Cite Specific
Title: All Eyes
Size: 12 by 9 by 4.5 inches
Medium: Cardboard, paper, and glue
Completion: May
Size: 12 by 9 by 4.5 inches
Medium: Cardboard, paper, and glue
Completion: May
Exhibition Text: Homelessness in the Milwaukee area is an extreme problem that many people turn a blind eye to. As inspired by David Shrigley's expanding foam art, the tent is used as a focus point. This piece highlights the importance of seeing everyone as important and brings awareness to the homeless population in an artistic way.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for this piece came from the artist David Shrigley. Shrigley finds meaning in snippets of text and overheard conversations. His crude and cartoonish ink drawings, usually exhibited salon-style, recall pages from the sketchbook of a cheeky adolescent. Tackling serious issues, such as unemployment and child welfare, as well as more absurd subjects, including sexual fantasies about a squirrel, his fragmented narratives can be both poignant and funny. In a 2011 exhibition, Shrigley included a dead stuffed kitten that stood on its hind legs carrying a hand-lettered protest sign that read, “I’M DEAD.” His digital animations such as ‘Headless Drummer’ and ‘The Artist’ demonstrate what Shrigley calls ‘the economy of telling stories’, delivering a deftly crafted mix of dark and light through the simplest of forms. In his sculptural works, rendered in materials such as bronze and ceramic, the artist makes physical some of his more curious and eccentric propositions by transforming found objects or by playing with their scale. Taking Lewis Carroll's perspective of Wonderland, Shrigley enlarges objects and imbues them with curious proportions. Shrigley’s drawings appear simple and straightforward in style, but it is a long process of working through ideas and throwing things away. All of Shrigley's work inspired me to focus on an unusual artistic piece so that it would catch the eyes of any viewer that walked by. This made the most sense for creating a piece that would makes the viewers feel emotional, as well as physically impacted. Specifically, I choose to play off of Shrigley's use of unusual material in his artwork. This focus on material is essential for a cite specific piece. Continuing, I also took inspiration from Shrigley's use of unusual context. He focuses on including multiple meanings to his pieces, and this I made sure to include in my piece as well. |
Cat Basket. Polyurethane foam, 2001
Squirrel Without A Nut, 2001
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Planning:
As I began working out my planning process for this piece I knew I would have to be specific about the connections that I was going to make so that it could be more obvious to the viewer. I needed to find an inspiration that showed use of material to create emotion, while also being abstract for the viewer to look at and enjoy. I came across the sculpture "Tent". This piece showed a tent overflowing with expanding foam, creating a huge sense of confusion. This elements truly spoke to an emotional piece, exactly what I was looking for. My theme changed throughout my planning and eventually became "chaos vs order". This was important for my work because it was to display the abstractness of my inspiration and how it can become a new piece with just two materials. I worked on listing ways in which I could display similarities in my artwork. Eventually I came up with a list of things that give me a consistent idea;
1. Have unusual shapes to guide the viewer's eyes
2. Include a regular medium as well as an unusual medium to have contrast
3. Have the focus point be at the center of the piece
These three things helped me to shape my artwork into a piece that would truly show emotion and theme as the main ideas of the work. In order to properly plan this piece I began by laying out what I wanted to accomplish each day that I would work on the piece. I began with picking out a material list that would properly fit into the theme of my piece. This would allow me to keep my creativity balanced while also being productive. Next, I worked on what my main focal point would be. I planned on following in my inspirations footsteps, and using the center, the most prominent part of the piece, as well as the floor, to show the amount of emotion in the piece. This would allow me to use all of the three elements listed above to truly show the theme. Lastly, I planned out my composition, because my piece was a three-dimensional work of art, I had had to take extra time on this step. I wanted the piece to be able to fit with my inspiration as well as be unique to myself. To do this I had had spend time making sure the piece all came together properly, and not overly confusing, which would cause the focal point to change as I created the piece.
