Ephemera
This piece was changed multiple times within the time period allowed to complete this.I wanted to do something along the lines of water or sand. I decided against this because it is very hard to manipulate water and sand was a little difficult to come by. Unless I wanted to lift some from a nearby park. That doesn't seem like a good idea. I finally decided on sugar. Sugar was easy to come by since my mother buys what seems like seven thousand bags of it and there was multiple things I could do with it. I could use it in its normal "out of the bag" structure. Or, I could melt it, add water to it, or use it to make pulled sugar.
Artist Inspiration:
The artist I chose to emulate is Kara Walker. Kara Walker is an American artist born in Stockton, California in 1969. Kara received a BFA and a MFA from Atlanta College of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design. Kara is known for exploring race, gender and sexuality through silhouettes. A popular theme is slavery and she has made multiple pieces based on slavery. Her work has been exhibited in Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She now teaches at Columbia University. I chose her piece The Sugar Sphinx, which is her take on the Sphinx in Egypt. It depicts a a black woman and is focused on stereotypes of black women. It shows the woman wearing a bandanna, referencing black women during the slave era and the woman has the typical "thick" body associated with black women; big breasts, large buttocks and a curvaceous midsection. Walker wanted two point out the stigma with black women and the over-sexualization of their bodies. The second artist I used for inspiration is Barbara Kruger. Barbara Kruger is an american conseptual/ pop art artist. She is known for her photographs layered with messages on top. Barbara was born in New Jersey in 1945. She attended Syracuse University in 1964. After a year, she moved to New York to study design at Parsons School of Design Barbara left university again and decided to jump into the work force. She worked at different publications and made her own art at the same time. Her first piece was made in 1969. The piece i took inspiraton from is Your Body is a Battleground. I chose this piece because it was very pleasing to look at and I liked her use of words to convey a message. I chose Waller because I liked her materials or sugar.
Journaling, Planning and process:
My planning sketches were completed with more detail this time around. I went through many different material ideas. I originally wanted to do sand, but I realized it was hard to come by. I then went through more ideas, but finally decided on sugar. Sugar was not that hard to come by and I had an abundance of sugar in my house. I knew that I wanted to make something 3D and something that popped out. I wanted to make a sculpture, but decided against it at last minute. I decided to just complete a outline of sorts made out of sugar. It will be about half an inch thick and some parts would be dyed different colors. I decided since I used sugar that my theme would have something to do with sugar. The two main themes were ADD and obesity. I finally decided on ADD because it was easier to depict with an outline and easier to understand.
Planning Sketches:
My first sketch is a water ephemera. I was originally going to dig a hole into my background and make it a shape. I was going to do a yin yang, but I thought that this idea was a little overdone and kind of cliche. I was going to fill it with water and slowly let it evaporate or soak into the ground. I decided against this idea because I live in an apartment and I decided against digging a hole in my community background.
The second sketch is a sand sculpture. Another idea I experimented with was sand. I thought that I could make an abstract sand piece because I like abstract art and sand it easy enough to manipulate. I decided against this because there really was no meaning to this design and I had no way to get sand to my house and my parents did not want to buy a hole bag. The third sketch I drew was my sketch for the sugar. I was experimenting with different themes and I tried obesity. I was going to make a overweight person wearing a nutrition label. I decided against this idea because I wasn't very fond of the idea and I didn't like the nutrition label part. I decided not to do this in the end. The last sketch I drew was my final one and the one I decided to do. I decided to draw a little boy's face that looked happy and his eyes a little dazed. I drew a road in his head because, focusing on ADD, my little sister said having ADD feels like your thoughts are running a mile a minute. I decided to draw a road because it looked nice and it could symbolize thoughts moving fast. I decided to do this one because it was a nice idea and I felt comfortable doing it. |
Experimentation:
This picture is of me adding water to sugar. I was going to use a sort of damp sugar so that it was easier to manipulate. I decided against this because it was better to use raw sugar. The sugar would not stick like the wet sugar did.
