Figurative Public Sculpture: Packing Tape Installations
Considerations & Terms to Know for this Project:
- Collaboration- These sculptures will be created as a group (both for convenience, efficiency, and conservation of materials AND the melding of good ideas, distribution of tasks, and general skill building of working with your peers.
- Ephemeral- These sculptures are not intended to be permanent. The artist takes a risk by placing the work in public, where it can be altered/interacted with/damaged. It is important to consider how the work changes as part of the meaning of the work.
- Site-Specific- These sculptures will be outside of the classroom or gallery setting. They will be in the public domain (which requires a certain amount of responsibility and detachment on the part of the artists. Your figures' poses should relate to the specific location you have chosen to display them in. The site should add to the meaning/message/feeling the evoke in the viewer. There are also technical considerations (how do you get it to stay? How will you install it?)
- Proportional Distortions- Many artists make choices to distort the figure, exaggerate a feature, duplicate or triplicate a feature to add to the meaning/message/feeling they are trying to evoke. Your figure may be made of parts from different models, may be artificially elongated, twisted, reassembled arbitrarily, or distorted in a number of artistic ways. It is important to make choices that enhance your meaning rather than confuse your viewer (disturbing is not the vibe we are going for with these particular works)
- Pose- In what position is the figure standing? Sitting? Crouching? Laying? Reaching? Twisting? Straining? Relaxing? - every why you move your body suggests a particular feeling or meaning in your viewer- take control of that as artists and create a piece that is meaningful and strong.
- Figurative Groupings- These sculptures can work together to create a message, solitary is only one option. Often figures doing opposing things or working in tandem can have an interesting message.
- Meaning & Message- Your group will write an artist statement to accompany the work. A creative title and a short paragraph explaining your intended meaning, offering varying perspectives or ways to engage with the work. These will be displayed during finals week so the more humorous/encouraging the better!
Artists to research for inspiration:
Mark Jenkins
George Segal Paige Bradley |
Kiki Smith
Erwin Wurm Alberto Giacometti |
Examples from previous semesters:
Mark Jenkins: Go Figure! from Gestalten on Vimeo.