Art 203- Sculpture
Goals and Objectives
- encourage and develop individual creative directions and interests.
- develop skills that will enable the student to fabricate sculpture in a variety of media
-explore what sculpture is and to learn to evaluate work in a manner that is consistently supportive, thoughtful and creative. This will be done through critiques and studio discussions.
-learn and employ safe studio practices (everyone keeps their fingers and eyes)
Purpose
This course involves a number of skills which you must learn during the course of the semester in order to successfully complete the assignments given. It is important that you attend class because demonstrations will be the way that you will learn how to safely and effectively operate welding equipment, grinders, cutting tools, as well as how to join and build objects out of a variety of materials. Missing a demo is never recommended since I cannot repeat a demo (its like a teacher repeating a lecture just for your benefit). As a class we do not have time to go over demos for those who may have missed them.
On balance I prefer to provide you, the student, with the widest latitude in interpreting an assignment. In this way you will have the greatest range of possibility for what you ultimately create given that I want you to learn about volume, and how to manipulate that volume or form as well as learning how to weld, how to grind on cast metal, how to use mixed materials as well as good fastening techniques. As your instructor I have to balance this "free range" with making sure you develop some concrete and useful skills that will serve you in your future creative work. Always always consider how the assignment can become a vehicle for YOUR ideas, which means good communication. If in doubt, ask!
My philosophy is very simple and direct: I want you to do your best. I will be watching throughout the semester for evidence of this....which will include but will not be limited to your performance in class both during demo's, critiques, with your fellow classmates, as well as how your work has progressed from each project (supportive materials such as models and sketches play into this) as well as across the sweep of the semester. I am here to facilitate your greatness, but you must make yourself available for this process to move forward. As a result, here are some basic guidelines for this course.......
Attendance
Students who miss three or more classes will have their grade reduced one whole letter grade and three tardies will count as one absence. If you are having a problem that is health related please talk to me and let me know what’s happening with you. Otherwise, you are expected to attend class during the times that it is scheduled. I will have an attendance sheet each class which you must sign and will be a record of your attendance. If you come in late it is your responsibility to get your name on the attendance sheet.
Grading
A grade of C normally involves coming to class, but making the most basic effort, getting the assignments done but putting no considerable effort or thought into it, and having only a cursory involvement in class discussions. A grade of B will involve your coming to class, being involved in class discussions, giving your best effort, working diligently on your projects, developing your skills from the demonstrations and creating sculpture that shows thought, originality, and creativity. An A will go above and beyond. You will soar in the making of your work, you will remain engaged and you will contribute in a constructive way in class and during critiques. Your involvement will add to the class experience, and the work that you produce will be high quality, creative, thoughtful, and willing to break out of ordinary bounds while still following the assignments.
Grading is as follows: Each project is 20% of your grade for a total of 80% for all assignments. The remainder is your participation in critiques and class meetings and any presentations. Are you contributing substantively to the class discussion? I prefer quality over quantity in this case. The Projects
There will be four projects this semester and I have included the demonstration dates for each project. Projects are not accepted late. A word to the wise: make sure that you do not put off working on your projects until the last minute! Some projects require many hours of work and trying to make up for lost time at the last minute can seriously affect your grade. Craftsmanship matters.
Demo's
Demonstrations are a critically important component of the studio experience. Without it, you will not know the proper way in which to operate a piece of equipment. Table saws can injure you fatally, welders can burn and fumes can sicken. I cannot stress how important being present for a demo is.
Sketch books
This is a sculpture course, not a drawing course. Everyone will have a different need for drawing depending on their skills in being able to visualize the work in 3-D mentally. I encourage you to keep a sketch book for this class because 1) it will help you to very quickly work through some issues with your assignments and 2) it will help you to relate to sculpture via a 2-D medium which can help you in the future with other work in 3-D and 3) it provides me with a record of your process and progress through the semester.
If you do not want to do drawings, I want to see models (not photos of them).
By keeping a record of your process, I also have more documentation as to your progress during the semester. It is in your very best interest to have as much of this as possible since this is a big part of your grade. If all I have is the final project only, then there is less information that I can draw on. For example, let's say you embarked on a project that had a wonderful idea, but the technical issues got the better of you. Let's say that this hampered being able to realize the piece as fully as you would have liked, or as fully as your instructor would have liked, but your ideas were just over the top fantastic. Original, brilliant, pure genius. Since there was a schism between your conception and ultimate realization of the piece, not having a sketch book or preliminary drawing/model to show where you were headed means that I do not have all of the information on which to consider your grade. In some cases this could make the difference between making a C or a B. Obviously your finished sculpture is very important, but this is by no means the only way that I will be evaluating you. I need to see as much supporting material as I can. Its like going into court after having an accident and providing only a photograph of the crumpled car. You really need some witnesses.
