Group Critique
During the informal critique my ideas and inspiration for the mixed media project were debated and I ended up with more solid and attainable vision for my final product. My original idea for the project was to use bullet shells to create a Tara Donovan like installation. I was going to use thousands of these to create a large piece but my group pointed out the difficulties of creating a large piece with many intricate parts, especially in such a short amount of time. I decided to change the size to be much smaller and to consider it more as an assemblage or junk sculpture than an installation. I hope to end up with a piece that is roughly 1-2 feet in width and height. I also changed my meaning slightly because of the group critique. I originally intended the piece to be a reflection on how tranquility and peace can be found in times of great stress, I was going to show this by creating a sculpture with a very peaceful/ethereal form out of an inherently destructive material like bullet shells. One particular group member found this to be an issue because bullet shells aren’t destructive because they have already been fired and are now useless. This critique on my work led me to change the meaning slightly because I was already set on my materials and did not want to go through the trouble of finding all new materials. My meaning is now a reflection on creating peace and tranquility after something has been destroyed or damaged. This could be anything from attempting to cope and return to a normal life after a traumatic event to attempting to rebuild a city in the aftermath of war. This will be shown through the creation of a tranquil/ethereal form like Tara Donovan's Styrofoam Cup Sculpture out of a material that was once destructive but is now useless.
During the informal critique my ideas and inspiration for the mixed media project were debated and I ended up with more solid and attainable vision for my final product. My original idea for the project was to use bullet shells to create a Tara Donovan like installation. I was going to use thousands of these to create a large piece but my group pointed out the difficulties of creating a large piece with many intricate parts, especially in such a short amount of time. I decided to change the size to be much smaller and to consider it more as an assemblage or junk sculpture than an installation. I hope to end up with a piece that is roughly 1-2 feet in width and height. I also changed my meaning slightly because of the group critique. I originally intended the piece to be a reflection on how tranquility and peace can be found in times of great stress, I was going to show this by creating a sculpture with a very peaceful/ethereal form out of an inherently destructive material like bullet shells. One particular group member found this to be an issue because bullet shells aren’t destructive because they have already been fired and are now useless. This critique on my work led me to change the meaning slightly because I was already set on my materials and did not want to go through the trouble of finding all new materials. My meaning is now a reflection on creating peace and tranquility after something has been destroyed or damaged. This could be anything from attempting to cope and return to a normal life after a traumatic event to attempting to rebuild a city in the aftermath of war. This will be shown through the creation of a tranquil/ethereal form like Tara Donovan's Styrofoam Cup Sculpture out of a material that was once destructive but is now useless.
InspirationThe inspiration for this piece came from the work of Tara Donovan. Donovan is a sculptor/installation artist who uses large amounts of everyday objects to create large scale art. She is known for her ability to discover and transform the physical qualities of these common objects into art. The piece I was most inspired by is her installation Styrofoam Cup Sculpture. This is a large sculpture created out of thousands of styrofoam cups attached together with several lights placed inside to create a cloud like effect. The piece evokes a feeling of both wonderment and tranquility because of its size, complexity, and smooth flowing form.
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Styrofoam Cup Sculpture by Tara Donovan |
Process
Brainstorming
I began thinking of different topics and issues that are prevalent in Milwaukee. I ended up choosing gun violence because of how it has impacted my life and because I would be able to use bullets in a similar way Tara Donovan's work. |
Planning Sketches
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Building the final piece
Once I had experimented with the bullets enough had a rough idea of how I wanted the final piece to look I began to find other elements to add to it. I scavenged a wooden board and an old map of Milwaukee County to use as a base for the bullets. I cut the wooden board down to fit the map and I used 3M 77 to glue the map to the board. When the board was ready I used screenshots from a gun violence website that tracked and documented the locations of shootings to accurately place bullets on the map based on where shootings occurred. When I had located where a shooting had occurred I found the location on my physical map and hot glued the bullet in approximately the same location as the shooting. This ended up being a painstaking process due to the high number of shootings that occur in Milwaukee.
Once I had experimented with the bullets enough had a rough idea of how I wanted the final piece to look I began to find other elements to add to it. I scavenged a wooden board and an old map of Milwaukee County to use as a base for the bullets. I cut the wooden board down to fit the map and I used 3M 77 to glue the map to the board. When the board was ready I used screenshots from a gun violence website that tracked and documented the locations of shootings to accurately place bullets on the map based on where shootings occurred. When I had located where a shooting had occurred I found the location on my physical map and hot glued the bullet in approximately the same location as the shooting. This ended up being a painstaking process due to the high number of shootings that occur in Milwaukee.
Experimenting
When I had a rough idea for the sculpture I wanted to create I began to experiment with different ways to attach the bullet shells together. Initially I wanted to create a round form similar to Tara Donovan's "Styrofoam Cup Sculpture". I wanted the bullets to appear similar to a bacteria or some other pathogen to represent the idea of shootings being a plague/growing issue. I found that this was extremely difficult to do and none of my prototypes met my expectations for the sculpture. I began to glue them horizontally and to add small variations in the distance between the ends of the shells. This created flowing effect that I though looked great so I continued this while still attempting to make the sculpture appear to be growing, similar to a disease. I ended up not using any of these designs and going for a more literal and straight forward approach to the issue rather than an abstract approach. Although I didn't end up using any of these in my final project this was still a helpful venture because I was able to experiment with how the bullets could be connected to each other and the limitations of the materials.
When I had a rough idea for the sculpture I wanted to create I began to experiment with different ways to attach the bullet shells together. Initially I wanted to create a round form similar to Tara Donovan's "Styrofoam Cup Sculpture". I wanted the bullets to appear similar to a bacteria or some other pathogen to represent the idea of shootings being a plague/growing issue. I found that this was extremely difficult to do and none of my prototypes met my expectations for the sculpture. I began to glue them horizontally and to add small variations in the distance between the ends of the shells. This created flowing effect that I though looked great so I continued this while still attempting to make the sculpture appear to be growing, similar to a disease. I ended up not using any of these designs and going for a more literal and straight forward approach to the issue rather than an abstract approach. Although I didn't end up using any of these in my final project this was still a helpful venture because I was able to experiment with how the bullets could be connected to each other and the limitations of the materials.
Reflection
With this piece finally over I am conflicted on how I think it turned out. I believe it lacks aesthetic value and is overall fairly ugly which was not my original intention. Parts of the map aren't glued down all the way and in my opinion the map doesn't match the bullets on top of it. Although I didn't want this to happen there are some benefits to it; the issue I was talking about is an ugly one, something that probably shouldn't be beautified so the piece looking ugly could add to that meaning. I also believe that the meaning is strong and clearly connected to the piece, it's very straightforward which some people found to be beneficial.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork
Tara Donovan's use of large amounts of small materials to create beautiful sculpture's was present.
What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The website I used to find the gun violence data was strongly against gun ownership and they created the map to show the true horror that guns are.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
It is often assumed that gun violence rates are increasing when in fact they are decreasing (slowly).
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I investigated gun violence and how potent of an issue it is.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the assumption that gun violence rates were staying the same or slightly increasing when in fact they are going down.
Tara Donovan's use of large amounts of small materials to create beautiful sculpture's was present.
What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The website I used to find the gun violence data was strongly against gun ownership and they created the map to show the true horror that guns are.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
It is often assumed that gun violence rates are increasing when in fact they are decreasing (slowly).
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I investigated gun violence and how potent of an issue it is.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the assumption that gun violence rates were staying the same or slightly increasing when in fact they are going down.