As I began working out my planning process for this piece I knew I would have to be specific about the connections that I was going to make so that it could be more obvious to the viewer. I needed to find an inspiration that showed use of material to create emotion, while also being abstract for the viewer to look at and enjoy. I came across the sculpture "Tent". This piece showed a tent overflowing with expanding foam, creating a huge sense of confusion. This elements truly spoke to an emotional piece, exactly what I was looking for. My theme changed throughout my planning and eventually became "chaos vs order". This was important for my work because it was to display the abstractness of my inspiration and how it can become a new piece with just two materials. I worked on listing ways in which I could display similarities in my artwork. Eventually I came up with a list of things that give me a consistent idea;
1. Have unusual shapes to guide the viewer's eyes
2. Include a regular medium as well as an unusual medium to have contrast
3. Have the focus point be at the center of the piece
These three things helped me to shape my artwork into a piece that would truly show emotion and theme as the main ideas of the work. In order to properly plan this piece I began by laying out what I wanted to accomplish each day that I would work on the piece. I began with picking out a material list that would properly fit into the theme of my piece. This would allow me to keep my creativity balanced while also being productive. Next, I worked on what my main focal point would be. I planned on following in my inspirations footsteps, and using the center, the most prominent part of the piece, as well as the floor, to show the amount of emotion in the piece. This would allow me to use all of the three elements listed above to truly show the theme. Lastly, I planned out my composition, because my piece was a three-dimensional work of art, I had had to take extra time on this step. I wanted the piece to be able to fit with my inspiration as well as be unique to myself. To do this I had had spend time making sure the piece all came together properly, and not overly confusing, which would cause the focal point to change as I created the piece.
Process/Techniques/Inspiration:
As I began putting the final piece together I had had to focus on using my skills as both an artist, but also focusing my creativity. I wanted my piece to cohesively work well together, while also giving off the complexity I was hoping for. I began with some experience in doing semi-abstract work and so I felt confident going into the piece. I began by sketching out the final composition so that I could lay it out next to the piece and focus on the three-dimensional aspect. I also focused on making sure I used majority of the materials to my advantage. Next, I began figuring out the scale I needed to use to finish the piece. I knew I had to be focused on the scale because I had a limited amount of materials and I needed it to be as realistic as possible. I wanted the piece to be realistic, it should look like a building, without actually being full scale model. This would allow for further creativity in the viewers mind as well. I was also inspired by Shrigley use of materials in his piece, and so I decided to use this in the focus of my piece as well. This would allow for an obvious connection, as well as a building block for the final piece. I used goggly eyes as a replacement for the expanding foam that Shrigley used in his piece.
Continuing, in order to create the best quality piece that I could, I focused on my technique a lot. For example, I focused intently on creating thick straight cuts. This would promote better composition of the piece in the end. Furthermore, for the tent and base I wanted to have it be a focal point so that the rest of the piece would fit around it. This, although not completely realistically correct, would add more focus to the piece. As I finished the tent, I began transitioning to the base. I wanted to include a textured base so that it would resemble the uneven ground that is actually under the bridge I wanted to put the piece in. I also used elastic to represent tent ties, so that it would make a stronger connection in the viewers mind. This gave the most simplified version of a base I could figure out. Finally, the hardest part of putting the project together was definitely figuring out how to finish the piece. I wanted to add as many features of nature without being photorealistic- as it would take away from the final composition.
As I began putting the final piece together I had had to focus on using my skills as both an artist, but also focusing my creativity. I wanted my piece to cohesively work well together, while also giving off the complexity I was hoping for. I began with some experience in doing semi-abstract work and so I felt confident going into the piece. I began by sketching out the final composition so that I could lay it out next to the piece and focus on the three-dimensional aspect. I also focused on making sure I used majority of the materials to my advantage. Next, I began figuring out the scale I needed to use to finish the piece. I knew I had to be focused on the scale because I had a limited amount of materials and I needed it to be as realistic as possible. I wanted the piece to be realistic, it should look like a building, without actually being full scale model. This would allow for further creativity in the viewers mind as well. I was also inspired by Shrigley use of materials in his piece, and so I decided to use this in the focus of my piece as well. This would allow for an obvious connection, as well as a building block for the final piece. I used goggly eyes as a replacement for the expanding foam that Shrigley used in his piece.