Provide me some witnesses to your process!
I will accept online resources such as your own blog or web site as a means of recording nd documenting your progress if you do not wish to keep a sketch book. Your documentation can be conceptualized utilizing illustration/graphics software. Your documentation ought to be imaginative, but it can't be imaginary!
I will accept online resources such as your own blog or web site as a means of recording nd documenting your progress if you do not wish to keep a sketch book. Your documentation can be conceptualized utilizing illustration/graphics software. Your documentation ought to be imaginative, but it can't be imaginary!
Critiques
You must be present in order that your work can be evaluated as well as to be present to help in evaluating the work of your peers. We can all assist in bringing understanding and an expansion of what we think is possible in our own individual work. Learning how to critique work in a constructive fashion is an important skill. Realizing that we are not here to tear ideas apart as much as to facilitate in bring out our own inherent greatness is going to be an important factor in how we work together as a group.
Syllabus
Project #1
Developing Volume Utilizing Cage Construction - steel
In drawing you use line to create the illusion of volume. In this assignment you will use line in creating real illusion of volume in 3 dimensions. You will create a model that can be held in your hand with a scale range of 1-3” = 1’. You will be using small wooden dowels to create the model. You will scale your models up and in the process, measure and count up the total number of feet of rods needed to complete your sculpture. Then rebar will be ordered and students will begin the process of cutting the rods for the piece and how to weld them. Once complete, you should paint your sculpture in order to protect it from the elements. Each sculpture will be put on display in the sculpture garden near Powell which is where we will have our final critique. Does thinking of this project as a drawing in space help you? How do we define space by drawing? How do we refuse any reference to drawing in space to achieve your goals with this project?
There are 4 content areas to get you started:
Transformation – create a sculpture that shows the process of a form changing from one distinct form to another; this can be abstract, nonrepresentational, or it can begin to show references to known forms. Whatever the shapes used, they should be seen as morphing.
Architectural- use architecture as a starting point in your discovery and brainstorming process. How can you communicate content through the concept of the dwelling or other structures where we conduct our lives? Stray from hackneyed interpretations of our homes and other structured and instead seek an original and creative means of commenting or reflecting on what our architecture says about us. How can you capture the essence of home, or our dwelling places without being obvious about it?
Movement- how do you achieve this sense of dynamism in your work? The forms you create are entirely up to you.
Sensuality-how can you get metal rods to look organic, flowing, and not metal/ rod-like? How can you push the medium so that you achieve an effect or look that is 180 degrees from what vectors (lines) normally do? Seek the sensual in creating your forms. Your content is completely open, but your forms must attempt (at least) to explode the vector feel of this project and move into the organic sensual world.
If there is another area you would like to explore that is not mentioned, let’s discuss it. Provide me with a clear explanation of what it is you hope to achieve along with sketches.
You may also elect to cover your form with cloth or paper or some other flexible material that will create a surface that is defined by the cage construction underneath. This can create an interesting dynamic between the suggestion of volume and the creation of surfaces ARE volume. You can achieve this through paper maché techniques, papermaking, felting, and flexible materials (sheets goods of all kinds).
August 17 – Introduction and overview of course. Review of all projects. Discussion of first project. Welding demonstration. Develop a series of drawings for your project which will be discussed in the next class. We will make a decision on how to proceed based on the drawings you bring.
August 19 – Bring your preliminary drawings to class. If you have made a model, bring that as well. We will get started on making scale models out of wood dowels. Pay attention to the length of the dowels (scaling is done 1-2 inches equaling a foot, but be aware that slight fractions of a full or half inch wi
August 24 – Bring your finished model to class and measure all dowel lengths to their full scale size and create a list of your lengths needed for your sculpture. Provide me with your list so we can put in an order for the rebar which will be used to make the sculptures. You need to provide me with a complete list of your metal rebar needs. Expect rebar to be ready to be cut the following class session.
August 26 – students will begin cutting your metal. We will be doing this outside. Each student should measure and mark their rebar with chalk lines for cutting. Make sure that you measure correctly! Making a list of lengths that you can mark off as they are done will be very helpful. We will measure and cut steel as a group, getting as much done today as possible. You should at least have your steel marked for cutting. Those who do not get their steel cut during class should do so outside of class. I recommend those who have cut all steel to begin welding their pieces together as soon as possible. I look favorably on anyone who helps their classmates.
