Artwork: Mixed Media
Beyond the Shells
Junk Sculpture
January 2018
January 2018
Exhibition Text
The piece created focuses on the environment nowadays and the neglect the issue gets from many. The piece is a Junk Sculpture inspired by César Baldaccini and pollution in beaches.
Process
1. Brainstorming
Sketches
Sketch #1
The first sketch that I created was of a turtle who is trying to go in the water. What I intend on doing is to place a turtle in the middle of a board while the water and the sand are playing tug a war with the turtle. Both the sand and the turtle will be polluted while the turtle will be fine. The point of this piece is to make it seem as if they (water/sand) are fighting to see who is the first who will harm the turtle with all of the pollution that is contained in each of them. Sketch #2 This second sketch is similar to the first because I liked the idea of showing how pollution is not a problem that many consider. In this sketch I drew a turtle who is reaching to the ocean. In this sketch the water will not be polluted but the sand will be very dirty. It is intended to show how harmful pollution can be for animals. Sketch #3 The third sketch is similar to the first two but this time I decided to balance out the materials that I am using to not make the board look hard to look at (very busy). I decided to incorporate two turtles which would represent a mother and her child. The idea is to make them look like if they are going from the sand to the water. Both the sand and the water will be polluted to show how we are harming animals. |
2. Materials Used
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3. Starting my piece
Because I wanted to make a statement with my art I decided to make a piece that is big enough for people to spot from a good distance. I chose a medium sized board to present my work. Before anything was done I gessoed my board so that the paint can be seen and not give a transparent look. Because the gesso I used was not white I had to paint a layer of white paint on top of that after the gesso had dried. Although this was not necessary, I did this so that I could sketch my piece and be able to see where I drew. I then let the board dry and began to sketch the idea I had in mind.
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Experimentation
I began by creating a beach for the background of my piece. Although I took many steps to create this trying to make the beach look the most realistic, I ended up not using my board. The overall look was very busy and it made my piece look like a project instead of an artwork. By leaving the board out of my project, my theme was highlighted more effectively. Not only that but the overall work looked cleaner. |
6. Creating the Turtles
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Because I had decided to go along with the sketch that showed two turtles, I decided to make these animals created by different things. I began by looking around my room to see what kind of materials I could use. Since the materials that I had collected were not enough, I began to ask my parents and sibling to clean out their room and give me the garbage at the end. I began looking for anything that looked like half a sphere. This would serve as the shell for my turtles. I found two honeycomb lanterns and a paper lantern. They would all serve as the shells from the turtles, but there were legs that were still missing as well as the head. As I kept sorting through the garbage that I had collected, I could not quite find something that looked similar to a turtles head. Because of this I ended up cutting a bottle of water in half and using the top of the bottle. I then covered the bottles with newspaper until the bottle looked like the head
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of the turtle. Three of these were made to use as the turtles head. Because I wanted to show how our waste is affecting sea turtles, I decided to make the legs out of the other half of the bottles of water. The bottom half of the bottles were cut and then filled with garbage. I filled them up with the things that I found such as bottle caps, paper, ribbon, plastic bags, and many other things. Hot glue was then used to seal the bottles and then attach the legs to the turtle. The same process was followed when making the legs for all of the turtles. Lastly, the tails were all made out of different things. They were made out of pens, plastic, hair clips, and a thermometer.
7. Finishing up the Turtle shells
Because I already had the layout of a turtle I finished them up by adding elements that can be found in the beach. You can find anything and everything in the beach so I collected smaller objects. While doing this I thought about how plastic is always found in the beach and so I ended up taking all of my brothers broken or unwanted toys. I then went outside and broke all of these toys with a hammer. The plastic had been reduced to smaller pieces that were used for the turtles. The honeycomb lanterns already had places in where objects could be added so |
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all I did was fill them up. One of the turtles was filled with crepe streamer, paper, juice pouches, bottle caps and more garbage that you will be able to find in the beach after a party. The second lantern was filled with plastic and plastic toys to show the amount of plastic trash is left behind from toys, and other activities. Lastly, the last turtle was covered with both plastic and garbage to show the remains that you find every day in the sand.