Continuing, in order to create the best quality piece that I could, I focused on my technique a lot. For example, I focused intently on creating thick straight cuts. This would promote better composition of the piece in the end. Furthermore, for the tent and base I wanted to have it be a focal point so that the rest of the piece would fit around it. This, although not completely realistically correct, would add more focus to the piece. As I finished the tent, I began transitioning to the base. I wanted to include a textured base so that it would resemble the uneven ground that is actually under the bridge I wanted to put the piece in. I also used elastic to represent tent ties, so that it would make a stronger connection in the viewers mind. This gave the most simplified version of a base I could figure out. Finally, the hardest part of putting the project together was definitely figuring out how to finish the piece. I wanted to add as many features of nature without being photorealistic- as it would take away from the final composition.
Experimentation:
In my past experimentations with art, I have not focused on creating such realistic three-dimensional piece. This creates a struggle for me when I choose to challenge myself composition I choose to use. I first began my piece by focusing on just the final composition of how I would connect my inspiration to my final creation. I knew that I wanted the piece to look cohesive, while also being made up of several different components. So I experimented with different materials for each element of the mask, as well as adding other unusual shapes that would create better focus on the floor of the tent. Doing these things helped me better understand how to put together the final composition for the piece. I made sure to focus on what materials would look like so that I could be happy with the contrasting of the final piece. During the process I learned three very important things:
1. Manipulating materials when it is not properly cut creates a very messy look, and is hard to fix.
2. Corrugated cardboard makes great texture for giving an example of outside ground.
3. Planning out every layer is important for the final integrity of the piece.
Continuing, these three things helped me evaluate my success as an artist and my understanding of my inspiration as I worked on it. I also experimented with the techniques I used to put together all of the materials. I used both tape and hot glue in order to create the foreground. This trial and error was very helpful for learning in the future how to plan out my piece. Furthermore, the base was supposed to represent both the layers of complexity of the piece, as well as a more abstract understanding of homelessness. This was very hard to do because of the lack of experience I had creating models. This was something I struggled with originally because it was an aspect of the piece I wanted to include, but I was unsure how to get it looking correctly. Eventually I was able to have a final creation that resembled a real tent and did not take away from the focus of the theme. Finally, with these concepts, I was a was able to create a piece that flowed and used material and balance to create a model realistically enough for the viewer to draw connections. Using my new skills surrounding technical art, I had a better understanding of using paint to create a technical model.
In my past experimentations with art, I have not focused on creating such realistic three-dimensional piece. This creates a struggle for me when I choose to challenge myself composition I choose to use. I first began my piece by focusing on just the final composition of how I would connect my inspiration to my final creation. I knew that I wanted the piece to look cohesive, while also being made up of several different components. So I experimented with different materials for each element of the mask, as well as adding other unusual shapes that would create better focus on the floor of the tent. Doing these things helped me better understand how to put together the final composition for the piece. I made sure to focus on what materials would look like so that I could be happy with the contrasting of the final piece. During the process I learned three very important things:
1. Manipulating materials when it is not properly cut creates a very messy look, and is hard to fix.
2. Corrugated cardboard makes great texture for giving an example of outside ground.
3. Planning out every layer is important for the final integrity of the piece.
Continuing, these three things helped me evaluate my success as an artist and my understanding of my inspiration as I worked on it. I also experimented with the techniques I used to put together all of the materials. I used both tape and hot glue in order to create the foreground. This trial and error was very helpful for learning in the future how to plan out my piece. Furthermore, the base was supposed to represent both the layers of complexity of the piece, as well as a more abstract understanding of homelessness. This was very hard to do because of the lack of experience I had creating models. This was something I struggled with originally because it was an aspect of the piece I wanted to include, but I was unsure how to get it looking correctly. Eventually I was able to have a final creation that resembled a real tent and did not take away from the focus of the theme. Finally, with these concepts, I was a was able to create a piece that flowed and used material and balance to create a model realistically enough for the viewer to draw connections. Using my new skills surrounding technical art, I had a better understanding of using paint to create a technical model.