August 31 – I expect to see projects being finished at this point, projects finished need to be kept outside. Paint your steel if you wish to keep it from rusting. We will have finished pieces chained with a lock until critique.
September 2 – This is the final day for working on your projects in class. Expect to go over each piece that has not yet been reviewed by me for any final comments, suggestions, or other technical help. This is the last opportunity to fine tune or complete before the critique. Make sure that your pieces are on the lawn near Powell in the sculpture garden on time for our next meeting.
September 7 – Critique, Meet on the lawn of the sculpture garden area near Powell. Have your project in place.
Assignment #2
The Clay Form
You will create a work utilizing clay as the media. You will use a variety of forming techniques which will include coil forming, slab, molded, additive and subtractive methods as well as extruded. You will use a variety of tools in helping to create the surfaces and textures that you need in your work. Slips, stains, glazes, and even paint will be covered as a way of creating color and finish to your work. In addition to a demonstration for how to work with clay sculpturally I will be presenting a talk on ceramic artists whose works help illustrate the broad possibilities inherent in this expressive medium in order to help you begin to formulate your own ideas.
Some content areas to consider are these:
Autobiography – how do you bring in elements of your own life that are charged with emotion and meaning that express who you are? How do you keep away from obvious representations of this and delve into a creative and unique way of presenting this? How do you create forms that work completely in the round and that have an interesting relationship to one another on a visceral and intuitive level? Tell your story, or tell someone else’s story. Or make one up….but charge it with psychic energy and meaning.
Flow Of Time – is time merely linear? Do we experience time linearly in memory? How do we explode time as a carrier for meaning in the creation of a unique object? Are there alternative ways of presenting time without using obvious signs and symbols?
Form As Content – so often we are used to expressing using archetypal imagery or symbols, whether private or en masse ones (your own dream imagery would be an example of private imagery while en masse would be those symbols or imagery that we all share a cultural understanding of). In this case, form becomes the content for the piece. This means that more formal considerations will be considered when observing your work such as the elements and principles of design (line, color, shape, movement, balance, etc.). Its entirely possible that you could have a very formal piece that still has content that is not purely formal.
Totemic Icon – this can be a real fun way to develop a piece that draws from your own storehouse of cultural imagery and iconography. What is important to our culture today? How do you create a totem that draws on that iconography in the generation of content that could be deadly serious or ridiculously funny (don’t be afraid of humor)? Elements can be made separately and later stacked after being fired in order to develop height.
September 7 – Demo: working in clay. I will demonstrate coil building, slab and additive and subtractive as well as using molds for creating forms rendered in clay. I will discuss the benefits of different clay bodies used in sculptural works. Attention will be given to methods that will assure proper adhesion and then even drying. I will cover stains and slips for covering the clay body for different color effects. I want you to bring preliminary drawings to class to discuss your ideas. If cleared, you can begin working on your project today. You will need to make time outside of class to work on your project. Your piece will need ample time to dry prior to being fired. I will be presenting images of sculptural work in clay to help give you an idea as to the breadth of possibility inherent in the medium. This presentation will take approximately 30 minutes, and those who have already begun their work can watch as they work on their pieces.
September 9 – Work on your clay projects in class. Get work done as soon as possible in order to allow the work to dry fully for firing. For those in the leather hard stage only we can set up fans to speed drying.
September 14 – complete your projects. At this point most work needs to be finalized on projects. Work need to be well on their way to being dry by now. Demo: Glazing ceramics. See how different glaze thicknesses effect the surface of the piece.
September 16 – firing begins on projects. Those still drying need to be marked as still drying and those ready need to be fully uncovered. For those who need to fire their work before the next class meeting you will need to arrange to have your work fired with others who also have work that needs the first firing. For those who are ready for glazing, begin using the glazes which are approved of for your use.
September 21 – Final Critique. Have your work out on tables so we can go through and discuss them.
The Cast Object
In this assignment you will create a mold from a sculpture you have made in order to cast it in bronze. We will go over working in clay, wax, and making molds both in plaster for secondary wax positives as well as working directly in wax and investing the wax in a refractory material capable of allowing the wax to be melted out (lost wax method) as well as holding the molten bronze. The pieces will then be chased (surface cleaning and grinding) prior to applying a patina. Each piece will be mounted on a base of your own making. This piece should not exceed significantly the size of a small coffee can.