Artistic Inspiration
César Baldaccini
Poule à limes
The artist that inspired my work was César Baldaccini. Cesar Baldaccini was a french sculptor known for his many artworks involving radical compression, expansion, and animal sculptures. When Baldaccini created his sculptures he used the most economical materials. He followed the New Realism movement combined with Arte Povera. The New Realism movement aimed to use objects that would be physically present but didn't necessarily have to be part of the work. In the other hand, Arte Povera is a movement founded in Italy. It literally translates to “poor art” or “impoverished art”, which goes exactly with their theme. The movement opposed the modernist art while using materials that can be found anywhere. These materials were referred to as “poor materials”, since they are not difficult to acquire. Some of these objects included rocks, paper, and even ropes. Cesar’s sculptures mostly focused on consumer-waste which caught the attention of many.
I was greatly inspired by Baldaccinis sculpture Poule a limes, which was one of the many pieces that demonstrates or resembles an animal. I greatly enjoyed looking at the composition of his piece as well as its cleanliness. Just like Baldaccini, I would like to show a similar use of space, form, balance, unity, and movement. Cesar Baldaccini fills up his entire piece and only leaves negative spaced where necessary. Along with that he uses a great amount of smaller pieces to create form that portrays an animal. Lastly, I would like to show unity and movement in my artwork. Baldaccini shows a great sense of unity in his arrangements as well as movement in his sculpture, thus people's eyes and bodies travel around his piece. The top pieces in his piece are arranged similarly. They are inserted in a way so that each piece sticks out and creates the look of feathers. Overall his arrangement creates unity. The piece looks complete and doesn't look out of place. I plan to make my piece look unified by making three turtles that have a similar size. Not only that but if I arrange my pieces accordingly, then I will be able to make my piece look like actual turtles. By doing this I will catch my viewers attention making them travel around my piece and making them look at the detail in each of them.
I was greatly inspired by Baldaccinis sculpture Poule a limes, which was one of the many pieces that demonstrates or resembles an animal. I greatly enjoyed looking at the composition of his piece as well as its cleanliness. Just like Baldaccini, I would like to show a similar use of space, form, balance, unity, and movement. Cesar Baldaccini fills up his entire piece and only leaves negative spaced where necessary. Along with that he uses a great amount of smaller pieces to create form that portrays an animal. Lastly, I would like to show unity and movement in my artwork. Baldaccini shows a great sense of unity in his arrangements as well as movement in his sculpture, thus people's eyes and bodies travel around his piece. The top pieces in his piece are arranged similarly. They are inserted in a way so that each piece sticks out and creates the look of feathers. Overall his arrangement creates unity. The piece looks complete and doesn't look out of place. I plan to make my piece look unified by making three turtles that have a similar size. Not only that but if I arrange my pieces accordingly, then I will be able to make my piece look like actual turtles. By doing this I will catch my viewers attention making them travel around my piece and making them look at the detail in each of them.
Pollution
Another one of my inspirations was pollution. Because many don't care much about the environment I wanted to open people's minds with my piece. I was greatly inspired after thinking about the amount of garbage that is thrown as well as the amount that is consumed by animals. I thought about how a person might be captivated by the beauty of an animal but will never look at the conditions in which the animal is living. In my piece I plan to create turtles out of garbage to show how much this is harming animals. I will not only show this in the outside but I plan in showing the amount of trash that animals might consume by having parts that are transparent to show the inside.
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Reflection
At the end of this project I thought I was successful when it came to finishing the project but I wasn't very content with the outcome. The pieces looked very simplistic in my eyes. The lanterns provided me with a shell but I believe I could've done more. Not only that but I wish the product looked more realistic. One of the things that I felt proud about were the legs. Although they lacked the realistic look I think it was one of the aspects that helped carry out my theme. The idea of having parts that were transparent helped bring out the fact that animals in general will consume what they see around. A turtle for example will eat a plastic bag because of the resemblance it has to a jellyfish. By making the legs transparent I was able to show the amount of garbage that an animal might consume and as we all know that is not something healthy. Other than that I can say that I was successful when it came to following the elements and principles that Cesar showed in his work. When creating my piece I made sure that I used the space adequately. I made sure that I filled up my entire piece and left negative spaces only where they were necessary. Not only that but by doing this I was bale to show form just like Cesar. I made junk sculptures that resembled a turtle which made me feel successful. In order to see if my piece actually looked like this animal I tested it out by showing my family members and asking them what my piece was. When it came to balance I believe that I carried this element out in my piece but only to a certain extent. The two honeycomb lantern turtles looked like they belong, but the third turtle was not the best. Although this piece took very long I didn't completely like the look of it. I believe it lacked something in the visual aspect. Lastly, although I felt this way about my piece I think that my piece showed unity and movement. When put together the turtles didn't look like they were out of place as much. As the viewers look at my junk sculpture I am confident that their eyes will travel around the piece looking at the composition.
