WHAT SCULPTURE IS

                

Contemporary Sculpture is a wide-ranging and fascinating subject.Three dimensions are existent spaces that get rid of the difficulty of illusionism and of interpreting space. It began with abstract expressionism & conceptual art & currently sculpture is now one of many forms of art that mixed media artists participate in. Today galleries & museums are not the only way to present an artwork, there has been lots of other creative ways. The possibilities are endless.

       Nana April Jun

      ‘SHE DIED IN THE SEA’ 4:06

      Nana April Jun researches the hallucinogenic qualities of noise has been described as grey but has also been said to have more in common with natural landscapes than processed noises.

 http://soundcloud.com/nanaapriljun/she_died_in_the_sea

 Dan Flavin

Dan Flavin is artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures.  His work is not about the object, it’s about the environment.  It isn’t about the lighting fixture, or the bulb. It’s about the light. How it bounces off the wall, or what happens when two colours comingle and combine into another, brighter light.

 http://www.artblogny.com/2009-11/dan-flavin-installation-artist

 Candas Sisman

 FLUX 2010

 This video is dedicated to the famous sculptor İlhan Koman. His unique design approach in his form studies also inspires contemporary art works. The video installation Flux by young artist Candas Sisman can be defined as a digital animation which is inspired from the structural features of some of İlhan Koman’s works. This work is not designed directly at Koman’s works. The subjective reading of Koman’s approach can be observed.

With the integration of the sounds of various materials – which Koman used in his sculptures – Flux turns into an impressive spacial experience. Flux, also exemplifies that Koman’s work can be re-interpreted by the analysis and manipulation of form in the digital medium.

 http://vimeo.com/15395471

Mark Jenkins

Washington DC 2006

Materials used - Packaging tape in clothing

          Thomas Houseago

‘Baby’

He is a figurative sculptor who uses materials such as plaster and plywood.  His work references genres such as Classicism, Cubism and Futurism and plays on the history and tradition of statues. Thomas Housago’s work playfully subverts the expectation of sculpture.

Half of ‘Babys’ muscular form is rendered from messy rivulets of plaster, half from flattened surfaces that bear the imprint of heavy pencil-marks. It looks ready to spring into action, or at least learn how to take its first infant steps – except that it's almost three metres high.

Marina Abramovic


Shown at Gravity, Crawford Art Gallery 2011


4 mins, 10 sec, August, 1980


Video Performance

The artist and her partner hold a bow and arrow, the arrow pointing at Abramovic’s heart, the weight of their bodies balanced and maintaining tension. A microphone recording of their heartbeats can be heard, accelerating as the video progressed.

Aideen Barry

'Vacuuming in a vacuum'

2009

plastic, rubber, fiberglass and silicone

It is manifested as a half-human half-vacuum cleaner, floating in an un-natural way in a zero-gravity vacuum.

Video Performance

http://culturehall.com/artwork.html?page=14659

Bill Durgin

Photographer

'Figure Studies'

Chie Aoki

Japanese Sculptor

'Transforming Bodies'

 

The fascination of sculpture will never be explained. It is apparent that the artistic medium of sculpture is a unique one. Sculpture allows the artist to have an intimate relationship with their work being created.

.

SCULpTURE Presentation - March 2012

Research Project March 12th

Prepare a presentation on your blog of your top 10 Artworks made since 2000 which relate specifically to ideas about and questions of the human body, it's material facts.

10 - least important

1   - most important

10.

George Sherwood - Engineer turned Artist (Massachusetts, U.S.A)

'Steel Life I & II'

2009

2 Solid heads covered with reflective mirror like material

8 ft in height, 6 ft in width & 6" deep

Located at the Currier Museum of Art, NH, U.S.A

Constructed of small pieces of thin, stainless steel sheets that hang from hooks, it showcases the marraige of construction & art. They shimmer like tiny pools of water. The Artist introduces these moving parts to engage the viewer & capture the imagination.

Heres a link to the Artwork which shows the movement (click on the image of the work) :

http://www.georgesherwood.com/

www.encorebuzz.com

9.

Penny Hardy ( U.K )

'Angels in Harlem'

2011

Aluminium wire & epoxy resin

300cm x 200cm x 750cm

Delamore House Summer Exhibition 2011, Devon, U.K

Penny Hardy's contemporary dance sculptures on stilts are designed to gently sway in any breeze creating a sense of constant movement & dynamics, this provides them with life & they remain true to the use of simple raw materials. These bronze dance figures express organic forms as tensile elements & are inspired by the forms of contemporary dancers. The dancers exposed movement is conveyed & by leaving out a lot of mass within the sculpture & exposing wires outside of the main form, a version of movement is created.

www.pennyhardysculpture.com

8.

