Following my final tutorial at level 1, I feel a greater sense of confidence going forward, however, I am mindful of the fact that this is just the start of my creative journey. My tutor outlined my strengths and weaknesses throughout. Following his comments, I felt vindicated in my choice of subject and medium. He urged me to develop a broader consideration when contrasting each piece of work. This will assist me in establishing my own innovative sculptural style. My tutor identified the stand out works as being ‘Convenience of Toxicity’ and ‘Hardcore Pacifier’. Accordingly, he states that these pieces demonstrate my creative voice. He was particularly impressed with my choice and use of Billy Bragg’s song in my video of ‘Convenience’. He felt that the song resonated with the subject.
Upon the advice of my tutor, I will endeavour to sustain a connection with my sculptural work whilst working on Creative Writing 2. Furthermore, I will attempt to blend ideas from across each practise. Despite my tutor’s analysis of influential artists, I need to go further. As I progress on to level 2, I need to dig deeper and wider. I need to expose connections between different artists and cultural shifts. It is suggested I start by investigating late 1980’s Britart movement and its connections to Hogarth, satire and Surrealism. As suggested, I will scrutinize my works strengths and weaknesses and factor them into the process of reflection. Furthermore, I will aim to sustain a wider view of culture that link concepts inspired by and learnt via Creative Arts Today.
I was commissioned by my local church to come up with a sculpture depicting a wasteful society. It’s a bit blunt and to the point. The vicar threw it away after the sermon (without my permission). It was created using the contents of several bins and a glue gun.
Brain Drain
Just playing around with ideas here. Concrete head with aluminium tube inserted into base before casting. Stand is old from old garden table and umbrella set. Usefully accommodates diameter of pipe. Brass tap and UKIP colours.
American artist Tanning was renowned for her surreal sculptures and paintings. Like many Surrealist artists, she called upon her dreams to enhance her creativity. In 1930 she began studying art at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. In 1935 she moved to New York and worked as a commercial artist where she encountered the Surrealist movement. It was during the second world war that she met her future husband Max Ernst along with Salvador Dali and Yves Tanguy. Her work began to shift into abstraction. Within her paintings, Tanning would invariably depict one character in a dream setting with eyes closed.
‘Eine kleine nachtmusik’ (1943) Tanning.D
Her experimental ventures would lead her to create soft textile sculptures. Much of her work is heavily laden with sinister undercurrents and Gothic overtones. During the 1960s and 70s, Tanning was credited with having resurrected the flagging Surrealist movement. Her seminal ‘Chambre 202, Hotel du Pavot’ (1970-73) appears as an unsettling, atmospheric installation comprising soft, wall piercing toys and weirdly shaped limbs that merge with furniture. If you wanted a prime example of what uncanny should be then you need to look no further than this haunting benchmark.
‘Chambre 202, Hotel du Pavot’ (1970-73) Tanning.D
Bibliography:
The Art Story Contributors & Baillie.R (2017) “Dorothea Tanning Artist Overview and Analysis”. The Art Story.org [online] Available from: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/tanning-dorothea/ [Accessed 19th February 2020]
I was contemplating how many people out there use old dolls in their creative endeavours. I did some research and came across many disconcerting images. The sculptural work offered by Freya Jobbins stood out above all else. This antipodean sculptress intrigues with her unique take on aesthetics. Jobbins suffered a severe motoring accident nearly thirty years ago. The misfortune was to spark a new career by turning a negative into a positive. She takes toy dolls apart and re-assembles them in a way that startles. She likens the viewing of her work to rubbernecking at a car crash. One shouldn’t look because it could be gruesome yet you still glance. Ms Jobbins enjoys the universal nature of her chosen medium. She states that it gives her an instant connection people in the sense that at one time or another, everyone has played with toys. She likes to use repetitious arrangements because she feels that the mind appreciates harmonious equity.
Greek Gods (2019) Jobbins. F
As an anonymous bystander, Jobbins takes delight in watching an audience repulsed by her work. Although plastic is the mainstay of her work, Jobbins is a keen recycler and promoter of sustainable art. She refuses to purchase new stock to use in the production of her work. In stark contrast to her belated artistic career, Jobbins worked as Australia’s first female police firearms officer. In her ‘Finger-pointing’ series she draws attention to gun related deaths and poses a question about responsibility. Jobbins declared that as a mother she would be traumatized at the idea of schooling her children in the U.S. The ease of access to firearms is alarming. Ms Jobbins insists that her work does not constitute some kind of cathartic art therapy but rather a process of personal evolution. It is a reaction to her environmental changes and emotional development.
