obsidianblaq's Diaryland Diary

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major artworks proposal

AVI4M1 Major Works Proposal

In General …
For my grade 12 major art works, I intend on exploring the concept of humanity - human emotion, purpose, desire, life... and most interesting of all... human behavior. Humanity as a whole, and humanity as an individual lost in our society. In theory, anyways. Whether my actual works will explore every concept touched on here is another story. But why I would chose to explore humanity? The answer could be simple, though humanity itself defies the concept of simplicity every day. Humanity fascinates me. The things we do. The things we say. How our minds work. The justification of life. I’m on a never ending search to discover what it is to be human and decipher the chemical impulses contained in my head as something bigger, something that constitutes as what it is to be me. Thus, I intend on using art this year as an opportunity to observe, create, and attempt to understand.

Artistic Influence
The artists I have found extremely influential to the development of my projects are Auguste Rodin and Mark Kostabi. Rodin was a sculptor in the impressionist years, and while he is not considered an impressionist because he sculpted, his sculptures followed the same idea of abstract form and representation that is characteristic of impressionist paintings. Rodin’s style of sculpture is extremely appealing to me in its unique abstractness… It leaves something to the imagination of the beholder. It leaves room for the viewer to understand on their own terms. His art is expressive, beautiful, and startlingly realistic. He was a sculptor of the human form, something that never ceases to amaze me and his fascination with it is apparent in his work. His monumental project the Gate of Hell tells so many stories about what it is to be human that I can sit and stare at each figure in turn for hours. Each figure tells it’s own tale, and is perfectly carved in astonishing realism and woven into the whole. Rodin understood more about what I seek to understand, and expresses it through his sculptures in an effort to get the viewer to understand as well. This is why he has been influential to my artwork.

Mark Kostabi, on the other hand, is severely different from Rodin. Kostabi is a contemporary artist and his artwork features figures that are devoid of detail, much like the mannequins artists use for sketching. His paintings use shapes and colors in blocks rather than blended together. While the creation of his paintings is the source of most of his controversy, for he employs artisans to think up, create, and title works that follow in the style he started with, it is more the concepts that can be found in his paintings that appeals to me. First of all I love his faceless mannequins. They are so simple and yet so expressive that it captivates me. Several of his paintings are based on artworks done years and years ago. It is the simplicity of the complex thoughts behind a lot of his works that appealed to me, and it has been influential to me because I intend on using figures much like his, and I am attempting to illustrate the concepts I am exploring through my art.

For my artworks I will use several different media. For my first project I intend on using a combination of paper maché and terra cotta clay. The end product will be painted with acrylics. Two of my works will use photography as a media, and the remaining two will be acrylic paintings.

My Five Major Artworks in a Nutshell.

Like A Machine
Media: Paper Maché, Terra Cotta clay, acrylic paints, circuitry stuff
Type of Work: Sculpture
Specific Inspiration: An entry I wrote in my online journal over a year ago titled “like a machine”. Entry to accompany the sculpture as part of the work. The entry itself was inspired by a friend who had enclosed himself in a mental wall that left him outwardly appearing to function like a ‘machine’ as I described in the entry. How he seemed to absorb everything around him and not let any of it back out. It concerned me, because you’re not supposed to be able to feel, and not express yourself. And so I wrote the entry early one morning. And then while I was researching Rodin I suddenly remembered it and the concept of ‘like a machine’ was born.

Project Realities: The sculpture will be a base of paper maché, covered in clay. All features will be sculpted out of the clay. While it’s not completely dry I will design a circuitry running through her skin, creating almost an android appearance, yet still distinctly human. The concept is a human face, with a touch of machinery showing through. Sculpture will be life size. Problems I foresee with this project will be achieving a balance between human and android and also achieving proportional features.

Support work: Sketches done of proportional relationships of my sculpture and research into basic circuitry.

Completion Date: October 7th

Feel the fire burning in my soul
Media: Acrylic paints
Type of Work: Acrylic Painting
Specific Inspiration: Darude’s song “burning”. Listening to it I had an image of a painting I could do, pertaining to my exploration of my humanity theme. Later on, while researching random artists I came across Mark Kostabi, and the image became clearer in my head. I want to use a style similar to his for this painting to emphasize the anonymity of humanity as a whole.

Project realities: This painting will feature a figure, distinctly female yet mannequin like in appearance. This is from Kostabi’s work; all of his paintings feature figures like this. She holds her hands cupped in front of her, and from them a flame springs upwards. Her entire figure will be highlighted by the light of the flame, the shadows it forms fading her into the background. Her head is turned slightly away from the flame to escape the direct heat. Background will be black, with a border of orangish flames. Female figure will be shades of blue, and the flame she holds will be orange. The only problem I foresee with this project is learning how to shade effectively using acrylics.

Support Work: This painting will require studies of basic human form, in the same style as Kostabi and an exploration of the lighting effects of firelight. Additionally the painting will be roughly sketched and finalized in my sketch book.

Completion Date: October 28th

To Be Determined
Media: Photography
Type of Work: Photography
Specific Inspiration: My love of photography combined with my desire to understand more about how we work as humans.

Project Realities: This project will be a formal collage of human facial expressions. By formal I mean it will not just be a collage of randomly placed photographs, it will essentially be a table of expressions. All photographs will be black and white. How many expressions will be used, I don’t know. It will be a decision that will be made as the final work is physically pieced together. I don’t really foresee any problems with this work. Possibilities could be the collection of expressions from different people, and perhaps I’ll run into something while piecing it together.

Support Work: Photography works will have sketches of basic page layouts, frame use, and general poses I want to acquire. Many more photographs than required will be taken, the final product evolving as the range of photos expands.

Completion Date: November 25th

Kiss Me
Media: Photography
Type of Work: Photography
Specific Inspiration: My love for my camera and a project I saw in London this summer, titled 40 first kisses, which showcased the first kiss between 40 different couples. This project was displayed on instant picture film in a store front window and really appealed to me.

Project Realities: My version of this concept will be slightly different. I intend on photographing kisses between both heterosexual and homosexual couples, as well as single ‘kiss the camera’ poses. The final photographs will be either all black and white, or a mixture of B&W and desaturated color. These will be placed in a formal collage as well. Problems I foresee with this project are the collection of the photos, and making it uniquely different from my other photography project.

Support Work: Photography works will have sketches of basic page layouts, frame use, and general poses I want to acquire. Many more photographs than required will be taken, the final product evolving as the range of photos expands.

Completion Date: December 15th

The Paradox
Media: Acrylic Paints
Type of Work: Acrylic painting
Specific Inspiration: In English class we read the story ‘The Painted Door’ and through that came a discussion about the paradox of spring for the main character. As an example of a paradox, my teacher used humanity. I loved the concept. Then, one night while trying to explain to a friend of mine that while being human had many downfalls, it also had many highlights, I suddenly understood that my final major work had to be this painting.

Project Realities: This painting will feature a figure that on one hand looks rather innocent, compassionate and angelic… but on the other hand… looks really rather demonic and harsh. The differences will be extreme, a visible split between one half of the figure and the other. I’m thinking the figure will again follow the example of Kostabi to emphasize that the paradox of humanity applies to every single one of us and not just select few. Finally, on either side of the figure will be contradicting words, i.e. love / hate. Problems I foresee with this painting will be finding enough examples of contradictory words and effectively creating a stark contrast between the two sides of the figure.

Support Work: Sketches of the figure that will appear in the painting, as well as sketches of the overall painting. Additionally, research of contradictory words that apply to the paradox of humanity will be required.

Completion Date: January 10th

10:15 p.m. - 2004-10-18

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