New Drawing

So here is something new. I’ve been making layered map drawings. This is the first one that is large (I think it’s about 5 feet long) and blue. I’m not quite sure where these are heading yet but I’ll probably try screen printing them later this week. 

A little bit about this image... It’s five different world maps on top of each other. All from different perspectives. One is the typical world map, EurAsia centered, Americas centered, Pacific Ocean centered and upside down. Depending where you are in the world the map maybe centered on a different continent. Upon this research I learned about the purpose of upside down maps. The connotation of the northern hemisphere being richer or “better” effects peoples view of the souther hemisphere. Supposedly the upside down map is supposed to aliviate some of these negative feelings. I’m not really sure about that but it’s cool to know. 

Anyway... I came up with this idea due to the fact that depending on where you are in the world you get a different perspectives of places not your own. Whether they be “exotic”, “shithole”, first world or third world it doesn’t really matter because on paper it’s all the same.

1st Critique Response

I'm not really sure how to start this post....or even how to go about it. I was kind of nervous about going into this critique. 

As I had stated before, all of this is a new way of working for me.  Besides not having made a sculpture in I don't even know how long; monotyping is a new mode of working for me as well. I'm so used to stringent planning and layering of prints. While I haven't made an edition of prints in a while, I was initially planning on going back to do that this semester. 

WELL ALL OF THAT WENT OUT THE WINDOW.

And that's okay.

I print to play. I start with a stack of paper and my random found materials and just go at it.  What is interesting to me is how some design and abstract elements seem to come out of my work even if I don't intend it to.  I'm attracted to use of line and pattern.  As shown in the red piece below. I was just layering the collagraph piece I had created. The radial composition and patterning just fell into place.

Which asks the question of how I should handle printing these monotypes.  Should I be more considerate of composition? Or lay objects as they are, to act as another form of documenting these objects.  This question was arisen in critique, and I'm not quite sure what the answer is.  I feel different people would have different answers to this question. That is one of the things I truly enjoy about abstract work. That everyone has a different opinion or different memories or personal experiences that can be attached to a piece. In other words, the question that I pose would have different answers from different people.

What I struggle most with these the margin of success and error. I knew going into this that some of these little prints would be success and some would be major fails. Honestly, its scary and I don't like it one bit. But I'm taking it as part of the learning experience, and hopefully better work will come out of it.

It was recommend that I try and work the same way concerning my sculptures. I'm not sure if I can mentally handle that.  Or maybe that's not the right way to say that.  The difference of working with prints and that I'm starting with a pretty good amount of paper to fool around with.  While I can very easily go find more found piece of trash (or treasures) I feel that I'm limited with the amount of objects I have. Looking back I know I don't, but I feel that way once I start building.  Maybe as I make more I will start to become more comfortable with the materials and feeling the freedom to create with them.

It was recommended that I become more grounded in my sculpture making.  That I let gravity take too much control on sculpture.  It is interesting to me because I had never considered this way of looking at it before. Or really I never realized it.  I'm striving to create works that are more free flowing like my prints without putting the work to actually make them that way. SO I NEED TO WORK ON THAT.

Leticia recommended that I look at the work of Marjetica Potrc. At first glance I was really confused on why; considering Potrc creates works that are concerned with DIY social/living structures.  As I continued reading I started to realize why.  It was more about creating these large scale works (that also function) out of found materials.  It was inspiring to see what can be created out of found objects. It just reminds me that I need to step up my game.

PINK ME

 Here's the first print of the semester. I'm not quite sure if this one is done yet. But I'm happy with it. 

Alright and with that good night! 

WASHMENOW

Here is a new wash I printed from last night.  I'm really happy with how this one came out. It was a real struggle last semester with a lot of my washes filling in. This semester I'm planning on incorporating these with the relief/collagraph layers I create with found objects that have washed up along the bay.

Something New

Here are some drawings I've been working on for the past couple of days. I'm not quite sure what I will make these into prints or larger scale drawings yet. They were built by overlaying different map images on top of each other. These are all countries/continents that I have lived in, only documented by ocean borders and rivers. 

Reading Assignment 1

Prior to class: Read To Life p 43-50 - Eco Art Materials Make a list of 10 materials that you had not considered art materials. Select 2 from this list and design a sculpture using that material as primary - other materials could be used for connecting or structuring. Sketch and write about these two sculptures. Come to class ready to participate where you will be sharing your theoretical sculpture. 

In class we started the discussion by observing the sculptures used for Landing on the Island, and the importance of being able to reuse as much as possible.  However this is only one of the issues artists should consider when choosing a material.  Our materials are not only considered for aesthetic value but the meaning behind them.  The class was asked to consider materials that we have not considered in the past. Here is my list:

Materials Not Considered:

1. Slime
2. Water/Oil
3. Cornstarch and Water
4. Maps
5. Dried acrylic paint
6. Sand/shells/pebbles
7. Terrariums
8. Paper pulp
9. Plexiglass
10. Windowscreens/mesh

For the class it was generally hard for us to come up with individual lists.  Contemporarily, art making is crossing mediums and no longer is art limited to traditional art mediums. Thus making anything and everything available to become art. 

We considered the footprints of the materials we used.  When considering a materials footprint, people consider the resources used, consumed, and waste generated.  In the process of making Eco Art it is easy to consider a material's footprint as a theme or meaning of the work.  The class was then asked to design a sculpture using non-manufactured materials.  While we did come up with projects as a group, they were not necessarily environmentally friendly or Eco Art.

When I started class on Tuesday, I wasn't really sure what I was going to be doing for sculpture class this semester.  I was (and still am) interested the social aspects behind the crisis of our drinking water (it's not safe to drink from the faucets, the gulf is dirty, etc.). However I was also considering making my own paper, out of my paper scraps or locally sourced cotton.  Which is why I listed paper pulp as one of my materials I had never considered.  It was only after I did some research that I realized paper pulp is a pretty viable sculpture medium.  So i had designed a paper sculpture for class.

I was still considering the concept of water and waves, but was trying to bring it into a installation, either by draping paper while it was in its drying stages or the recycling the iridescent mesh I had used last semester.  But I wasn't sold on the idea, and didn't mention it to anybody.

The next day I had a short conversation with Ryan, having already told him about my budding interest with water issues, he recommend collecting the wood that had washed up on the bay and printing those along with my washes. We talked about the incorporation of man made and natural materials. Which got me thinking about everything else that is laying about around the beach.  I then had the idea to create 100 small sculptures (and corresponding prints) of items found on the beach, either trash, wood, seaweed, rocks, sand, plants, shells, you name it.  So yesterday I made a quick trip to Whitecap beach and collected whatever I could find whatever I could carry in my bag. This is some of what I found:

I'm pretty excited with what I found. The next step is to figure out how to print some of these objects.  Then comes the building of the sculptures.  I want to keep them small, something that can fit in your hand.  It almost reminds me of the things you can find at the beach gift shops. I may even consider displaying them in a similar matter.