French/German artist Arp was noted for helping to establish Dadaism. He created organically formed sculptures, produced paintings and generated abstract assemblages. His work was driven by a desire to exploit the inner self and satirise orthodox values. It was Arp’s assertion that sculpture and painting not based on actual objects could be just as sensuous and solid as a leaf or stone. Arp thrived on improvisation and random artistic procedure. Metamorphosis, expansion, revolution and fertility were at the heart of Arp’s enterprise. He drew inspiration from the influential Russian artist Wassily Kadinsky. Sculptural works by Hepworth and Moore bear the hallmarks of Arp’s approach to form.
I frequently delve into my expanding library. ‘The Magic of Scagliola’ is a particular favourite. It was an expensive gift from my neighbour. At £75 it was out of my reach. Full of useful tips and old recipes for the ancient art of scagliola. It tells the story of how artisans first created imitation marble and granite using gypsum, animal glue and mineral dyes. The book includes many images of grandiose scagliola laden palaces throughout the world.
1.‘The trained eye’ W.40cm x H.30cm. Plaster/plastic
2. ‘A convenience of toxicity’ Porcelain/paper
3. ‘Hardcore pacifier’ H. 40 cm. Plaster/granite
4. ‘The armed wing of my unilateral consciousness?’ H. 80 cm. Plaster/plastic
5. ‘Dolly suite pipe dreams’ H. 65 cm. Plaster/plastic
‘The trained eye’
I wanted to combine two previous exercises by using a mix of plaster and found objects. This bas-relief was made using the same wood frame used to produce several earlier plaques. I still used clay for the base of the framework. This was invaluable as a sealant for the liquid plaster. I filled the frame to approximately 25 mm in depth. I part submerged several toy trains into the plaster adding a cut down a pair of cheap reading glasses. I like the idea of re-appropriating discarded items in much the same way as Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi. As an exponent of pop art, Paolozzi once remarked that he sometimes felt like ‘a wizard in Toytown. His work had been heavily influenced by the works of Jean Arp, Georges Braque and Fernand Leger. It is clear to see that Picasso had exerted an influence upon Paolozzi’s bas-relief work.
‘A convenience of toxicity’
For my second sculpture, I retrieved an old WC from a builder’s skip. Talk about suffering for your art. I removed the cistern and pan. I jet washed all blemishes left behind from many years use. I had the idea of covering the porcelain with negative newspaper headline cuttings. I saw it as a way of expressing and signifying my disdain for the Daily Mail newspaper. You have toilet humor so why not toilet art? I drew influence from Hannah Hoch, John Heartfield and Peter Kennard with political art being at the centre of their endeavours. I felt that I’d strayed from the assignment remit, however, I had used found objects and it was a process using scissors, glue and a jet washer. It was a laborious task. Keeping the text visible meant strategically placing each cut piece. This grew more difficult as I approached the finish. I had considered naming the piece ‘Would the real anti Semite please stand up’ referencing former Mail owner Lord Rothermere’s friendship with Hitler and Mussolini. Still owned by the Rothermere family, the paper has consistently attacked Jeremy Corbyn for alleged anti-Semitism. As Heartfield succinctly put it, ‘Whoever reads bourgeois newspapers becomes blind and deaf’. A big ‘thank you’ must go to Billy Bragg for his kind permission to use ‘It says here’ as the soundtrack to my video of this piece.
‘Hardcore pacifier’
For this, my third sculpture, I decided to return to the same methods I chose to create ‘Biomorphia’ in Project 8: Part four. This time I thought I’d try using glass for a mould. I knew I might damage the piece upon release so I heated the glass and scored it with a glass cutter. This seemed to do the trick although I still had to exercise great care. Thinking back to Biomorphia, I elected to place the aluminium joining tube into the wet plaster. This would save drilling at a later stage. I incorporated granite sand into the plaster to give more weight and a feeling of unyielding endurance. Photographic imagery does little to reveal the actual physical quality of the piece. I used my thumb and forefinger to create the hole in the middle section. Using rolled-up course sandpaper I managed to enlarge the hole before the piece set too hard. The base was made using a rubble bag as a mould. The semi sphere was created using a plastic Christmas pudding bowl. Like ‘Biomorphia’ the inspiration for this piece was drawn from the works of Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. I wanted to create a blend of organic ruggedness and uniformity that would somehow work together in harmony. This was to embody my thoughts on how opposites might work together for a common cause. I’ve still not worked out what the common cause is. The work is totemic and is reminiscent of ancient stone cairns.
