Industrial VS Organic Sculpture
Exhibition TextTitle: Seamless Integration
Size: 76.2cm x 45.72cm x 30.48cm Medium: Plaster Cloth, Glass, Spray Paint Month of Completion: April 2016 This sculpture combines inspiration from George Segal, a sculptor that creates plaster and bronze figures, and from Katharina Grosse, a Color Field artist known for vivid, air-brushed installations. I made this form from my own figure, wrapping myself in plaster cloth and removing it in pieces. I then sprayed it in loose, organically-shaped color, and embedded broken safety glass into the form. I did this to illustrate the juxtaposition of organic and industrial in human society; the flowing color of our lives becoming rapidly integrated with industry and technology. |
Inspiration
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With this project I combined inspiration from George Segal’s plaster-wrap sculptures and Katharina Grosse's airbrushed installations. I used these inspirations to highlight the juxtaposition between industrial and organic, combining Segal’s rough, industrial sculpture with Grosse’s more free-form, organic shapes and color.
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Beginning Process
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To begin this sculpture I needed the right materials. At first I thought that I would need to make molds of myself and then pour plaster into the molds, but with further research I actually found that Segal uses plaster-impregnated cheesecloth, wrapped around his models until it sets. This method is much easier and faster than pouring casts, and cheaper as plaster cloth is sold at most craft stores. The method itself seemed pretty self-explanatory, but just to be sure I watched a few videos of the process on Youtube that described the process in more detail.
I began actually creating the sculpture with my hands and arms, because those I could do on my own without someone else’s help. I divided both arms into four sections, the hand, lower arm, elbow area, and upper arm; so they would be easier to take off my arms once they dried. I coated my skin with petroleum jelly first, as I learned from the videos, then cut strips of plaster cloth to have ready for each section. Starting with the hand, every strip had to be soaked in water and wrapped individually to my skin, and I found they dried much faster than I thought they would. As a result, most of my palm and wrist was very hard before I finished even wrapping my fingers, harder than I needed it to be in order to smoothly slide it off. I ended up having to cut slits in the plaster around my wrist and thumb to get it off, and even then a few spots around the knuckles tore in the process. I was able to repair these with small pieces of cloth though, and ultimately I think the roughness only added to the industrial aspect of the piece. The other sections of the arms came off much easier, although for most of them I still needed to cut and repair near the joints. While I was able to do the arms myself, I needed help with the torso and head. I ended using my parents to wrap me in plaster sections. We began with the head, tucking my hair into a swim cap and covering my skin in petroleum jelly. I was still worried about the plaster sticking to my eyebrows and lashes, so I wrapped that part of my face in a strip of clear wrap. My father covered my face and neck in strips of plaster cloth, then after it dried about halfway I worked it off my face, as shown in the video. We did the back and front of my head in separate sections to avoid having to cut it off. The same process was used for my torso, this time splitting the form lengthwise so as to slide it off my arm. This one was much more difficult to remove because it stuck to the fabric of my shirt as it dried. I ended up having to cut the fabric to even remove the plaster mold from my body, but after that it was easier to peel away the fabric from the inside, and it didn’t matter what it looked like because it was never going to be visible. This concluded the process of molding plaster, now I only had to patch the pieces together. |
Although the combination of the material and the paint and form already show the theme of industrial versus organic, I wanted to take the industrial aspect even further.
Everyday I take the city bus home from school, and over winter break this year someone smashed the bus shelter at my stop. The glass panels are made of safety glass, and so it wasn’t really a priority for the city to clean it up. For at least two weeks there was a pile of glass cubes on the corner of Oklahoma and 20th, so I brought a cardboard box one day and scooped up some of the glass to take home. I wasn’t sure what I was going to use it for, but it looked beautiful all shattered and cracked. Industrial vs Organic seemed like the perfect theme for this material, so I needed ways to use it in my sculpture. I was thinking about the way our society has integrated technology so fundamentally into our way of life, to the point where we can’t function without it, and decided to embed the glass directly into the figure. After each section dried, I traced around pieces of glass, used an X-acto knife to cut a hole, and applied small strips of plaster cloth to hold the glass in place. |
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After piecing together the limbs and body parts, I wanted to add color to the piece. so I used Morris Louis and his organic, free flowing color and shape. I took the sculpture outside, and diluted various colors of acrylic paint to pour over the entire thing. I continued adding more layers of paint until the whole thing was covered, allowing the color to mix and drip over eachother, and left it to dry.
Although this painting style was very organic and interesting, I really didn't like the effect it had. The mixing colors often just ended up looking messy and brown, and the whole effect was just sloppy. Instead I spray painted the whole sculpture white again, and looked for a different artist to emulate instead. This was where I found Katharina Grosse, an installation artist who uses airbrush to create organic, blended color fields. I used spray paint to create a similar effect, spraying large areas of color blended into one another. |
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Reflection |
Meaning
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Ultimately I was pleased with the way this project turned out, although I had a few setbacks along the way. The process itself proved a bit difficult and time-consuming, although I , enjoyed creating it. It was interesting to take on a project much more kinesthetic than I ever had before; instead of sitting and painting/sculpting/carving for hours, this project required a lot of different techniques and skills I hadn't attempted before, causing me to have to think differently not only about how I created it but how I managed my time to do it. I thought the form and color of the piece came out very well, although the craftsmanship around the glass pieces could definitely be improved.
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With this sculpture I tried to depict the way our culture has become more and more closely integrated with technology. I took a human form and then sprayed it in loose, organically-shaped color, and embedded broken safety glass into the form. I did this to illustrate the juxtaposition of organic and industrial in human society; the flowing color of our lives becoming rapidly integrated with industry and technology. I used the glass as symbolic of technology to show that it can be beautiful and enhance everything else, but in moderation, so as not to overpower the color of the piece.
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Citations
- "George Segal." Pinterest. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. <https://www.pinterest.com/6nw9/george-segal/>.
- "Related Artists." George Segal. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. <http://www.miandn.com/exhibitions/george-segal/works/1/>.
- Grosse, Katharina. One Floor Up More Highly. Digital image. Contemporary Art Daily. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2011/02/katharina-grosse-at-mass-moca/>.
- Grosse, Katharina. Shadowbox. Digital image. Contemporary Art Daily. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2009/04/katharina-grosse-at-temporare-kunsthalle-berlin/>.
- Grosse, Katharina. WUNDERBLOCK. Digital image. Nasher Sculpture Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/art/exhibitions/exhibition?id=64>.