Elements and Principles of 3-D Design

Assignment:
-Using limited materials, make four, small scale sculptures.
-Each sculpture emphasizes an element or principle of art and design.  Choose four terms from the list below.
-Do not use materials to simply “attach”. Use materials  for their inherent qualities.  The required materials are BALSA WOOD, MASK TAPE (can be any width), ELMERS YELLOW WOOD GLUE, STRAIGHT PINS (avoid colored tips on pins, T-Pins are okay), CLEAR TAPE (use packing tape).

-You do not have to use all materials for each sculpture.  You do need to make sure evidence of all materials appears across all four sculptures.

-Do not represent conventional imagery and symbols.
-Do not use text.
-Do not treat the wood as a two-dimensional plane.  For instance, you make marks and add shapes to the back and front of the wood.  Make sure each sculpture is three-dimensional - work should demonstrate length, height and depth.
-Each sculpture should be no larger than the size of your hand, approx.
-Consider forms that successfully use the interior and exterior.
-Label each sculpture with your name and the term.
-Do not discard your work after it is graded. At the end of the semester, you will be drawing all work you complete in this class.

Select four terms from the following list:
Focal Point
Texture
Pattern
Scale (contrast between large and small within one sculpture)
Repetition
Pattern
Rhythm

Materials:
Balsa wood (Cut balsa wood with a utility knife.  DO NOT use an Exacto - the blades are too thin and can snap).
Mask tape (any width)
Clear tape (use packing tape)
Straight pins (do not use colored pin tips, T-pins are okay)
Elmers Yellow Wood glue (the yellow color is an inherent quality of this material and can be used as a design element) - line, shape, color, texture).
*Remember, evidence of all materials must appear across all four sculptures.

Some ideas on how to manipulate the materials:
Twist
Shred
Fold
Roll
Dice
Layer/stack
Thread (sew or string together)
Braid
Scratch
Pierce
Chop
Slice
Bend (metal pins will bend and thin balsa wood will bend if soaked in water)
Roll tape, stick rolled shapes together to form another shape
The clear tape offers opportunity to layer other shapes/textures inbetween layers of tape.

What to put on the blog:
1. Images of your work in process.
2. Any notes or sketches that you did for this assignment (optional).
3. Professional images of each sculpture - at least two different shots for each one. Photograph separately.
4. A description for each sculpture.  Discuss your intentions, process and reflect on your final solution.
5. Three drawings (we will be doing the drawings in class at the end of the semester -so keep your work safe).

In-Process:

Complete:

 The first sculpture encompasses the element of Rhythm. I wanted repeating, similar shapes which interlocked. I was heavily inspired by my childhood toys, particularly Lincoln Logs. 

 This second piece is Texture. I approached this as Pattern initially, the focal point...but the piece transformed on its own.

 The third piece is Pattern. I wet equal length pieces of balsa and bent them to create a curve and splits in the wood. Then I used pins to hold them together...I wanted a bridge shape.

 My fourth sculpture is Focal Point.I wanted to stick to basic shapes and play with the idea of balance. This sculpture was intended to look off balance yet remain stable.

Masked Idenity

Assignment:

Through the making of a sculptural head piece and imagery, compose a visual narrative that offers clues to your identity without showing your face. Or you can interpret the term "masked identity" in another way and make sculpture and imagery that conceals your identity.

Use materials that emulate skin and skeleton (trace paper and wire) to construct a head piece.

The constructed head piece needs to cover your face, head and shoulders.

Once the form is complete, video or photograph yourself (or someone else) wearing the form.

Imagery should be meaningful and demonstrate a narrative.

Consider all formal and conceptual components when staging photo/video.

The final solution for this assignment is photography or video.

Upload/post on your class blog.

Objective:

Development of an idea that challenges student to conceive and execute in multiple processes.

Develop visual work with content and meaning significant to the student.

Materials:

Wire, wire cutters, safety glasses, tracing paper, gel medium, brushes, cup with water. 

In-Process Work:

Complete:

Final Composition(s):

Statement:

The masked identity assignment was the most enjoyable and self-expressive project thus far. It allowed me to visually define who I am. I decided to create a dragon mask to represent fantasy, an element of creative idea which holds a great deal of meaning to me. We all imagine wishful things or create wondrous impossibilities within our minds which we desire to make real. For me, the fantasy was quite literally, Fantasy. I lost myself very young in far off worlds held between the pages of a book or within my own mind. Magic, dragons and great quests were but only a few things that held appeal. Soon, that appeal turned into a desire to create, to shape a world beyond imagination. I wanted to write. And so I did…And so I do. The dragon mask represents the fantasy both imagined and kept in the written word. My earliest flights of fantasy, so to speak, were about dragons. My favorite books growing up and still to this day, often include dragons. The dragon to me is a complex and fascinating creature. It can be as small as a flow petal or as large as mountains, some whisper natural magic and others are all forceful strength, but at heart, all are powerful. All have adapted to the world in which contains them. And so I made a dragon mask. 

And so I feel it represents me.

And so, many of my final pictures play on my own vulnerability hidden behind the mask of something stronger…something imagined. A strength found in fantasy.

Paper Stacking

Assignment:
Read the sections I highlighted in Touch, A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.  A hard copy was handed out at the beginning of the semester.  Post your response to the reading on your blog.

Create two stacked paper forms.  The first is observed from life.  The second is your own design.

Objective:
Observation through sight and touch as well as invention and development of individual idea. Introduce concepts of mass and volume.  Continue to explore proportion and develop observation skills.

Materials:
Estimate about four to six sheets of Rives gray paper, wood glue, scissors, Exacto, a vegetable or fruit for observation purposes (prefer to observe from life, but plastic fruit/vegetable is acceptable). Clamps can also be helpful when trying to get glue to set - some are available in the woodshop for checkout.  Do not use any other paper besides the paper I assigned. The paper I assigned is extremely thick and works well with stacking.  If you did not purchase the paper I assigned, or you run out, you easily find comparable paper at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.  Just take a swatch of paper with you and find one similar.

Process Work:

Paper stacking is perhaps one of the most frustrating projects thus far. Cutting each individual circle and adhering it together to create a larger shape became exhausting, fast. Though straightforwards in parameters, the process is anything but easy. 

 Six hours later...

 Uh oh. It is drying at a tilt. I had to break apart the layers in order to fix the angle.

 Much better!

Yay! It looks like a pear.

 Complete:

Original Design: 

 Inspiration:
I was inspired by my Memento project in terms of structure and color. The idea of space and color were important to the design. Also, I found various screen savers to be of interest, as most presented on my blog are are light moving in space. Finally, tetris. Yes, tetris. The geometric block shapes helped me visualize a meas to achieve the final form of the main, stacked construct.