prague Municipal Library can peer their heads and shoulders into the tower’s interior. A mirror has been placed on the tower’s floor, replicating the experience of looking down into the waters of a wishing well. Another mirror caps the ceiling, creating an infinity effect. The stacks of books seem to climb and descend endlessly in both directions around the reflection of the visitor themselves.
Matej Kren often uses books to connect viewers with the feeling of infinity, exploring their structural use as well their application as tools of knowledge. Upon the close of many of his installations, the books used in the sculptural cells and structures are returned to their original purpose – the function of being read. The books work together to create these massive structures, and individually to spread the knowledge within their pages." (from http://inhabitat.com/matej-krens-idiom-is-a-spellbinding-tower-made-from-hundreds-of-books/#ixzz33Aw4jzx5)

I think the sheer amount of books is what underpins this works success. Given my time constraints, I am concerned that I will not be able to create such an overwhelming mass. Also, when stacked the bowls that I have made may lose height, thus meaning that the long time which their construction took will remain unseen.

Jacquie Aiche Ear Jackets

Jewellery is in effect mini sculpture created for the body. Wearing it can be seen as installing it as a temporary part/ extension of the body.
This artist has a line of ear cuffs called 'ear jackets' which are adjustable so as to fit each customers ear lobe perfectly.
Really interesting concept and beautifully intricate designs.

Smithsonian Magazine

Microscopic Human Tears

This isn't entirely relevant to my installation practice, but I find Fisher photographs really powerful. Each image looks like a destroyed or alien city or landscape from a high angle. Knowing what tears corresponds to what emotion adds a really interesting layer as you make correlations with the images and the words. For example tears of grief look barren and like a toxic waste land, whereas tears of laughter has large organic looking bubble shapes that are indicative of happiness.

"In 2010, photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher published a book of remarkable images that captured the honeybee in an entirely new light. By using powerful scanning electron microscopes, she magnified a bee’s microscopic structures by hundreds or even thousands of times in size, revealing startling, abstract forms that are far too small to see with the naked eye.

Now, as part of a new project called “Topography of Tears,” she’s using microscopes to give us an unexpected view of another familiar subject: dried human tears."

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-microscopic-structures-of-dried-human-tears-180947766/#okPuMbBduCKI5fZo.99

Tears of Grief

Basal tears

Laughing Tears

Onion Tears

Final Project - Artist #3

http://www.juxtapoz.com/current/magazine-sculptures-by-david-mach
David Mach
The work by this artist is on a such a large scale, and so well done that it's partially unbelievable and inconceivable. His work revolves around the sentiment of multiples - using a large number of one object to create another object or piece.

He is especially known for his coat hanger and matchstick pieces, of which there seem to be an endless amount:








His work which most pertains to the work which I am undertaking for the final project is his use of collage and magazines. He uses posters and photomontage as part of his work:

Made form postcards:


His installation pieces use magazines and other papers to make settings for objects which he has collected. He makes wave like and organic shapes which he constructs using a technique which I cannot quite seem to figure out...




These magazines don't seem to be glued to one another, but stacked and flared out - which amazes me as he is placing heavy objects such as cars on what I would consider an unstable foundation.



There is a sort of humour in these images, as though the objects are either floating or drowning on a sea of consumption. I do feel that his work does thematically point to excess in modern life, as I would like mine to.

 

 

 

These pillars especially relate to my work as I will also be making a towering work. The difference is that mine will be focusing on an instability and precarious leaning, whereas this work is reliant and powerful because of the solidity, sturdiness and well structured pillars. It seems to suggest that consumerism and consumption make the pillars of our society.

 

I think that this is both economically and socially true, as the retail sector does drive economics in both our local and international market, and in terms of the social, females especially are driven into buying into trends continuously. In certain circles there is a fear of not being current or being 'last season'. The term FOMO (fear of missing out) circulates and consumers are encouraged to buy an excess of goods. These notions will hopefully be apparent in my work.

Final Project - Artist #2

Nate Page

"Nate Page, an artist based in New York City, recently unveiled a new series of magazines with different layers carved out that are on display at the Jen Bekman gallery.  Page removes layers from magazines and billboards, revealing the rainbow of colors behind the images.  These topographic assemblage designs focus on eyes and strip away the collections to their core.
In the artist statement, Page describes his desire to investigate the dichotomies between materiality and images, occupied space and presence, and potentiality and reality.  He transforms the everyday objects into personal expressions and informs his work with “personal memories and consumer culture angst.”(http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/carved-magazines-by-nate-page.html#!OFC7k)

Images from http://beautifuldecay.com/2009/08/15/nate-page/

While it was fairly difficult to find information for this artist I find these works quite haunting. The layers of magazine have an almost musculature effect when combined with the facial features - as though a surgeon has taken apart the faces of the models and forgotten to rebuild or replace it.
His technique also amazes me as controlling how many pages to cut through must have been difficult, and the time taken must have been immense.

The resulting pattern from the echoed eye shapes has a 3D ripple effect which one wouldn't expect in a solid form. The ability to mirror fluid movement and organic shapes using only paper and a cutting tool really appeals to me. 
Most sculptures made from bronze or huge scale works often receive so much attention, but the works which I find to be the most inspirational are often the smaller ones, using inexpensive or recycled materials and where the excessive time spent on executing the final product is evident.

While my final work won't focus on the actual images of the magazines, but more about what magazines represent in terms of excess consumption, I still find this artists work helpful as it proves that a simple material can still be transformed into something larger than itself, that is beautiful and intricate but still able to be meaningful.