Critique:
Similarities
Focus- The focus of both pieces relate to identity and using the abstract to create a more serious mood. Shrigley focuses his piece on making the viewer think about what its like to live inside of a tent, without explicitly stating that this was the purpose of the piece. I used this technique in order to help my piece both relate to the inspiration but also complete the goal I was trying to reach (portraying homelessness in the abstract). Media- Both pieces focus on the use of many forms of media to create a very specific style of piece. Shrigley uses commonly used objects and adds very unusually placed materials to create his stylistic choices that are present to the viewer. In order to allow for his stylistic to also be shown in the piece Shrigley allows his media to guide what he creates, rather than have it all planned out ahead of time. I took this same approach to my artwork as I created the tent shown above. Identity- Both pieces focus on creating a sense of identity for each piece. Shrigley wanted to create a story for his piece as the expanding foam oozes out and hardens. He uses movement and other technically skills to do this. I also focused on using my piece to create story for the homeless population in Milwaukee. I used the floor of the piece, similar to Shirley's, to have the focus of the piece grow and create a story. |
Differences
Color- In Shirley's tent he uses bright color to allure the viewer into the piece. Warm tones surround the piece as he adds expanding foam into the center. Whereas, in my piece, I do not focus on using color as an element to draw the viewer in. Rather I focus purely on materials and how those materials will keep the viewer entranced and inside the tent. Final Product- The size of the two pieces are a very obvious difference between the two. As a model my piece is exponentially smaller than Shrigelys, but as a final build the plan for my tent is twice the size, and larger than life. This adds to my pieces meaning showing how big the homelessness problem in Milwaukee is, while also making the piece a center attraction of the Oak leaf trail. In this way the two pieces focus on two different things, and have to adapt to those things based on the sizes of the pieces. Composition- The final composition of both pieces (similar to the size) are two defining factors that make the pieces different. The composition of the red tent focuses entirely on the front of the tent welcoming the viewers eyes in to explore. Whereas, my piece allows the viewer to come inside of the tent and explore and be physically present inside of the artwork. The piece also welcomes the viewer in from the front and back. |
Reflection:
Looking back on the final piece that I created, I am very proud of the process and product I was able to produce. I was able to adapt quickly to using a skill set I was not used to using, which helped me learn about what my strengths and weaknesses were. Continuing, I was able to see a clear connection between my inspiration and my final piece. I included similar themes, as well as similar media in creating my piece. I knew in the beginning of this piece I had to focus on getting to a final product and not correction every single mistake that I would make. Although I am not a perfectionist, when I work on art I tend to over analyze the piece I am creating and never finish my projects. Knowing this was something I would have to work around I planned out each day and how much work I would get done on that day. This helped me to finish my tent in a timely manner and create a piece I was truly proud of.
Continuing, my favorite part of creating this piece was definitely creating the floor of the tent. I have not focused on creating a piece that would resent a model and so this was a challenge for me. I enjoyed the amount of creative freedom it gave me when I worked on putting all the different ideas in my head together. Originally I did not know what todo when it came to scale of the piece and so this was also a set back I had to spend a lot of time on. Continuing, when I try and create a three-dimensional piece it can be difficult to stick to a specific theme. This was something that i worked hard on staying consistent through this piece and this was reflected in the final product. Even now, I am still working on improving my skills when it comes to three-dimensional pieces, but this process showed me the strengths and weaknesses I already had.
In conclusion, I hope that others take my work as a chance to look back on their own life. My work is supposed to enlighten the viewers so that they have to think of a deeper meaning, not just what someone could see at first glance. My piece is to be seen as reflective a common emotion that a lot of people experience. Communities, Milwaukee more specifically, have to start on focusing how to help those who are less fortunate in our community. We can not continue to keep turning a blind eye to those who are struggling and turn to our selfish ways. This is why I feel this piece is important to myself and this project.