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This picture is of me adding color to the sugar. I decided to add color to the sugar so that it really popped. It made the sugar sticky, and it made it harder to manipulate. I decided against this because it made it too sticky and it wouldn't do what I wanted it to.
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Actual Process/Tools:
The process to complete this project was very easy.
Step #1: I first got a board and traced my drawing onto it. I made sure to make the lines a little thick so they could be the border. Step #2: I put sugar into a bowl and made sure there were no hard chunks so I could properly fill in the drawing on the board. Step #3: I used my fingers to fill in the borders. I got my fingers a little wet with water so that it would be easier to fill in. I also applied water to the border to keep the sugar within the outline with a paintbrush. Step #4: I put it in an open area in my home so that way it could slowly decay/blow away. Pictures(top to bottom): Sugar Paintbrush Spoon |
Pictures of actual process:
The picture above is my final drawing. The eyes and mouth are out of proportion, but I still went with it anyway. I liked this drawing because it was neat and was done appropriately to add the sugar.
This is me tracing over my drawing to apply the lead to the blsck paper. This part was a little tedious because I had already drawn it, but it helped me have an exact replica of my original drawing.
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This is the lead that I added onto the back of my drawing. I used this method to transfer my drawing onto the paper. This method was very useful and proved successful and a time saver.
This is further along in my process. I had already applied water and I had already applied the sugar. This part was extremely difficult since sygar is grainy and moves around too much.
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Comparison:
My piece resembled both pieces physically as well as with materials. Both Kara Walker and I, with her Sugar Sphinx, both used sugar to make a piece. I was going to build a sculpture like how she did, but I did not know how to make it. I used words much like Kruger did and I used them to convey my message. Both Kara and I made a piece that we personally identified with and could relate to in a way. Her piece was more controversial while my piece was more personal. Very close to home since my little sister struggles with ADD and she had a hard time growing up with the disorder.
Reflection:
At the end of the process, I found myself liking my piece very much. I thought that it would be a disaster since it was sugar and it is grainy. Grainy materials are hard to fit into an outline. It was difficult when I first started but it got easier as I continued to finish the project. I struggled with what I was going to do overall. I went through many different ideas and themes, some good and some basic. I went from sand to water to sugar, all of them semi-difficult to manipulate. I finally decided to do sugar since it was always available. I decided on ADD since ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder and it is about having too much energy. A lot of people I personally know blame it on sugar and junk food, not something wrong with the person and their brain/body. I thought it would be clever to use sugar to demonstrate ADD since sugar is a source of high but not long lasting energy. One problem I had was getting the sugar to fit into the mold/outline. The sugar kept moving everywhere and was difficult to stay in place. I finally decided on putting a soft outline of water of the edge to keep it in the outline. I decided to change my idea into a magnifying glass or a looking glass to see inside his head. I also added words to further demonstrate my theme of ADD. Overall, I think my piece was a success. I personally really like the piece and thought it was an ephemera since slowly, the sugar would move and the piece would disappear. I knew this would be quickly done since my house is crowded and it wouldn't take long until my pets got to the sugar.
ACT Questions:
1) I used Kara Walker's use of sugar and the way her piece was personal. I was going to use Goldsworthy's use of color gradation.
2) Kara Walker believes it is important to talk about subjects personal to us and to shed some light on topics that may be controversial.
3) I made the generalization that ADD is a very hard disorder to live with. Those suffering with ADD live with people doubting their problems.
4) The essential theme was controversy and personal identification.
5) I made the inference that controversial subjects are hard to complete without offending anyone and actually portraying it is also difficult because its hard to get your ideas out and allowing people to understand.
2) Kara Walker believes it is important to talk about subjects personal to us and to shed some light on topics that may be controversial.
3) I made the generalization that ADD is a very hard disorder to live with. Those suffering with ADD live with people doubting their problems.
4) The essential theme was controversy and personal identification.
5) I made the inference that controversial subjects are hard to complete without offending anyone and actually portraying it is also difficult because its hard to get your ideas out and allowing people to understand.