Deciding which workshop to choose for the second part of BA1b was very tricky. Should I try and see how I could work in screen print, an area I have worked before and although I understand the process I haven't created anything on the level of what I could feel I could potentially do now with the extra experience I have. Hybrid didn't really appeal, I have spent far too long in front of a screen and felt I needed to continue to create, so it was either painting or more sculpture. Both had real potential but I felt having made the progress I have with sculpture I really ought to progress and develop my 3D ideas.
Initially I wondered if I had made the right choice. I was clearly starting to edge out of my. comfort zone, which clearly was a good thing even if it didn't feel like it at the time.
Initially we discussed various artists and works created that fall into the 'Soft Sculpture' category. My personal interests at this stage where when more than fabric or material where used, pieces that also had more rigid elements to give them structure and help to create scale. Artists discussed were: Claes Oldenburg, Max Kozloff, Robert Morris, Christo, Caroline Achaintre, Ernesto Neto, Alexandra Birken, Karla Black, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Rothschild, Eva Hesse, Kate Lepper, Shinique Smith, Christian Boltanski....
Claes Oldenburg. Floor Cake (1962).
Louise Bourgeois. Seven in a bed, (2001). Fabric, Stainless Steel, Glass and Wood, 68 x 33 1/2 x 34 1/2 inches.jpg
Eva Hesse. No Title (1970).
Ernesto Neto. Prisma Branco (2008). Polyamide and glass beads 130 x 145 3/4 x 98 1/2 inches; 330 x 370 x 250 cm
This week was all about experimenting with the materials on hand, seeing what they would do, how you could manipulate them, give them structure and change them from they had been manufactured into. We were also introduced to a something I have had very little practice on... a sewing machine. Time to see what I can do. I started, as per usual by just playing with scraps of material, cutting, folding, tying and connecting. I had no plan, just reacting to the material.
By cutting, folding and tying I created something that was interesting but also very much like a plant or something from the bottom of the sea. Probably too figurative for me, I needed to abstract more or try something else. I wasn't sure what the sewing machine could do so I had a lay and took one of my latex gloves and thought about stitching through it and seeing how it could affect the actual look of the item. I deliberately changed the thread to red to not only contrast with the glove but also lean towards the connotations of blood and veins.
I intentionally left the threads loose. I didn't want to cut them off as I felt that by having them trailing it could continue the theme of bleeding and injury. The stitching also deformed the gloves slightly by pulling the latex tight. It still had handness, it was still a glove but by stitching through it you no longer saw it is a latex glove but something that had been purposefully and potentially roughly assaulted.
Next session we are going to explore creating armatures to support the work. More play, more experimentation.
Comments