Raffi Tokatlian (Lebanon)

'When Imagination runs wild'

2009

Bronze casting

35cm x 36cm x 80cm

A smaller figure rises out of a head while the main head supported by 4 struts descending from the chin and back of the skull looks straight ahead, the figure emanating from the top of the main head looks off to the side and into the distance. It is a haunting work of Art, embodying the idea that the imagination is not easily ruled or channelled. It is hallucinogenic, the main head has given birth to the small figure.. like some sort of  a womb brain. This is a surrealistic Sculpture, the Artist describes his style as 'Surrealmythoclassical'.

http://sculptures.raffitokatlian.com

7.

Kent Karlson (Sweden)

'Absolute Knowledge/The Essence of Freedom II'

2008

170cm in height

Plaster, Plastic, Aluminium, bat, steel & mirror

His work is imprinted by destruction, death drive & corruption. Dreams, memories, politics & religion inform the work of this Artist. His own interests in objects & symbols carry some kind of messages over time.. this makes the viewer wonder why & how it works. There is a sad tone in his work, it is  catastrophically frightening yet so beautiful.

Artists Quote:

''I wish to produce visual poetry''

Sculpture Magazine July/August 2010 Issue Vol 29 No 6

www.kentkarlsson.net

6. 

Monica Bonvicini (Germany)

'No head man'

2006

Performance at the 27th Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

 This Artist explores the impossibility of defining gender, about the social, cultural, economical & political architecture of identities, she criticises any stereotypes in it. Monica Bonvicini deconstructs gender & power relationships in all kinds of contexts with direct situational confrontations forcing the viewer to think for themselves. She asks for a reaction & a discussion in her work.

Flash Art 253  March – April 07

5.

Alwar Balasubramaniam ( India)


'In, but out'

2005
Fibreglass cast from the artists body & acrylic
32" x 78" x 8 "
(2 full body casts placed opposite one another)

 Within the 2 casts there is a view of the Artists back disappearing into the wall & the other a full frontal view. Light & shadow create optical effect of a presence in the negative cast bringing the viewer between the 2 casts. Alwar Balasubramaniam has a harmonious balance of a quirky sense of humour & a critical point of view. He plays on the visible & the invisible, Illusion & certainty, he challenges notions of the real & unreal. His work is universal & represents a quest to understanding to nature of human existence. 


According to Balasubramaniam there are 3 aspects to human life:


Artists Quote:


''

•  The known (easily discerned by the senses)

•  The  unknown (understandable)

• The unknowable (beyond human comprehension)

                                                                                           ''


His quest is to enable viewers to become aware of their perceptions & to realise there is a whole world that exists beyond the seen.


Artists Quote:


 ''Art lies in the realm between science which demands proof & is based on material, reality & spirituality which is based on experience & not evidence''


He is fascinated on what is beyond the visible.


Sculpture Magazine December 2008 Issue Vol 2 No 10






4.


Steinunn Thorarinsdottir (Iceland)


'Prospect'

2000
Cast Iron, Aluminium, mirror & stainless steel
175cm x 100cm x 100 cm
Public Art - Reykjavik, Iceland 

The Artist explores the human condition in all its diversity & strangeness, the figuration is capable of offering the pleasures of recognition - of ourselves & of the history we have created. Her figures denote the lyric isolation that all of us fear - in both art & life. The primary focus for the artist is to show the venerability of people & their capacity for survival & mute emotion. There is a silent surrounding seclusion to her work & it encourages the viewer to make sense of the world

It is passionate despite being rough & raw, the rough-cast exterior emphasises survival. The figure emphasises the relationship between isolation & ongoing existence. This is a beautiful example of form


Sculpture Magazine January/February 2009 Issue Vol 28 No 1






3.


Juame Plensa (Barcelona, Spain)


'Conversation a Nice'


2007
Polyester Resin, stainless steel & light
7 elements, 12 meters high each
Public Art - Place Massena, Nice, France

Juame Plensa's work is drawn from his complex & pluralistic perspective on the world. It is in informed by the art, literature, philosophy, religions & customs of many different cultures & their  impact on the ways in which individuals & society's function. Both location & social interaction inevitably determine an open & disclosure approach. He sees art as a catalyst for social interaction & understanding.


Artists Quote:


''Form is always a means to an end & never an end itself''


His public works are beacons for people, visual magnets that draw crowds & define a meeting point. These kneeling figures are set on high poles. The poles allow these figures to be seen from a distance, they are also isolating, setting the figures on a higher place. The forms open the work to many possibilities


Sculpture Magazine October 2008 Issue Vol 27 No 8






2.


Thomas Houseago (U.K)


'Striding Man'


2006
Tuf-cal, iron, rebar, hemp & graphite
71" x 46" x 56"

3 views

Inspired by Picasso, Brancusi, Amy Bessone, Enrico David & Aaron Curry, Thomas Houseago's main concern is to capture a kind of reality so that the pieces take on an energy or life. He puts thought & energy into an inert material & gives it truth & form, his work is abstract & representational, monstrous & vunerable, aggressive but somehow casual, animated yet still, 3D but flat & looking unfinished yet satisfyingly complete.


