Organic vs. Industrial
Exhibition Text:
The piece I decided to create is a cow made out of gears and other found metal parts. I chose to do this because I wanted to focus on the harsh cruelties cows and other "industrial animals" faced in the slaughterhouses. This piece is organic vs. industrial. The cow is the organic parts while being composed of metal parts is the industrial part.
Meaning:
The meaning of this piece was the harsh conditions cows and other "industrial animals" (pigs, chickens, etc.) face in meat packing plants. In meat packing plants, animals are not treated with the "respect" they deserve. They are harshly killed in order to obtain their meat/flesh. Their throats are cut while hanging from a wire. Animals are packed into dirty, crowded cages or windowless rooms. Often animals receive diseases and antibiotics that can harm not only them, but the humans that consume them. The conditions for these animals is completely cruel, while also having an effect on human's health.
Artist Inspiration:
"Stunning Mechanical Creatures Fuse Organic Matter With Industrial Elements." Art. Design Wrld , n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017. <http://designwrld.com/stunning-mechanical-creatures-fuse-organic-matter-with-industrial-elements/>. |
The artist and art work I chose to emulate is Gaby Wormann. Wormann is a German artist born in 1966. Gaby Wormann was inspired by Franz Kafka and artist Pierre Matter. Wormann's work focuses on individual ethics and and humanities uninhibited intervention in complex biological systems. Wormann is known as an organic vs. industrial artist, creating animals out of gears and other metal parts. She calls these animal MeCre aka mechanical creatures. The specific art piece I focused on is Attacus Atlas. This piece is a butterfly that is made out of metal parts. This piece was made of metal materials, such as watch parts and other found metal pieces. The focus of this piece was how humans impose themselves in natural environments. She also wanted to demonstrate the new technological form to help said animal become more efficient. I chose to emulate this piece because I also wanted to create an animal out of metal parts, specifically small gears and screws. I also liked the idea behind the making of the piece. I also wanted to focus on mankind's imposition on nature and animals.
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Journaling, Planning and Process:
The planning process was quite easy for me. I knew I wanted to focus on nature of some sort, since I never worked with it before. Originally, I was going to make some type of plant, probably a flower, out of old car parts I was going to weld together. The point was to focus on air pollution commonly put forth by cars. The second idea, and the one I went with, was the slaughterhouse conditions set forth by humans. I was going to create a cow out of metal pieces weld together. The last idea I had was to continue to make an animal out of gears, but not specifically a cow. I was going to make a pig. I decided to go with a cow since they are commonly associated with food. They are also used for dairy, so that was also a good thing.
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Planning Sketches:
This first sketch is a daisy or some type of flower being completely made of metal parts painted black. The reason I did this was to demonstrate pollution, normally associated with black, on nature. I decided not to go with this idea because I thought it was quite generic.
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This second planning sketch is a cow made of metal pieces, such as gears or screws. I thought this would demonstrate how animals arent seen as animals, but as pieces of industrial property. I decided to go with this idea because I liked the meaning of the piece as well as how I planned to make it.
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This last planning sketch is a pig made out of gears and screws. It was also intended to demonstrate the conditions in slaughterhouses, like the planning sketch before it. I eventually decided not to complete this one since I liked the cow more.
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Experimentation:
The first thing I experimented with is painting the found objects/pieces of metal. I wanted to do this to portray the cow as black, kind of like pollution from a factory. I thought that this would add more dimension to my piece.
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The second thing I experimented with was the materials used. The materials I experimented with was: nails and gears.
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Actual Tools/Process:
The first thing I did was collect nails and other metal pieces.
The next thing I did was glue the pieces together to form a cow.
The next thing I did was paint some of the odd screws black.
The next thing I did was glue the pieces together to form a cow.
The next thing I did was paint some of the odd screws black.
Comparison:
"Stunning Mechanical Creatures Fuse Organic Matter With Industrial Elements." Art. Design Wrld , n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017. <http://designwrld.com/stunning-mechanical-creatures-fuse-organic-matter-with-industrial-elements/>.
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My piece and Wormann's piece has many similarities. The first similarity is the focus of our piece. We both created animals out of metal pieces to represent industries on animals/environment. Another thing we had in common was out composition. We both made our pieces 3D, not adhered to a paper. Another similarity we had was the colors used. We both used toned down, muted colors such as black to really give off the impression of industry. Our pieces both focused on environmental matters that are somewhat controversial and talked about in the media.
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Reflection:
Overall, I think that my piece was able to demonstrate the theme " Organic vs. Industrial". I also think that it demonstrated that it was in fact, a cow. I thought that the piece was made "okay", the craftsmanship could have been better, but it was quite difficult with the materials chosen. One difficulty I encountered was actually making the cow stay together. In order to make it, you had to wait for the other pieces to dry. This was proven difficult because I wanted to get it done quickly so I had time to revise, but the process took a very long time. Another issue I had was actually finding all the nails. Nails are hard to come by in my home. I had to scavenge and buy nails. Another hardship was painting the nails black. I didn't know if I would like the outcome, but it proved nice. One success was actually completing the project. I thought that this would be easy since its just gluing, but it is not. The shape of the cow and dimensions was hard. But, I completed the project with an alright outcome. I had to add tape to reinforce the struture, but that is okay because tape IS insdustrial. The piece still had metal parts inside so it looked cool in my opinion. If i had to do this all over again, I would use hot glue instead of regular glue and paint.