Urban Landscape
Exhibition Text
Medium: Wood, Found Metal, Glue
Title: Past and Present
Size: 30.48cm x 30.48cm
Medium: Wood, Found Metal, Glue
Month of Completion: April 2016
This model of an urban landscape is inspired by the architecture of the Art Deco era, specifically Pablo Antonio. The work was created not as a perfect scale model of a city but as an arrangement of forms selected to resemble the idea of a city. This piece combines wood and metal elements, most found and a few created. While the forms make up the bulk of the work, one of the main focuses was the light itself and how that light could be manipulated, like the angled holes in the base meant to resemble searchlights often used in the Art Deco era.
Title: Past and Present
Size: 30.48cm x 30.48cm
Medium: Wood, Found Metal, Glue
Month of Completion: April 2016
This model of an urban landscape is inspired by the architecture of the Art Deco era, specifically Pablo Antonio. The work was created not as a perfect scale model of a city but as an arrangement of forms selected to resemble the idea of a city. This piece combines wood and metal elements, most found and a few created. While the forms make up the bulk of the work, one of the main focuses was the light itself and how that light could be manipulated, like the angled holes in the base meant to resemble searchlights often used in the Art Deco era.
Inspiration
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In the creation of this project I took inspiration from the architecture of the Art Deco era, specifically the work of architect Pablo Antonio, designer of the Lyric Theater in Escolta and the Far Eastern University in Manila. I have used inspiration from this time period earlier in a triptych of paintings, but I wanted to use those ideas again in three-dimensional form. Antonio's work consists of many bold, striking forms, which is something I brought into my own work, but in my final piece I used more metal bronze tones than he does.
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Process
I began as everyone else in my class with a basswood canvas from a nearby art store. From here I designed a rough layout of the slits cut into the surface to allow light through. I didn’t feel that this was enough, and wanted to really experiment and manipulate the light more. As I did more research into Art Deco architecture, I found that many conceptual drawings included the far-reaching searchlights used to announce the grand opening of a theater, lounge, building, etc, and immediately wanted to incorporate these into my piece.
Using a thin piece of wood and an electric drill, I tried drilling different angles and sizes into the wood, then shining a light underneath to find what would imitate those searchlights. The best combination that I found was a half-inch drill bit at a 45 degree angle.
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I added placements for these to my board, then used a table saw to cut the slits in the board. I found that the surface of the base itself was too thin to get a good angle with the drill, so I used a chop saw to cut small pieces of thicker wood, then glued these underneath where I wanted the holes. This way there would be a thicker depth to achieve the right angle without altering the surface of the base.
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Once these holes were drilled, I began planning the buildings and forms to build up the cityscape. Most of the materials I used were wood, but to incorporate more Art Deco influence I also used metal pieces found around my house, like old light switch plates, coat hooks, and brackets, but I tried to use them in a way that wouldn’t be immediately recognizable as what they actually were, reducing them down to purely their form and material. With the tall metal brackets I actually used a metal grinder to sand off the tips to make them fit together as one form.
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At this point I had many tall, thin forms, but it needed a more diverse range of shapes. I experimented with small pieces in the open spaces, but they looked lost next to the towering skyscrapers. Eventually I took a home decorating tip I had seen on Pinterest, one that recommended using trays to clump smaller pieces together, and applied this to my work. I cut triangular pieces from thin wood to fit the open spaces, and placed the smaller buildings on top of those. This really helped ground them into the overall structure and help make them look more intentional and less scattered.
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Reflection
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. I actually feel more confident now when dealing with 3-D forms, I always struggled with them but this project really helped me develop my skill in that area. This project challenged me to think less about the actual material and more about what it's form could add to the piece as a whole, thinking more conceptually versus detail-oriented. I thought the shape and aesthetic of the piece came out very nicely, but to change two things I would have added more variety of shapes, and tried to tie in the wood more seamlessly with the metal. Just putting it on there as a form makes it seem out of place next to all of the dark metal, and I could have taken that further.