Tuesday, April 29, 2014

3D Concentration Statement 2nd Draft

1. What is the central idea of your concentration?

The idea behind my concentration centres around the use of recycle materials and their functions. At the start of the portfolio I sought primarily to assign a new purpose or status for the objects I chose to use in my works. The latter half of the concentration began to focus more on the function of the object in relation to humans. 

2. How does the work in your concentration demonstrate the exploration of your idea? You may refer to specific images as examples.

Each piece of my concentration was made using discarded objects which I usually looked for in recycle piles or collected from available sources. For the first three works I took the objects I found out of their original context and applied them to another purpose. The product packages were painted and their forms assembled to resemble a female figure. The old shoe which belonged to my mother almost 20 years ago was displayed on a podium like the latest design. The purpose of the helmet was now not to protect but to act as a decorative hat. During the course of the project I began to consider the objects' original functions and how they serve the needs of humans. My parents' experience working in hospitals gave me the material and inspiration to explore the way medical technology sometimes replaces the natural function of organs. The importance of technology was again commented on by the satirical altar of computers. All of these works are tied together by a focus on retrieving objects from being unwanted waste and giving them new life. 

Friday, April 18, 2014

Costumes

My latest project for AP 3D has been a costume. It was very much inspired by Dada performance art and fashion (if you can call it that) by the nonsensical and do-it-yourself look many Dada art has, and by the playful, completely not serious at all attitude. Um, I might have started my piece to be sort of a joke, a mockery of Dada performance and poetry even, if you can get any more ironic than that. 


Just look at Hugo Ball reading sound poetry in those outfits - If I have a time machine I would definitely take a trip back to the Cabaret Voltaire and experience a few of their performances. 


And here we have Sophie Taeuber wearing some cardboard paper. 

If you're talking about Dada fashion, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven is definitely working it. Can't get more fabulous than a dress made of rubbish. 

Another major inspiration for me were these costumes by Picasso from around the same time period. I took a lot from the tall, linear forms that make the wearers look less human. Unfortunately I wasn't able to produce something nearly as elaborate because I couldn't figure out how to make the cardboards stay on a person. 
Costume de Manager Français, 1917
Costume de Manager Américain, 1917