Janine Antoni Response

After watching the video about Janine Antoni I have decided she is very dedicated to her work. She thinks deeply about her art, every piece has a story behind it and nothing is really as simple as it first appears. She uses her body as a material in many pieces. She used her hair as paintbrush, she dipped herself in a tub of lard, and made many molds of herself for various pieces. What she does seems a little out there to me. But at the same time her art becomes very personal. She's a very artistic thinker, the surface is not the end to her art. I can't imagine using my body in the ways she uses hers to create art. She is very dedicated to her pieces. 

Touch, A Natural History of the Senses-Response

This a response to Touch by Diane Ackerman. This reading was very eye opening. Many points were brought up about things that I haven't really thought about. It's things we know but not things we think about knowing. I agree with the line "language is steeped in metaphors of touch". We describe things with touching adjectives, we say we lost touch with people when we haven't talked to them in a while, and say something touched us when we care about it. These are things I didn't think about. I thought it was just how we talk, I didn't realize the expressions really had origins. Ackerman describes care for premature babies in one section that seems to last forever. Why she felt it was so significant I'm still not sure. It wasn't until the last two sentences that I think I really got what she was saying. She brings up that information is usually communicable in a touch and that other senses have organs you can focus on but touch is everywhere. Thinking about it, this is true. Eyes see, noses smell, tongues taste, but touch gives a lot of information. Touch tells us how to know what things look like. We've touched a hat so we know its round. We've touched water so we know its wet. That is mainly what I took away from this reading. Without touching things we wouldn't know about them. We could see them but without touching them we wouldn't know their true shape; how big they are, how thick or thin they are, how light or heavy they are. This reading opened my eyes to something so simple. It made me think about things I normally wouldn't. Before the reading I didn't think twice about an orange being round. But now I realize that I know an orange is round because I've touched an orange, I've felt the curves and roundness and true shape of the orange that my eyes alone couldn't tell me. Touch by Diane Ackerman is a very profound and eye-opening read.

Poetic Metamorphosis-Sculptures

Assignment:
Using only white copy paper (do not use card stock) make three paper sculptures. The three paper sculptures are to represent the setting discussed in The Metamorphosis and will be miniature.  The three sculptures are: a bed, a chest (or container, box, drawers, etc...)  and a bug.  The bed should contain the following elements: a mattress, a box spring, a bed frame that elevates it from the floor, a headboard and at least one pillow and one blanket.  The chest should be designed so that it can conceal the bug. This assignment uses limited materials and does not allow the use of tape or glue. Final solution should be stable and visually communicate your response to the readings.
 Materials:
White copy paper, ink set, brushes, scissors, Exacto knife, cut matt.

Truth be told, this assignment kicked my butt! For a week I cut and folded paper. It ripped, it crinkled, it broke, it was the wrong size. Anything you can think of, that's what happened. Here's a few pictures of my failed attempts. Any tree huggers beware, I'm pretty sure I cut down a forest with this one! 

 The bug was probably the easiest piece for me. It was definitely challenging, but the least challenging of the three pieces. When reading   The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka I couldn't get a clear picture of the bug. I just saw kind of an awkward shape with wings, little arms, and a stinger in the back. I rolled up a piece of paper, and tucked a small tab into a slit I made. Then i rolled some dampened paper to make the stinger and arms. I cut out small wings from dampened paper.

I used a grey sharpie to color the wings, arms, and stinger. I used a black sharpie and black drawing ink to color the body of the bug.

The next step was the chest or box. Although the story described a large and heavy chest I kept imagining a small box. I made this by drawing out squares and cutting them out and then putting the sides together with small tabs.

I used brown ink and brown sharpie to add color and texture to the box. I made the lid of the box a little big so it doesn't close all the way. This represents how the family wants to hide their bug turned kin but they still know he's there. Likewise, he tries to hide himself but wants to keep in touch with them in an indirect way.

The final and certainly most difficult of the pieces was the bed. I envisioned a simplistic bed with a wood frame. The story is kind of old, so I pictured something similar to the furniture my grandma has. I folded and ticked paper to make the bed frame and added a head board with more paper folded and stuffed with more paper. The box spring and mattress were made the same way as the bed frame.

