Learning Objectives

Students will be able to demonstrate various technical building skills as well as fine craftsmanship. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the sculptural process; going from idea, to sketchbook, to acquiring materials, to building, to refinement, to finished product. Students will be able to build a sculpture that is both visually interesting and conceptually engaging. Students will develop their ability to notice the difference between the hand made and the machine made.

Materials

A real live fruit or vegetable; please choose one that inspires your thinking for this project.
Thin straight-pins for gluing the balsa (available at book store or drug store).
Small bottle of white glue (Elmer’s, for example, NOT super glue or rubber cement).
Utility knife and extra blades.
Sketchbook and pencils.
At least 3 drawings that you are excited about and ready to discuss.

Time

3 Class Periods

Homework

Studio Work
5 Sketches in sketchbook

Process

Thomas Demand
Create a piece of three-dimensional art around an architectural element of the Art Building.
Use cardboard as a primary medium and any other material you deem appropriate for this assignment. Create your art in a way that it aesthetically enhances the architectural elements it reacts with. A successful design would transcend the architectural element to a different level of understanding. Your art can have one or more different effects on the architectural element. It can emphasize | obscure | repeat | modify | enhance | reduce | fortify | protect | reveal | clarify | alter | define | redefine | complete | reconstruct | deconstruct |
Required Formal Elements
Your work must be at least 4 ft in at least one direction (involving the element of scale), and must be in three-dimensional form (no flat cutout shapes in space please. Create solid forms)
In addition, your work should involve at least two of these design elements: Texture, Repetition, Variety, Space, Color
Think
What exactly is your aesthetic direction? Study the site and devise an overall plan of approach. Are you going to physically hide the element? Or can you divert attention from it?
Are you going to take a pure formal approach, or are you going to rely heavily on conceptual elements to execute the artwork?
How are you going to deal with the other elements (pipes, outlets, beams, etc) around the area?
How does the public interact with the architectural element you chose and how does your intervention affect that relationship?
How can you make the material more interesting? Can you use the cardboard’s physical characteristics (color, weight, text, pliability etc) as an aesthetic element? Or would it be best if you cover the material with paint or something else?
A few rules
Your work must be portable. Work directly on your architectural element, but at the end of each class you need to be able to detach all the pieces and to store them away until next time you will work on it.
Don’t block fire exits, fire sprinklers, fire alarms, exit signs, or any other safety feature of the building.

Supplies

(to be purchased by the student)
Cardboard (find and bring to the studio at least three large cardboard boxes by next class)
Utility Knife
Duct tape

Technique

You may join cardboard with a variety of methods, but duct tape seems to be the best. Choose a corner in the room or around the building (confine your selection in the facilities of the Art Department)