Beginning Sculpture: February 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Tension

Beginning Sculpture
Professrors: Jenna Efrein and Alicia Eggert
Mini Asiggnment – Kiln-Cast Glass Plus

Tension:
OED-
The action of stretching or condition of being stretched: in various senses.
1. a. Physiol. and Path. The condition, in any part of the body, of being stretched or strained; a sensation indicating or suggesting this; a feeling of tightness. (The earliest use in English.)
2. b. Bot. Applied to a strain or pressure in the cells or tissues of plants arising from changes taking place in the course of growth.
3. 2. fig. A straining, or strained condition, of the mind, feelings, or nerves. a. Straining of the mental powers or faculties; severe or strenuous intellectual effort; intense application.
4. . Nervous or emotional strain; intense suppressed excitement; a strained condition of feeling or mutual relations which is for the time outwardly calm, but is likely to result in a sudden collapse, or in an outburst of anger or violent action of some kind.
5. c. Esp. in Psychol. A condition of strain produced by anxiety, need, or by a sense of mental, emotional, or physical disequilibrium; also attrib. or as adj.
6. d. The conflict created by interplay of the constituent elements of a work of art. Used esp. of poetry. (See also quot. 1941.)
7. 3. a. Physics. A constrained condition of the particles of a body when subjected to forces acting in opposite directions away from each other (usually along the body's greatest length), thus tending to draw them apart, balanced by forces of cohesion holding them together; the force or combination of forces acting in this way, esp. as a measurable quantity. (The opposite of compression or pressure.)
8. c. transf. The degree of tightness or looseness of the stitches in machine sewing or in knitting. Hence (also tension-device), a device in a sewing-machine for regulating the tightness of the stitch.
9. 4. Electr. The stress along lines of force in a dielectric. Formerly applied also to surface density of electric charge, and until about 1882 used vaguely as a synonym for potential, electromotive force, and mechanical force exerted by electricity: still so applied, in industrial and commercial use, in high and low tension: see sense 5.
10. 6. attrib. and Comb., as tension area, device (see 3c), thrill; spec. applied to parts of a structure subjected to tensile stress, as tension-member, -rod; (in sense 2) tension state, system; tension-relieving adj.; tension bar, (a) (see quot. 1879); (b) a metal bar used to apply pressure or exert tension; tension-bridge, a bridge in which there is tensile stress between parts of the structure, as a bowstring-bridge (see BOWSTRING 3, and quot. below); tension-fuse, a form of electric fuse which is fired by a spark at a break in a circuit; tension magnet (see quot.); tension-pulley, -roller, a free pulley or roller over which a belt, etc. passes to keep it stretched tight; a tightening-pulley; tension-rail, a rail for stretching cloth during the process of printing; tension-spicule, in sponges (see quot.); tension spring, (a) a spring for carriages, etc. composed of inner and outer leaves, connected at the ends, but free in the middle, so as to elongate independently under strain; (b) a spring used to maintain a required degree of tautness; tension wood = reaction wood s.v. REACTION 5.

Objective:
Through the use of visual language express the idea of tension. One of the elements of you piece will be a kiln-cast object and the will be a material or performance of your choice.

Considerations:
-The two elements must work well in creating the idea of tension.
-Think about how presentation/performance can enhabce or create your point of tension.
-Think about how the qualities of your material can aid the tense feeling.

Timeline
Mon March 2nd
- Have a drawing of your full piece
- Know what your glass component will be and be ready to make it in clay during class time
- Bring any clay modeling tools you may have
- Prep kiln
Wed March 4th
-Get pieces from kiln
-Cold work/ Augment IMPORTANT- Come to class with materials that you need and ready to work!

Mon March 16th PROJECT DUE
-Have pieces installed and ready to look at in Sculpture Gallery, Cell Space, or Box Jr for class.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Images from the first critique

These are images of the work made for the first major project: Found Object Deconstruction/Reconstruction

Wearable Wood Sculpture

Major Assignment #2:

Wearable Wood Sculpture

Due: February 23^rd (Fashion show in Nevins Theater)

In-Process Critique: Wednesday, February 11^th

The object of this assignment is to introduce you to general wood construction techniques, as well as gain an understanding of wearable sculpture and performative objects.

For this assignment you should construct a wearable sculpture using wood as your primary material. However, other materials may be combined with wood, such as fabric, ropes, wire, metal, etc. The sculpture must be able to be worn on the body for a “fashion show”, but the object doesn’t necessarily need to be fashion-oriented. The fashion show will provide you with the opportunity to incorporate performance into the project’s concept, but it could also just be a way for you to convey how the object is meant to be worn. Performance is not required. (If you would not be comfortable wearing your sculpture for the fashion show, feel free to ask an outgoing friend to do it for you).

While thinking of ideas, please answer the following questions and bring your answers, ideas and sketches to the in-process critique on Wednesday:

What kinds of things do we “wear”, besides clothing and accessories? (for example, parachutes)

What is the difference between objects that are functional, decorative or sculptural? Which attributes would you like your object to achieve?

Could you invent a function that your object would provide (for example, make noise)? List some ideas.

Will this sculpture assist, prevent or encourage any particular kind of movement?

What is the concept behind your sculpture? Is there anything you would like it to communicate to the audience? How can it make a powerful statement?