I used brown ink for the bed frame and headboard. The mattress and box spring were colored with blue ink. The blanket and pillow were colored with green ink. The colors are bright because the bug made me think of a forest and nature and outdoorsy feelings. The blanket came out to be sort of tye dye looking which was unintentional but I decided to keep it because tye dye is like a transformation of colors. Just like how the story was about a transformation from human to bug.

Experimental Drawing

Memento

Assignment:
-Make a non-representational sculpture of a memory. For example, a person, place or event. Use no more than three materials. No less than two materials. 
-Be aware of the materials you select, methods used to construct and the juxtaposition of the materials.
-Final solution should be able to fit in the palms of your hands (or two hands).
Materials:
-balsa wood
-blue ink
-blue paper clips

I decided to make my memento based on my grandfather who passed away last summer.He was a very crafty man, something I didn't know until after he passed away. He was a great construction worker, builder, and sculptor.

I began this project with a small rectangle of balsa wood. I cut up little blocks of balsa wood and left them rough on the edges and barely touched with ink to represent the in progress and unfinished works I always saw around my grandfather's house. I glued these blocks onto one side of the rectangle base.

After that I cut up more blocks of balsa wood but painted these and made sure the edges were mostly clean cut to represent the different finished projects my grandfather had made that I didn't know where his original pieces. These blocks were glued onto the opposite side of the rectangle base.

 

Then I linked blue paper clips together. I pushed on end of the first paper clip into one of the finished blocks and then wrapped the paper clip chain around the unfinished blocks and then to the finished blocks. The paper clips represent the link that I was missing to fully understanding the life my grandfather had. It wasn't until after his death that I was able to link all the unfinished works I had seen to the great pieces I didn't know where his.

The project is mostly blue because my grandfather had really amazing blue eyes. They always had a special twinkle to them.  This is what I thought was the final piece.

 

After looking at it more and with some feedback, I decided to build up the completed side a bit more. I cut more wood blocks and painted them blue. I stacked them neatly and made what looks sort of like a door frame. The door frame shape represents the buildings my grandfather made. The blue blocks are higher than the unfinished blocks to represent that it was a big realization that my grandfather was a great artist, something I didn't know until after he passed away.

Experimental Drawing

Poetic Metamorphosis-readings

Assignment:
Using only white copy paper make three paper sculptures. The three paper sculptures are to represent the setting discussed in The Metamorphosis and will be miniature.  The three sculptures are: a bed, a chest (or container, box, drawers, etc...)  and a bug.  The bed should contain the following elements: a mattress, a box spring, a bed frame that elevates it from the floor, a headboard and at least one pillow and one blanket.  The chest should be designed so that it can conceal the bug. This assignment uses limited materials and does not allow the use of tape or glue. Final solution should be stable and visually communicate your response to the readings.

Materials:
White copy paper, ink set, brushes, scissors, Exacto knife, cut matt.

Readings:
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
and a reading from the book Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.




Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard
 Vocabulary:

ephemeral-lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory

polemical-a controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.

epithet-any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality

garret-an attic, usually a small, wretched one.

tumult-highly distressing agitation of mind or feeling; turbulent mental or emotional disturbance

imperturbability-incapable of being upset or agitated; not easily excited; calm: imperturbable composure.

volute-a spiral or twisted formation or object.

clandestine-characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious

marquetry-inlaid work of variously colored woods or other materials, especially in furniture.

alchemy-any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

 Outline: 

