BA Hons Creative Arts: Starting out in 3D: Sculpture 1

Student Name: David Stevens: Student Number 516396

Evaluation of ‘Starting out in 3D’

After familiarising myself with the course contents and requirements, I began my research by looking at influential sculptors in part one. This exercise proved useful and effective from the outset. Some of the works that I had viewed were instrumental in shaping my ideas throughout the course. The first project proved challenging. I approached the bas relief brief with some trepidation. The initial experimentation had a mix of success and failure. I soon discovered what was and wasn’t going to work. Initially, I played to my strengths. Through many experiences, I was able to make the mundane appear aesthetically appealing using patination techniques. As my tutor quite rightly pointed out, I had come to rely too heavily on these finishes. It was time to step out of my comfort zone and be more radical with my approach. The assembly process was a learning curve. I learnt not to rely on cheap glue and to plan. Project two found me floundering. Sometimes your mind can be flooded with ideas but which one do you pick? Probably the wrong one. I took my bits and pieces and began thinking about the context. How could I marry the physical entity with the loose concept without looking like a fool? It took some time to figure out the art of contextualisation and I fear I’ve still much to learn. It’s at this point that I discover non-objective art is real and that art doesn’t always require context or meaning. Now I could assemble work without attribution.

I hadn’t attempted to draw since my school days. It was an odd experience to start. I found the process of working on assembly and drawing in tandem worked well for me. I confess, initially, I struggled to understand the idea behind the drawing exercises. Upon my tutor’s suggestion, I read ‘Drawing now’. It gave me a much-needed insight. My drawing should have been influencing my work whereas I had merely been drawing a representation of my finished work. Part two was particularly thought-provoking. By now I was beginning to get a sense of three-dimensional work in the form of stacked constructions. I was intrigued to learn about totemic structures, specifically in historical and cultural terms. I believe my choices of construction were a summary and reflection of my research into totemic work. At first, I struggled to come up with ideas for my totemic structures. I thought about the aspects of my working and domestic life. My passion for recycling certainly helped. I found charity shops and my garage to be great sources for inspiration. On reaching project four, I worried a little about my tight budget. The thought of splashing out on further materials threw me into a panic. I then set about making drawing boards from scrap marine plywood. I made one for portrait and the other for landscape. The ‘bigger than A1’ paper proved to be expensive because I could not find a small enough quantity for sale online. It set me back £35. It was during the act of drawing in part five that I finally understood the need to let my sketches inform my sculptural process. This was something I’d failed to grasp at the start.

I hit my stride in part three. Working with clay and plaster submerged me back into a familiar world. I found the projects to be challenging but absorbing. My only gripe with this part of the course would be the difficulties faced when attempting to photographically record each stage of progression. When working on your own with potentially messy materials it can be frustrating having to continually change gloves and wash hands between camera shots. I still got there with pleasing results. Taking into account my previous experience working with these materials, I was still surprised to learn so much from project six. I’d never considered using polystyrene as a former let alone covering and shaping with plaster. Part four presented me with the opportunity to throw caution to the wind and carry out some experiments. By now I’d reached a level of confidence that allowed me to take risks. As a result, I believe I achieved some interesting outcomes. I enjoyed the making of quirky video’s that I used to showcase my work. The practice of uploading to my learning blog had by now, become second nature to me. Aligning images on WordPress can be problematic but rewarding once you’ve understood the basics. Once mastered, I returned to the beginning of the blog and tidied up earlier efforts.

Part five was a consolidation of what I’d learnt up to date. It seemed like I’d been given some autonomy of choice. Now I had a chance to push the envelope a little further. I decided to play on Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ and drew further inspiration from Heartfield, Hoch and Kennard. By combining a WC with newspaper headline cuttings, I thought I had created my best work. My tutor enjoyed this piece, however, for practical reasons we both settled on ‘Hardcore Pacifier’ as the piece to put forward for formal assessment. On the whole, I believe I’ve managed to achieve the aims of the course by fulfilling the criteria set out in the introduction to ‘Starting out in 3D’. In doing so, I have acquired basic skills in drawing and modelling. I have learnt much about sculpture in both historical and technical terms via my research. I have employed a variety of means to achieve satisfactory outcomes for my creations. The course has served me well as I move forward into ‘Sculpture 2’.