‘The armed wing of my unilateral consciousness’
I started on my fourth sculpture with the idea of using ventilation ducting as a mould for plaster. After some reflection, I decided the weight would be too much for what I had in mind. I intended to create a concertinaed arm that would appear to emerge ethereally from a solid wall. I settled on using plaster infused jute to create a semi-hollow cast. I wrapped the ducting with the jute scrim and further soaked with liquid plaster. Upon setting hard, I stuffed newspaper and then clay into each end leaving about a 10 cm cavity. I then filled one cavity with plaster and partially submerged a charity shop-bought porcelain hand. The opposite cavity was filled solid to serve as an anchor for a flush wall fixing bracket. I am fascinated by the work of surrealist Dorothea Tanning. ‘Hotel du Pavot, Chambre 202’ (1970-73) was a particular inspiration for my wall art. Tanning took Freud’s psychoanalysis and objectified it in a fashion that continues to influence artists. Sarah Lucas and Louise Bourgeois are among notable devotees.
‘Dolly suite pipe dream’
For my final sculpture, I decided to revisit my local charity shops in pursuit of some toy dolls. I am intrigued by the work of Australian artist Freya Jobbins. Captivated not just by her methods and motivation but by her backstory. She uses her art to help deal with a harrowing accident that left her facially disfigured. She has a predilection for dolls and finds their reassuring universal appeal useful. She uses the dolls to create symmetrical sculptures that shock. Jobbins somehow manages to create a fusion between hideously weird and overwhelming inelegance. I am inspired by her commitment to the use of recycled plastics in the pursuit of sustainable art. Recalling my research into Freud’s ‘The uncanny’ I wanted to create a piece that combined Jobbins ethos with compelling discomfort. Whilst noting the remarks of friends and relatives, I think I may have achieved this.
In ‘Drawing Now’, much is made of the potency of drawing on the cusp of blindness. I aim to experiment by wearing a blindfold. I anticipate some interesting results. The book aims to present drawing as a traditional method; however, it is suggested that there should be a shift away from the practise of drawing figurative or landscape subjects. It proposes the idea that the actual process of drawing plays a part in framing the subject matter. This idea is described as ‘performative’. It champions the postmodernist obsessions with disillusionment, appropriation and precariousness. It seeks to call in to question of what is perhaps deemed to be artistic.
Drawing Now examines ideas that were exposed in the Bernice Rose exhibition, Allegories of Modernism, Contemporary Drawing (MOMA 1992). It focuses on the type of drawing that comes from contemplation as opposed to visual scrutiny. The books introduction hypothesises that renewed interest in drawing as an art form comes amidst comments via Arthur Dento. He states that in 1965 arts role had altered so significantly that it had reached a crossroads. He went on to say that if art were a story then perhaps, we are witnessing the end. A starker view is proposed by Jean Baudrillard who expresses the view that art can now only regurgitate what went before.
The introduction contests that drawing excludes itself from those arguments. If it is considered external to the mainstream of art history then it might be viewed in one or two lights. It might well be seen as an alternative method in which to practise within art that lay in crisis or a liberating force against the shackles of prevailing tendencies. The intro argues that because of the primitive nature of drawing it can express symbolism unhindered by technical constraints. It is therefore a perfect way in which to formulate visual concepts. It goes on to repeat Derrida’s assertion that blindness disrupts the belief that drawing can only interpret that which is physically visible. With this in mind we can now understand how drawing has the capacity to record thoughts.
Derrida alludes to the dichotomy between imitation and invention. Basically, the act of seeing is a means to a reference point, however, if we deprive ourselves of the sense of sight, we can still make a connection using drawing as a mechanism to record memory and thought. To conclude, ‘performative’ drawing equates to a predetermined idea transferred on to paper whilst constative drawing is mimetic in nature. Drawing produces a natural instinct to oscillate betwixt invention and imitation.
I am always reluctant to criticise other people’s work; however, I did find the text hard going. I managed to get the gist after several close reading sessions. There were many valid, informative and interesting points made in the intro, yet I felt overwhelmed by its excessively laboured and repetitious content. The author’s language is too sesquipedalian to fully capture my attention. I found myself having to refer to the dictionary all too often. Why use one word when a thousand complicated words will suffice?
Bibliography:
Emin, T., Downs, S., Marshall, R., Sawdon, P., Selby, A. & Tormey, J. 2011;2007;2008;, Drawing Now: Between the Lines of Contemporary Art, I.B.Tauris, GB.