- people hide their secrets in drawers. 
- a metaphor is something concrete while an image is unstable and from the imagination. 
-concepts lack knowledge and experience.
-the metaphor doesn't posses a direct virtue of an image. 
-a filing cabinet differs from a drawer in that it is intelligence, it is reliable, can be seen and touched, is designed for utility purposes, replaces memory, and is very organized. 
-each person may fill their cabinets differently, with varying perspectives. 
-wardrobes can have false bottoms, they can hold more than what first meets the eye. 
-the wardrobe is private, it is locked away from the public.
 -it is meant for orderliness and most commonly holds objects that are not used daily. 
 -the wardrobe is compared to holding dreams, dreams we hold in ourselves but often do not open to the public and do not open even to ourselves every day.   
 -secrets are held in chests. 
 -locks are often sculpted and modeled after powerful people or sacred animals. 
-the locks of boxes hide the mystery put into the boxes.  
-the outside of the casket is usually not very significant. 
 -it carries more treasure than what meets the eye. 
the interior can be changed or built on to create something more. 
-the closing of a casket does not always mean the end. 
-the author closes with the statement that we hide things in ourselves just as we hide or file things in furniture. 


The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

 Vocabulary: 
 verminous-Of the nature of vermin; repulsive
 diminutive-Extremely small in size; tiny
 indisposition-Disinclination; unwillingness
 amelioration-The state of being ameliorated; improvement
 asphyxiation-To undergo asphyxia; suffocate
 timidity-Lacking self-confidence; shy


Outline:
-Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up in his bed to find himself transformed into a large insect.
- He tries to get out of bed, but he can't move his transformed body.
-Gregor manages to unlock and open the door with his mouth, since he has no hands.
-Gregor wakes and sees that someone has put milk and bread in his room. At first he was excited, but he quickly discovers that he has no taste for milk.
-The next morning, his sister Grete comes in, sees that he has not touched the milk, and replaces it with rotting food scraps, which Gregor happily eats.
-Gregor also learns that his mother wants to visit him, but his sister and father will not let her.
- He begins climbing the walls and ceiling for amusement.
-Discovering Gregor’s new pastime, Grete decides to remove some of the furniture to give Gregor more space.
-Gregor’s mother sees him hanging on the wall and passes out.
- His father returns from his new job, and misunderstanding the situation, believes Gregor has tried to attack the mother.
-The family take on three boarders, requiring them to move excess furniture into Gregor’s room, which distresses Gregor.
-One of the boarders spots Gregor and they become alarmed.
- The three men protest and announce that they will move out immediately without paying rent because of the disgusting conditions in the apartment.
-Grete tells her parents that they must get rid of Gregor or they will all be ruined.
-Gregor dies.
-Upon discovering that Gregor is dead, the family feels a great sense of relief.
- The family takes a trolley ride out to the countryside, during which they consider their finances.
-They decide to move to a better apartment and  Grete's parents think about finding her a husband.

Expressive 3D Forms

This was the first assignment of the summer semester. Materials used were:balsa wood, masking tape, clear tape, straight pins, wood glue.The balsa wood was very soft but somewhat difficult to cut straight through. The assignment was to make four small scale sculptures using only the materials listed above. The content and meaning of each form reflect my interpretation from the following list (select four words - one for each sculpture): calm, sad, hopeful, angry, ambiguous, determined, old, dubious, chaotic, stoic, voyeurism, memorial, dangerous.

The first word I chose was sad. My final piece represents sadness to me because it is empty on the inside.The masking tape is wrapped around it to represent hiding vulnerability and the true feeling of sadness. It also represents acting as though you have it all together on the outside to others when you are really falling apart and broken on the inside. 

The second word I chose was dangerous. The sculpture looks similar to sharp seaweed. The sharp points and edges give a dangerous vibe. While making it I thought of the beach and the ocean, how its so dangerous yet people go in without knowing what is lurking beneath the water.

 The third word I chose was hopeful. The piece represents hopeful to me because the arc points upward. The way the sculpture is shaped it looks almost like angel wings. The sculpture comes to a point in the center and then arcs upward in a hopeful fashion.

The fourth word I chose was chaotic. This sculpture is crazy. It is a ball of clear packaging tape with wood scraps inside of it. Then there are random pieces of wood glued on to give it more shape and balance so it would stand. It doesn't really make much sense but that's what chaotic is!

Experimental Drawings

chaotic, hopeful, sad, dangerous

 

Great People

People Who Inspire Me!

Allison Harvard

 Todd Scott

Andy Warhol

Taylor Swift