UWM- Mixed Media
During the critique with a group of peers, I was given useful feedback. I first told them about what I wanted to achieve, which was to try and shed some light into the reoccurring problem of the overuse of natural resources and the waste of plastic and how it is non biodegradable.In order to do so, I decided to use the medium of clear water bottle caps to emphasize my overall theme. Since I wanted to use Ready-Made objects, I knew my piece would fall under that category, but I wanted my piece to also fall under an Assemblage. I planned out ideas beforehand to see what I could possibly do and my peers insisted that my ideas were very manageable and suggested I do the one that would most likely make the biggest impact to an audience.
One idea was to cover a staircase full of colorfully painted water bottle caps to symbolize the ‘path’ to a better future as it ascends with technology and other eco-friendly methods to saving the Earth that was heavily inspired by Stuart Haygarth’s Framed. Another idea was to create a self portrait out of painted bottle caps in Chuck Close’s style to represent humanity’s impact on the environment. Lastly, I thought of creating a sculpture of a turtle made of water bottle caps to show the relationship between nature and resources and how both affect the other.
Most of my ideas seemed to be pretty manageable when it came to time and effort. It all went down to how good my composition of my artwork would turn out to be. My plans are to go through with the self-portrait, as I feel like I would be more connected to my work on a personal level and would be able to spread its message to an audience that it would affect. My piece would consist of unity within the bottle caps coming together with the mix of colors and the form of the end result of all the caps being glued together.
One idea was to cover a staircase full of colorfully painted water bottle caps to symbolize the ‘path’ to a better future as it ascends with technology and other eco-friendly methods to saving the Earth that was heavily inspired by Stuart Haygarth’s Framed. Another idea was to create a self portrait out of painted bottle caps in Chuck Close’s style to represent humanity’s impact on the environment. Lastly, I thought of creating a sculpture of a turtle made of water bottle caps to show the relationship between nature and resources and how both affect the other.
Most of my ideas seemed to be pretty manageable when it came to time and effort. It all went down to how good my composition of my artwork would turn out to be. My plans are to go through with the self-portrait, as I feel like I would be more connected to my work on a personal level and would be able to spread its message to an audience that it would affect. My piece would consist of unity within the bottle caps coming together with the mix of colors and the form of the end result of all the caps being glued together.
"Plastic Bag"
Medium: Clear Water Bottle Caps
Size: Aprox. 1.5 ft x 1.4 ft
April 3, 2017
Exhibition Text
Karen Armenta
Plastic Bag, 2017
Ready-Made/Assemblage Mixed Media
This sculpture is meant to represent the impact of over-consumption and using excess amounts of 'waste' as a medium for art and creating something new out of the used. The rising epidemic of natural resources being scarce and the lack of biodegradable materials are affecting the world people live in. Something as common as a bottle cap can be easily forgotten about and be thrown away to stay as is forever.
Plastic Bag, 2017
Ready-Made/Assemblage Mixed Media
This sculpture is meant to represent the impact of over-consumption and using excess amounts of 'waste' as a medium for art and creating something new out of the used. The rising epidemic of natural resources being scarce and the lack of biodegradable materials are affecting the world people live in. Something as common as a bottle cap can be easily forgotten about and be thrown away to stay as is forever.
Artistic Inspiration
I was at first heavily inspired after conducting research for this project by Zac Freeman, an assemblage artist. On a realistic level for me, I intended on using available products that I could potentially collect in a small amount of time and would be manageable in the time frame given to me. Emulating a Ready-Made inspired piece was something that met my own standards to go about this theme and I began researching artists that specialized in it. In time, I had come to find the artist, Zac Freeman, and his assemblages of ready-made objects into portraits of people. I immediately felt a connection to his art and also knew how I could tie other areas of art into this project.
