Chess Set

With the same clay that I used for the male figure in the last post I decided to also make a chess set. On the whole I was going for an abstracted minimalist styling where each piece would be broken down to its most basic and crucial components. I had a ton of fun making this set and I got lots of encouragement that in the end helped me to finish it and make it look cool. I'm glad I took this project on because it was something that I could make artistically and then use in any chess-y situation (preferably over coffee and in downtown Edmonds). Hope you enjoy.

Large Nosed Man (Sculpture)

A while back I bought some clay at the local art store, after toying around with it for a while I decided to make a cartoonish male bust. The model originally had a hat on with a feather sticking out the side but the hat came off and at some point I lost it. The clay was originally a whitish gray color, to help exaggerate the various curves of the face I painted it with white acrylic. Not much more to say - just me playing around with sculpture. Enjoy

Olympic Sculpture Park Book

This is a book I made laster year for my Cornish foundations second-to-final project. I sold it to my teacher Ruthy and just recently asked for it back to I could scan it in. Below are the ink and watercolor blind contour drawings I did from the Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park. Enjoy.

Wax-Wood Sculpture

In the process of making stretch canvas for oil painting I was left with a dozen or so scrap pieces that all form little triangles with odd angles and edges, picking these pieces up and stuffing my backpack with them I figured I would make some amazing sculpture later on. After bringing them home and laying them all out on the floor I came to the startling conclusion that I really hate sculpture. An hour or so passed playing around with these silly pieces of wood wandering back and forth between what I wanted to make with them and how I could actually secure them to each other. Finally I made the decision to bind them together using tape. The final result of this was a boring and flimsy box-thing. The wood boxes sat in my room for a day or so until I had an idea - pour wax over the top of the blocks and see what happens. The result of this revelation yielded a sculptural set of objects that I'm actually happy with and am showing to you right now. Scanned them in, so they look a little funny but none-the-less. Enjoy.

TV Sculpture

This is a piece I did last year for my intro sculpture class. I cant really remember the assignment, something to do with combining organic forms and machinery. Never got around to finishing the thing (paint) but I think it turned out pretty awesome never-the-less. Foam, wood glue and wire

End of the Year Book Photos!

The final project for my year at cornish was to create a 14 page book inspired by a site of our choice. I decided to go to the OSP (Olympic Sculpture Park) and do some blind contour drawings. Below are the photos from that book, unfortunately the photos turned out a little blurry but i don't have time to take new ones. I will be selling this book to Ruthy tomorrow, I hope it enjoys its new owner - take care of it Ruthy.

Wednesday Night: Sutton-Beres-Culler

Sutton-Beres-Culler, I sculpture trio (minus one) that visited us last wednesday night shared their sculptural works and discussed what it takes to make effective three dimensional objects. Site played a huge role in nearly all of the pieces they presented to us. It seemed as though most of their works were somewhat comical and almost satirical in nature. From the drive through gallery to the park bench and even the asian restaurant inside a gallery, the site they choose and what goes it in usually seems to reflect a place where the decided object would not usually be. Limited not only to comedy, Sutton-beres-Culler also utilized site in a more utilitarian way in means of beautifying the urban landscapes around Seattle. Chalk friendly sidewalks, trolly car man-hole covers and even renovated gas stations, it appeared that the group also cared deeply for the community they create in and what they can do to make it a better, more artistic space to live in. The main thing I think I will take from all of this is that site is much more important than I had once thought it was. It can be used as comic relief, or even a serious means of telling a story about a place or time. I'm not sure how this will exactly tie into my upcoming projects but I believe it has weighed heavily in my brain. I hope to take advantage of its intricacies in my artwork sometime in the future.

Figure as Form Sculpture

Utilizing nearly twelve pounds of clay and over three weeks of intensive child labour I have finally completed the 'top half' section of my figure as form sculpture!
Designated either a top or a bottom my foundations class was assigned to sculpt a unique figure element for the end of the cluster. Once completed the top and bottom halves of different peoples works were combined and mended together to birth a new clay creature. So yea, here is what me and kevin got up to...

Wednesday Night Objectness Response

The piece I am choosing to talk about is a sculptural object created by Bo Bartlett and selected by Dan Shafer.
The piece itself came into existence as unintentional art. As Dan explained, he would travel to Bartlett's studio from time to time and notice his oil painting palette which would over time accumulate into large lumpy piles of paint. Inspired by its unique figures Dan decided to show it as his selection for the gallery showing last week.
I find this piece, among others, to be the most object-y or thingy out of them all for two reasons. The first being its evidence as a sign of process and time and its stance as a utilitarian object that was used to create something else. To me something that feels like an object is something that has been used or created and has a definitive existence as a piece of someone's daily life. In this case Bartlett's paint palette has stood up to these requirements and through its randomized aesthetic has become a piece of art. The second reason being the actual shapes and forms that lie within the piles on the palette. THe lumps and mounds of the palette and paint create weird martian looking rocks and columns as well as a strange sense of life and the presence of an extraterrestrial being. The colors along with the extremely unique and organic forms, in my opinion represent the most distinctly 'thingy' object in the entire show.

One Minute Sculpture

Each of the following is a 'one minute sculputre' preformed by myself following a unqiue objective / set of rules.

1. Place a spoon in your hair using a rubber band

2. Wear a wooden neck tie and sit in the chair

3. Sit in the window frame and balance some blocks between your head and the ceiling