Your project can be in the round or as a relief. In either case, thought needs to be given to how the piece will be mounted as you are making the piece. When mounted to a base, the bottom of the piece will need to be ground flat enough so the work will sit solidly on the base. Holes will have to be drilled and threads cut using a tap and die set (I will demonstrate this)
I will be demonstrating working in both clay and in victory brown microcrystalline wax. I will demonstrate how to make a plaster mold for pouring wax and making a wax positive. I will also demonstrate how to prepare your refractory mold for pouring the bronze. When I demonstrate this you will need to have your completed waxes on hand because we will invest them (coat the wax in the refractory material) on this class. I will also demonstrate the proper way to dewax your molds and how to decarbonize them prior to pouring in bronze.
September 23 - discussion of project and demonstration of working with wax and clay. Demo: Mold making demo. Discussion of how to best build work for casting in metal. Bring drawings of your piece or small clay models to help illustrate your thinking. I want to be able to go through as many projects as I can individually to go over any technical aesthetic concerns.
September 28 - Be ready to begin work on your pieces after discussion with me about them. I finish reviewing sketches and preliminary models. Be ready next week to invest your pieces so they can be cast-this means having your parts joined and strong enough to withstand the investment process. For those who still need to make molds of their pieces you will need to get these finished this week and have them ready for investment on the 21st. Demo: I will give a demo on traditional investment process sprueing, venting, and investing. Demo: dewaxing your molds. Take notes!!
September 30 – work in class sprueing and investing your waxes. Once set and dried (a day or two) come to dewax your mold. I will have a simple furnace set up outside for doing this. Once your mold has been dewaxed, your piece needs to be set with your name scratched into the side or in black sharpie on the table reserved for molds. All pieces need to be decarbed before Thursday as we will pour metal on the 16th! I want a team of at least four people willing to assist in pouring the molds. We will have to go over who will do what in order to do this safely and efficiently. All molds need to be ready for me to load them into the kiln on the 15th to do the decarbonizing process. These will be unloaded from the kilns just before being poured. Demo: I will go over chasing, patination, and mounting of pieces.
October 5 – Finalize all issues prior to pouring metal. Your work should by now be invested and ready to be poured. Those who do not have work complete must do so now and arrange to have their works decarbonized before the next class meeting. We will pour all molds at the next class meeting. Your work MUST be ready as we will not do a repour for late projects (only for those which might not pour properly).
October 7 – bronze pour - Pieces should be carbonized by now and ready to be put into the pour line. I will need a crew of four students to assist in prepping the molds as they get poured as well as moving molds once they have been poured to make room for more molds if need be. All work is to be taken outside to remove investment. Begin working on removing sprues and vents. Work pieces so they are ready to be mounted to a base as well as accepting a patina.
October 12 – Class time to work on finishing pieces. All pieces should be brought to class to be chased and worked in preparation to patination and mounting. Chasing is the process whereby you remove sprue or vents and sculpt the metal back to what it would have looked like had the sprue or vent had not been there. You also work out any casting imperfections in this process. This is detail work and does not go fast.
October 14 – Bronze critique.
Project #4 The Found Object
This, the last project, is the most ambitious, largest, and will take the most amount of time. It is also open to interpretation. Those who need more structure or some ideas to get them stated may see me for a list of possibilities to direct them, however, the very nature of the found object is the lack of planning and the suggestibility of an object which can change the direction of a piece completely. This project, then, requires you to open your eyes in a whole new way and to remain open to changes even in mid stream. This found object sculpture needs to be at least 4 feet large in any one dimension and can be made from any objects which are found. I want to see that the sculpture is structural sound, that it can stand on its own reliably and that it can be moved from one location to the next.
October 19 - Presentation on Found Object sculpture. We will discuss issues related to the found object, their possible meaning and how different objects can change or shift meaning based on their context, as well as slides of other artists work. After our meeting be prepared to begin searching for found objects. Because of the possible serendipitous nature of this project I am allotting more time to it than any other project. Instead of presenting me with drawings for your work I will be checking with everyone on their progress in accumulating objects. Sometimes one object will suggest another, while one object could preclude an object you have already found.
October 21 – class meeting to go over objects found. I will be going over available junk yards and other possible places for finding objects.
October 26 – review of projects thus far. We go over ways for connecting and building your project. Some materials will not lend themselves to being readily fastened in traditional ways.
October 28 – review of work thus far, continue working on projects.
November 2 – studio time for working on found object projects. Demos for those needing them on fastening techniques.
November 4 – present your project ideas thus far. Preliminary review prior to completion. What is the proposed content of your work? How do you see its conclusion? What issues remain unresolved?
November 9 – studio work time for projects.
November 11 – studio time for projects.
December 2 – review of work prior to critique. Be ready to discuss your work. This review will give you an opportunity to consider any changes you might wish to make.
December 7-Final class meeting prior to critique.