Artists Quote:


''It is a dramatisation of the space between you're eye & the world, between looking & recording, between what you see & feel & memory''


''I am trying to understand what it is to be alive & think & feel & explore that in my work''




Sculpture Magazine November 2010 Issue Vol 29 No  9




1.


Antony Gormley (U.K)


'Blind Light'


2007
Fluorescent light, water, ultra some humidifiers, toughened low-iron glass & aluminium
7000 Lumen's of bright light
8 x 10 metres high
Installation at Hayward Gallery, London May - August 2007

Visitors explored Gormleys Installation. Oscillating ultrasonic humidifiers created a dense vapour reducing the visibility inside the glass enclosure. Gormley understands the human body as a place of memory & transformation. Most of his early works are based on the process of casting his own body, which functions as subject, tool & material. His more recent works deal with the body in abstracted or in-direct ways & are concerned with the human condition


These large-scale works explore the collective body & the relationship between individual & collective, what can be seen & sensed. His works have moved the figural sculpture beyond the confines of the physical body to include interaction with the surrounding world - community, space, energy, memory & built form.


Artists Quote:


''The work comes as a by-product of a moment of being taken out of the stream of duration in which all conscious beings are living, you need to use you're own existence as the necessary register, the body that really counts is the body that has the mind in it, in the end the viewer does the work''

The space of consciousness is contained in a physical & these 2 spaces have to somehow be reconciled, with 'Blind Light' you get the same sensation but within light. 

The viewer cant see anything, you are awake, you're conscious , you're in space but the space no longer has any co-ordinates

Artists Quote:

 ''This is the closest I've come to a physical reconciliation of these 2 spiritual realities''


The light interacts, it lets the viewer reflect or project, the subject is always the viewer


Artists Quote:

''I think of it as being a communication with that which has not happened, a communication with those we will never meet - something that is inconceivable, impalpable, ineffable & incommensurable - that lies at the other side of our perceptual horizon''


Sculpture Magazine March 2010 Issue Vol 29 No 2

Semester 2 - Visual Communications/Graphics Design

We were given the brief where each of us was given a Metaphor & had to elaborate on it through
Part 1 - Typography & Part 2 - Illustration

My given metaphor was ''Spill the Beans''..........

Crikey! Where would I start! BAH!

IF I SEE 1 MORE BEAN I WILL CRACK! haha!

Part 1: Typography (Week 1)

My name for my wall:

Looking at different Types online:

Looking at Types in Photoshop:

Experimenting with my Metaphor:

Looking at Colour & Composition:

Drawing more Types:

Creating the Type for my cup idea:

Working on my Table Mat idea:

At Crit last Friday it was said that my Table Mat Idea would be better in colour so I turned it red:

(IMAGE BELOW WAS MY FINAL IMAGE FOR THE TYPOGRAPHY PART 1

 - PRINTED AT A3 SIZE)

Looking at an idea of a Mugshot:

My Frozen Bean Bag with Type:

(It started smelling after a few days when I brought it into the studio so I had to bin it)

Part 2: Illustration (Week 2)

Heres a photoshopped experimental image of my face...

I thought I would look at the physicallity of beans:

.... and then become 1 with the beans & literally get the feel of them! haha!

(note to self... DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN.. YOCK!)

Inverted version of the beans on my face:

Beans - Work in my workbook:

Making handprints with beans:

Babysitting one night & my 7 year old Niece wanted to help me so I told her what it was & heres what she made:

(She wants to go to Art College like her Aunty Em... ''Everybody say awwww'')

 Thumbnail sketches for Brainstorming:

I worked on this image a little more:

(TOP IMAGE BELOW) I gave the character a different head... I realised this image was more about interigation & didnt get across the point of my Metaphor so I kept going

(BOTTOM IMAGE BELOW) I created little bean-like characters spilling to the ground.. I quite liked these little guys so I created another drawing of them & it was used as my final piece for Part 2

Messing around with a head full of beans... I realised they looked more like drugs rather than beans! haha! SCRAP THAT IDEA!!!!

I decided I would experiment with a cartoony like effect in Photoshop... Model below is a mate in College ( Cheers Lorraine :) )

Using a Threshold & Painting her in I created this:

Then this....

With Colour:

 Moving her into the background of my Table Mat Idea:

Splitting her vertically & upsidedown:

Creating 3 of her:

Work put together in my Workbook:

My Workbook ready for Assesment:

The 1st Year Visual Communication Room ready for Assesment... Some

A W E S O M E

work was created over the past 2 weeks

My Final Piece for Illustration Part 2

Some Research:

Typography:

Illustration:

AND THAT IS IT FOR THE 3 x 2 WEEK ELECTIVES.... YERT!!!

On a lighter note 1 out of 3 of my Images got put into the LSAD DRAWING AWARDS 2012 COMPETITION. I COULDNT BELIEVE IT

There is the most stunning pieces on show down in the LSAD Church Gallery.

WOW!!!!

We find out next week what Elective we get & we get our results for the 3 x 2 week electives.... NERVES! bahahahaha! :)