Artist Hero / Research
Artist Hero # 1
Andy Goldsworthy - "Hanging Hole"
Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire, England July 26, 1956 and is currently living in Scotland. He is a sculptor, photographer and environmentalist and concentrates his artwork in natural settings. Hanging Hole was completed in May 1986 and is made from a natural hole in Holebeck, Leeds with sticks suspended and weaved together at the entrance. It has a natural setting similar to his other works. The sticks create lines that keep your eye trained on the mid section of the piece wondering what the hole contains. The contrasting textures give the piece variety and the way the sticks are placed gives the sculpture very unique shapes and negative and positive space. The piece contains unity in that all the materials are natural and without any taint from the outside world. Though it is not symmetrical, the piece is well balanced in a concentric way. There is a sharp contrast however between the opaqueness of the tunnel and the sharp features of the interwoven sticks. The piece is proportional in all aspects. The piece is abstract and I feel intrigued simply looking at it wondering what the sticks are not-so-subltly covering up. This piece invokes wonder and curiosity of the highest degree. Though is does not seem to tell a story any given viewer can make their own assumptions as to what the piece could invoke. The mood is simply chilling. I like the piece very much because of its natural and secluded setting. I believe it should be important to art history because it depicts the merging of artificial creation with natural materials. The title makes complete sense in regards to the artwork. The sticks are legitimately hanging over the hole. Making the title of the work, "Hanging Hole" a valid decision. |
Artist Hero # 2
Joseph Cornell - "Untitled (Tilly-Losch)"
Cornell was born in Nyack, New York on December 24, 1903 and died on December 29, 1972 in Queens, New York. He was an American sculptor who worked in the surrealism and assemblage movements. He worked as an artist for over half of his life and until his death at the age of 69. The title of his work is "Untitled" or "(Tilly-Losch)" and it was completed in 1935. It is made out of wood, glass, paper and box construction. The setting is that of a childhood memory, and represents a window to Cornell's overall recurring themes. Tilly-Losch shows a girl held up by strings against a sky background with mountains below. It is based on the Viennese actress and dancer Tilly Losch who appeared in films in the 1930s and 40s. There are lines throughout leading the viewers eye to the women in the center of the glass box and the colors are fairly muted giving more interest to the meaning of the work. There is a variety of textures with the roughness of the mountains, the ornate fabric of the woman's dress and the smoothness of the sky in the background. There is a lot of negative space in between the lines suspending the woman. The box is unified with it's color scheme and has variety in in textures. The balance is slightly asymmetrical as the girl is slightly off center. Movement is created with the strings suspending the women and it can be imagined her floating down to the mountain range below. There is contrast between the more neutral colors in the background and brighter colors of the woman's dress. This piece is realistic and the feel is whimsical, like you're being pulled into a lighthearted old film. The mood is liberating as the woman appears free to go with any direction that the wind pulls her. The sculpture does tell a story of the actress and dancer, Tilly Losch. Cornell's purpose for the piece was his interest in film-making among his other art pursuits. The piece appears similar to a stage that Tilly Losch would perform. I like the piece because of it's purpose because not only is Cornell being an artist, but he's also embracing his love of theater at the same time. The combination has endless possibilities. This piece does fit into the time period it was created and it did not influence other's work. The title makes perfect sense as the title is the theme of the whole piece. |
Artist Hero # 3
Eva Hesse - "Vertiginous Detour"
Hesse was born in Hamburg, Germany on January 11, 1936 and died on May 29, 1970 in New York, New York (age 34). She was a German-American sculptor who worked in minimalism and feminist art movements. She worked as an artist for the last 10 or so years of her short life before she dealt with a severe brain tumor and 3 surgeries. The title of her work is "Vertiginous Detour" and it was completed in 1966. It is compose of acrylic and polyurethane on rope, net and paper mâché. The paper mâché ball has a diameter of 16 1/2 inches and the length of the rope is approximately 154 inches. It is an additive sculpture. There are many lines throughout "Vertiginous Detour" starting with a single line coming down to a lattice net of many lines to a few straying tendrils at the bottom of the piece. The color is minimal and there is an interesting texture created by the net. There is positive and negative space accurately portrayed through the netting of the piece. There is a large sense of unity in the sculpture in it's color and materials, as they are both minimal. There is variety in the shapes created by the hanging structure. Radial balance is clearly evident and there is a lot of movement created with the hanging tendrils at the bottom of the paper mâché sphere. This sculpture is abstract and looking at the piece a viewer may feel greatly intrigued. The mood is dark and daring and the sculpture may create a story of nautical origin. As the net could look very much like a fishing net and the ball could be an unknown object found in a vast sea. Perhaps Hesse wanted to create the piece to show things as delicate as rope can hold together what is commonly seen as a robust object as a sphere. I very much like the piece from it's color scheme to its use of materials to it's predicted story. It should be an important piece in art history to the minimalist movement. The title makes sense to the artwork. The definition of "vertiginous" is "causing vertigo, especially by being extremely high or steep". Using the fact that the sculpture is hanging, it can be said that that characteristic could be portraying the illusion of being extremely high up. In addition, vertigo is motion sickness and looking at the artwork, a sphere on a string can easily spin and move around rapidly. The title accurately fits to Hesse's sculpture "Vertiginous Detour". |
Research # 1
Wire and Paper Sculptures
The idea I chose to go with for the figures throughout my concentration is wire and paper. My thought process from this idea was that I could potentially move the figure into whatever positions I see fit. However, after thinking about it further, I determined that the simple paper mache technique over the wire was too flimsy and it could tear if bent too much. I was back to square one more or less, I only had the idea of a wire person. Instead of thinking, I decided to work. The technique I started with was simply using wire pliers to form a person but it was too difficult to get the exact shape. So I took a different approach and drew the shape of the figure I wanted and pinned it to a bulletin board. Then, I used pins to pin the wire into place in the exact position I planned. My next step was more of a transition step. I decided to hot glue a paper cut out of the figure to help build more ideas. With the realization that the hot glue was pliable similar to the wire, I made the decision to form the contours of the person out of hot glue to make it the most realistic. I used only a hot glue gun and a X-ACTO knife for this step. Once I was content with the person's appearance, I plastered paper shreds onto the figure to cover the copper wire as well as to enable painting on the figure for the rest of the project. The overall effect was exactly what I was looking for and I will continue to use this technique for the remainder of my concentration. |
Scholastic Art Commentary
My portfolio consists of my metals and stained glass work throughout my high school career. Each has its own unique meaning. The three stained glass boxes are the beginnings of a concentration of eight, each representing a different obstacle that an adolescent faces as they come of age. They show an adolescents ability to push through it all. The adolescents are able to push through all of the shadows as depicted by the first box. The shadows faced are school and body image as shown in the two other boxes. My mini concentration consists of wire chairs representing the ability to capture all of the elements and unify them in a basic and ultimately mundane way. My wire skull shows that anything can control a person’s mind, that any thought negative or positive can make its way in. The paper chandelier was made to represent the strength of delicacy. The paper is fragile but still manages to hold all of the light, just like the adolescent mind. The bird cage ring proves that you can wear a cage but it doesn't have to consume you. The stained glass skull is to emphasize the concept “funerals are for the living”. The skull is very distinct with a haunted look (the way the living see the dead), whereas the surrounding pieces are bright in color (the way the dead see the living). When my work is viewed I hope to get an intrigued reaction. My work is open to interpretation given the viewer. Some pieces are subtle while others are direct, both in their respective ways capture interest.
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