Meaning
The meaning behind my artwork goes back to my inspiration. I decided to focus my piece on pollution because at this point there are many who know about the topic but don't give importance to it. I want the viewers to open their eyes and think about how we are harming our environment. I created my piece in a way in which I can captivate the audience and then make them look beyond what they have in front of them. I want my piece to look interesting to others in the sense of people coming to my piece just because it "looked good" from afar. Then I want them to see what the turtles are made of. This will make them think about pollution and how all of the trash is harming animals. The turtles that I created have been made by old recycled lanterns to represent the shell. Inside each the piece is decorated to attract people. The head is made out of newspaper, and the legs are each made out of the ends of bottled waters. I used the bottles not only because I found many, but because they helped carry the theme of waste consumption. Each leg has garbage inside in where one can see that at this point animals are starting to consume what they see laying around. The turtles were purposely left with their original hue to carry out my theme. The garbage was left as it is instead of painting it in order to emphasize the essence of pollution.
Connecting to ACT
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I was greatly influenced by Cesar Baldaccini's composition and way of thinking. His sculptures were mostly based on consumer-waste which influenced my decision on conveying the theme of pollution.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of my inspiration wrote about Cesar Baldaccini to communicate to others about his life as well as the reasons and meaning behind his work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that there are many things in todays world (such as consumerism or pollution) that we might know about but give no importance to. We see past many of the issues that are affecting us and are more interested in following trends and looking at the surface of things.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme of my inspiration was consumerism. He created consumer-waste based sculptures to emphasize his beliefs.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading about my research I made inferences about consumerism. I became more open and thought more about this topic and why they act this way in society. I can inference that in todays society consumerism is a trend that is affecting us and our environment.
I was greatly influenced by Cesar Baldaccini's composition and way of thinking. His sculptures were mostly based on consumer-waste which influenced my decision on conveying the theme of pollution.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of my inspiration wrote about Cesar Baldaccini to communicate to others about his life as well as the reasons and meaning behind his work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that there are many things in todays world (such as consumerism or pollution) that we might know about but give no importance to. We see past many of the issues that are affecting us and are more interested in following trends and looking at the surface of things.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme of my inspiration was consumerism. He created consumer-waste based sculptures to emphasize his beliefs.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading about my research I made inferences about consumerism. I became more open and thought more about this topic and why they act this way in society. I can inference that in todays society consumerism is a trend that is affecting us and our environment.
UWM-Critique Reflection
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During my constructive critique I was able to get feedback on the things that were done nicely and those that were done poorly. It all began with an observation. Three minutes were taken to observe and analyze what was going on. During this time the professors saw that my piece was made out of garbage, but were amazed by the colors and textures that were in the piece. I was very happy when they said this because my aim was to distract my viewers with my piece. I wanted them
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to be more interested in the colors and the overall look of the piece, and then later on pick up the fact that it is an animal made out of garbage. Another thing that they liked was the repetition and the way in which my piece was presented. They liked the fact that each of the turtles reflected something that was learned from the previous one. Not only that but they also agreed that it was good that I made each turtle different. When it was my turn to present my work and talk about my theme, the professors gave me suggestions on how I could improve my piece. They liked the fact that my piece had clear legs that showed consumption but they wished that the same technique could be brought up to the head. The head looked more simple and opaque compared to the rest of the body so there is not much attention being brought to it. I agree with the things that were said about my piece but I would have also liked to make something bigger. If I were to remake my piece I would try to make something that is larger scale. I think it would have been great if I could have show my theme in a piece that was relatively larger and with a more realistic look. Overall, I enjoyed the critique given to us since it helps me improve and learn more about how to create something that will not only catch my viewers eyes but will also reflect my theme.
References
- The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “César.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 20 Apr. 2016, www.britannica.com/biography/Cesar-French-sculptor.
- “New Realism.” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Encyclopedia.com, 2016, www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/new-realism.
- “Arte Povera Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 2018, www.theartstory.org/movement-arte-povera.htm.