Kneebone’s complex sculptures examine humanity. Her work centres on continuity, evolution and the sense of occupying the body. Her works appear to move within a spiritual arena. Her favoured medium is porcelain. The sculptures endeavour to embody the human form in all its intricacies. She delves into the way we dwell within a body with all its corporeal restraints and intellectual potential. Kneebone’s fractured style exploits communication between susceptibility and power. Her expressions of flow and rhythm contradict the nature of a medium more in tune with a calm restraint and solidity. Much of her work alludes to Rodin’s ‘Gates of Hell’ (1880-1917). It takes on a conglomeration of symmetry and biology. The sense of lightness and elasticity belies the tight, robust and unyielding nature of porcelain.
‘Eyes that look close at wounds themselves are wounded’ (2010) Kneebone. R
Rebecca Warren. (b.1965)
Sculptor and visual artist Warren’s favoured mediums are bronze, welded steel and clay. Her styles range somewhere between abstract and figurative. She takes inspiration from US cartoonist Robert Crumb along with sculptors Rodin and Giacometti. Warren prioritises discord over coherence when it comes to her approach to sculpture. The tame geometric plinths contrast her divergent clay eruptions. She utilises paint in a childlike daubing manner. She strives to achieve originality at the expense of intimacy. The elements of her work seem to establish a sense of deficiency. Other works include vitrines containing useless items such as random chunks of polystyrene, wood shavings and bits of Plasticine.
There are nods to photographer Helmut Newton too. Breasts, boots and buttocks are prevalent and hint at gender politics. In Warren’s sculpture ‘Helmut Crumb’ (1998), we observe a rather chunky, muscular pair of Bamford postcard style legs. They merge by what appears to be female genitalia. Betwixt these legs, stands a scaled-down version with undergarments at half-mast. One might interpret Warren’s work as a reaction to psychologically rooted gender symbolism or conversely, a chaotic caricature of sparkling adorability. Perhaps what may be at play here, is the idea of duplication being turned on its head as she pits entrenched views against societal realities.
‘Helmut Crumb’ (1998) Warren. R
Holly Hendry (b.1990)
For her inaugural exhibition ‘Wrot’, Hendry created topographical structures using various components. Her favoured materials are plaster, steel, wood, Jesmonite and aqua-jet carved marble. The giant arrangements bore a resemblance to cheap melting Neapolitan ice cream. Much of the work was bestrewn with traces of humour as chewy dog bones and revolving dentures were randomly thrown into the mix. She contemplated borders as facades that straddle the ‘beyond’ and ‘below’. Her sculptures within the exhibition resembled a slice of candied subterranean geology. Disintegration and decomposition were the dominant themes that encompassed the exhibition. The darker aspects were countered by the adoption of candy-like hues and captivating patterns. With ‘Wrot’ Hendry managed to create amusing sculpture infused with a dark undertone. Hendry’s work hints at our desire to perfect and apply a veneer to our bodies, be that dental or dermal. Maybe.
Reflecting back on my tutor’s feedback I feel more optimistic about the direction of travel on most fronts. The video tutorial was very useful. We focused on my strengths and weaknesses. It was a relief to learn that my contextual research was broadly in line with the requirements of the course. I fear that I may at times, misinterpret the contents of the course. My tutor commended me on my technical abilities, particularly my work with plaster. I do feel comfortable with this medium and I find the act of construction satisfyingly rewarding. My tutor suggested that I pay close attention to the detail of my work. I will endeavour to heed his advice in the pursuance of future projects. There was welcome praise for my work ‘Biomorphia’. I felt vindicated in taking a leap into the dark. It was a challenging piece to undertake.
There was some deserved constructive criticism relating to photographic and video presentation. I think I have carried with me, some old habits from a previous course relating to photography. Observing the images now, I can see how the overly cropped images do little justice to the entirety of each piece. Following my tutor’s advice, I have split all the images on my learning blog. This feat proved to be very time consuming. The WordPress software has its limitations when it comes to positioning images. I concede that the images do look better when not merged. I was reminded that I need to make and post videos of my work. This will show off my work to the fullest extent. My tutor recommended that I leave my comfort zone and not rely too heavily on my honed patination skills. I acknowledge that this might stifle divergence so I will strive for something different, perhaps offbeat. I drew criticism on the drawing exercises. I am still trying to understand the way in which drawing can be a tool used to inform my practice. My tutor implied that my sketches were too procedural. I confess that I had for the most part, just sketched finished sculptural work. My drawings must influence my work. As advised, I will take a look at Rorschach and use that as a basis for experimentation. All in all, quite a positive outcome for part four.
BA Hons Creative Arts: Starting out in 3D: Sculpture 1 