Looking back on the final piece that I created, I am very proud of the process and product I was able to produce. I was able to adapt quickly to using a skill set I was not used to using, which helped me learn about what my strengths and weaknesses were. Continuing, I was able to see a clear connection between my inspiration and my final piece. I included similar themes, as well as similar media in creating my piece. I knew in the beginning of this piece I had to focus on getting to a final product and not correction every single mistake that I would make. Although I am not a perfectionist, when I work on art I tend to over analyze the piece I am creating and never finish my projects. Knowing this was something I would have to work around I planned out each day and how much work I would get done on that day. This helped me to finish my tent in a timely manner and create a piece I was truly proud of.
Continuing, my favorite part of creating this piece was definitely creating the floor of the tent. I have not focused on creating a piece that would resent a model and so this was a challenge for me. I enjoyed the amount of creative freedom it gave me when I worked on putting all the different ideas in my head together. Originally I did not know what todo when it came to scale of the piece and so this was also a set back I had to spend a lot of time on. Continuing, when I try and create a three-dimensional piece it can be difficult to stick to a specific theme. This was something that i worked hard on staying consistent through this piece and this was reflected in the final product. Even now, I am still working on improving my skills when it comes to three-dimensional pieces, but this process showed me the strengths and weaknesses I already had.
In conclusion, I hope that others take my work as a chance to look back on their own life. My work is supposed to enlighten the viewers so that they have to think of a deeper meaning, not just what someone could see at first glance. My piece is to be seen as reflective a common emotion that a lot of people experience. Communities, Milwaukee more specifically, have to start on focusing how to help those who are less fortunate in our community. We can not continue to keep turning a blind eye to those who are struggling and turn to our selfish ways. This is why I feel this piece is important to myself and this project.
ACT Questions:
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- While completing my artwork I was able to clearly identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect on my artwork through the discussion of focus unique media. My inspiration directly influenced the base of the model to be the focus of the entire piece as well use not traditional forms of media to create a model.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-David wanted to create confusion while also allowing the piece to be interactive with the viewer. Shrigley focused on including multiple perspectives while also using humor in his piece surround serious subject. (Such as his ping pong project that included the social services and adoption in theme).
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- As I researched the inspiration I came to the conclusion that often times people take a closed mind approach to the idea of what a abstract art can be. Shrigley was originally hated on for his approach to serious subject because he used humor. People often do not appreciate things they do not understand, which is still true when discussing abstract art.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
- The central idea/theme of my inspirational research was chaos vs order. This allowed me to focus my research on finding pieces that related to this idea in Shrigleys work. I wanted to show simple ideas completely with complicated focus points.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Shrigley is not a stereotypically famous artist and so this made it difficult to find several sources to surround my research. I also had to focus on sources that were both primary and secondary sources, otherwise I would not be user I could trust everything that I was using. This was hard because there was limited information about Shrigley out on the internet.
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- While completing my artwork I was able to clearly identify the cause and effect relationship between my inspiration and its effect on my artwork through the discussion of focus unique media. My inspiration directly influenced the base of the model to be the focus of the entire piece as well use not traditional forms of media to create a model.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-David wanted to create confusion while also allowing the piece to be interactive with the viewer. Shrigley focused on including multiple perspectives while also using humor in his piece surround serious subject. (Such as his ping pong project that included the social services and adoption in theme).
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- As I researched the inspiration I came to the conclusion that often times people take a closed mind approach to the idea of what a abstract art can be. Shrigley was originally hated on for his approach to serious subject because he used humor. People often do not appreciate things they do not understand, which is still true when discussing abstract art.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
- The central idea/theme of my inspirational research was chaos vs order. This allowed me to focus my research on finding pieces that related to this idea in Shrigleys work. I wanted to show simple ideas completely with complicated focus points.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Shrigley is not a stereotypically famous artist and so this made it difficult to find several sources to surround my research. I also had to focus on sources that were both primary and secondary sources, otherwise I would not be user I could trust everything that I was using. This was hard because there was limited information about Shrigley out on the internet.