Final Project - Artist #1

http://www.visualnews.com/2012/07/21/magazine-sculptures/
Yunwoo Choi



The artist of these works Yunwoo Choi uses rolled-up pages of magazine and glue to create works that are inspired by revealing dimensions that cannot be seen.


"Lightweight sculptures, fragile in their construction and huge in their scale, fill rooms with colour as they traverse the 3rd dimension. "
" His pieces take the form of cyclonic black holes, corkscrewing ribbons and even flat pointillist-like portraits using the printed shades of his recycled paper medium. With each he ponders important questions about our perceptions of reality:

“Are people,” he asks, “really living in the same plane or dimension even though they feel differently about the same situation?”

Not one to simply present the question, he reads books like Brian Greene’s “The Elegant Universe” and “The Fabric of the Cosmos” which explores the idea that there are 14 dimensions which have theoretically been proven. With so many dimensions at play, Choi explores the idea of invisible and intangible matter physically existing in the overlapping hidden spaces of dimensions we cannot perceive.

“I am also interested in invisible and intangible matter itself. Books by the philosopher Ken Wilber, along with Taoist and Buddhist texts have inspired my work. For me, the answer is to express my unseeable and untouchable deep internal interests and spirit.”

Acknowledging the dualistic nature of his “endless” conceptualizing in the realms of the spiritual and the secular, he states: “my mind which was originally seamless oneness is divided into numerous fragments.” It sounds a lot like the mind that could create such thoughtful and interestingly inspired works."


I have planned to use magazine as my material for the final project, and while the shapes that I wish to create will be quite structured and fall under the 'vessel' category, I find his ability to manipulate this relatively simple medium to such an extent really inspiring.
Additionally having made magazine structures and experimenting with vessels, the cutting, pasting and constructing elements are HUGELY time consuming. The size of his work and magnitude of the handmade, man hours that would have been required is both intimidating and appealing to me.

I think the first image is a really beautiful shape, and the construction is admirable as it is able to hold its shape whilst in the air.



Similarly the second image shows the strength of the artists construction as the body is only attached to the walls with a few points of fishing line. The structure still manages to hold shape, not tear or fall apart.





The scale of the works is massively impressive and the close-up shots really enhance the time-consuming and labour intensive process which clearly appeals to me as my work always tends to revolve around the notion of 'hand-made'.





Really nice form to this work. Clearly such a solid and stable piece which contradicts the flimsy and breakable nature of magazine paper.

Metroplastique

Artist collaboration: Supakitch and Koralie
http://vimeo.com/31044044
http://vimeo.com/15076572 (FAVOURITE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2AdKHr5GSo

Amazing designs, steadiest hands I've ever seen.
Literally a marriage of the minds as they are married and have two children. You can also commission them to design your tattoo. I think their designs are a perfect melding of fantasy creature, whimsical settings and architectural and symmetrical beauty. Each design - whether a print or mural is heavily condensed with image, colour and intense pattern. Really inspirational works.

Sculpture and Jewellery

Susie Ganch

"Ethical metalworking, sustainability, and recycled detritus figure prominently in Richmond-based Susie Ganch’s two-part exhibition. “Susie Ganch: Tied” offers independent work while the Radical Jewelry Makeover project, founded by Ganch in 2007 as an outreach program of the nonprofit Ethical Metalsmiths, presents a collaborative endeavor that repurposes unwanted jewelry.
Although separate practices, both allow Ganch to highlight the discarded and unwanted, ranging from everyday things to gold and diamonds. For her own work, she achieves this by magnifying scale through accumulation and using impeccable precision to elevate waste into aesthetic objects. Drag, 2013, for example, is a dialogue of found materials: plastic cups and hair barrettes to faux feathers and glass beads. As a series of gradually expanding, interconnected links, the deceptively elegant pile of garbage hooks into the wall, thereby creating an indelible tension between growth and restriction. Pile: Starbucks on Robinson, April–December 2012, 2013, a sea of undulating white Starbucks tops arranged to mimic a three-dimensional hanging tapestry, and Bale, 2014, a stockpile of white garbage rolled up to resemble a life-size hay bale, use similar materials but abandon metalworking techniques for sculptural installation.
With these works, Ganch undermines the viewer’s reaction; this is not just well-composed garbage. Rather, she reframes the three-dimensional objects with photographs or suggestive titles, directly alluding to questions about consumerism, ethical standards of global retailers, and mass production. Bale reappears in a Photoshopped print, with one white garbage bale after another dotting a nondescript pastoral landscape. Drag, both sculpture and bracelet, stymies the wearer when it becomes a weighted chain. In each installation, Ganch places implication equally on buyer and producer as the innumerable individual parts are held together to form a gestalt. Ultimately, Ganch—the artist and the activist—is most successful when she straddles the in-between spaces, changing our perception of the permissible and polemically probing our assumptions." (from http://artforum.com/?pn=picks&section=us#picks46277)








For my final project I would like to explore my interest in discarded and wasted materials. I find this artists work really appealing as she recycles objects, yet her sculptural and jewellery forms are beautifully made and really well presented in terms of shape, and colour. One can often assume that 'recycled' objects and sculptures will look very craft like, home-made and potentially juvenile. Ganch still manages to retain and create a sophistication in her works.
The variety in form as well as focus on natural and organic shapes really interests me and adds a level of depth to her works.