Zac Freeman uses ready-made objects in assemblages to create faces out of the objects. Being a Mixed Media artist, I wanted to use his artwork as a guide to allow myself to interpret my own spin on his works. He uses ready-made objects as his medium to form assemblages of faces in his works, much like another artist does in his works, but in paint: Chuck Close.
Chuck Close's works first came in to mind when I was researching Zac Freeman's pieces. I connected their similar ideas on identity using strategic methods to constructing the form of a face with a unique way. Both Freeman and Close similarly use the grid method and little sections of space in their work to create detailed works of art. Since I wanted to incorporate painting into this type of art, I thought that drawing inspiration from Chuck Close would be essential.
Mary Ellen Croteau is another Ready-Made artist who also uses them for assemblages, much like Zac Freeman. Croteau uses water bottle caps as a medium for her art and influenced me to use the same type of medium. Her take on self-portraits made from bottle caps is strikingly similar to that of Chuck Close and Zac Freeman, and because she uses bottle caps as a medium, I referenced her as one of my artistic inspirations.
Once again, the direction of my artwork went to another direction and drew inspiration from Oppenheim's Fur Covered Cup, Saucer, and Spoon. I was in awe of the idea of creating a set of kitchen utensils out of bottle caps to represent how the less fortunate have to make do with whatever they have. Meret Oppenheim, a French artist, combined grotesque ideas with the idea of daintiness. This was a success as fur was uncommon for a texture for daily used items like utensils.
Zac Freeman uses ready-made objects in assemblages to create faces out of the objects. Being a Mixed Media artist, I wanted to use his artwork as a guide to allow myself to interpret my own spin on his works. He uses ready-made objects as his medium to form assemblages of faces in his works, much like another artist does in his works, but in paint: Chuck Close.
Chuck Close's works first came in to mind when I was researching Zac Freeman's pieces. I connected their similar ideas on identity using strategic methods to constructing the form of a face with a unique way. Both Freeman and Close similarly use the grid method and little sections of space in their work to create detailed works of art. Since I wanted to incorporate painting into this type of art, I thought that drawing inspiration from Chuck Close would be essential.
Mary Ellen Croteau is another Ready-Made artist who also uses them for assemblages, much like Zac Freeman. Croteau uses water bottle caps as a medium for her art and influenced me to use the same type of medium. Her take on self-portraits made from bottle caps is strikingly similar to that of Chuck Close and Zac Freeman, and because she uses bottle caps as a medium, I referenced her as one of my artistic inspirations.
Once again, the direction of my artwork went to another direction and drew inspiration from Oppenheim's Fur Covered Cup, Saucer, and Spoon. I was in awe of the idea of creating a set of kitchen utensils out of bottle caps to represent how the less fortunate have to make do with whatever they have. Meret Oppenheim, a French artist, combined grotesque ideas with the idea of daintiness. This was a success as fur was uncommon for a texture for daily used items like utensils.
"All You Need is One Fur Covered Object – Meret Oppenheim." Chill Out Point - Funny image galleries and artwork. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
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"Tara Donovan." Pace Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.
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However, further along the actual process of my piece, I began to notice how different my piece was beginning to look from my artistic inspirations and found new inspiration from other artists that influenced the way my piece would mimic. Tara Donovan created sculptural installation pieces with found objects in an abstract form. As much as I didn't know where I was going with this piece, I wanted it to be similar in the process of that to Donovan's because of how abstract and intricate it is to an audience. The similarity from her work to mine is that we both use clear little items that seem to be taken for granted when in reality, they I hope that my piece forms together to look similar to Donovan's artwork because I feel like although her art seems to have intricate meaning, it is still aesthetically pleasing and I want to achieve the same idea.
Planning
During my phase of brainstorming, I came up with possible ways to include bottle caps into my art. One idea was to cover a staircase full of colorfully painted water bottle caps to symbolize the ‘path’ to a better future as it ascends with technology and other eco-friendly methods to saving the Earth that was heavily inspired by Stuart Haygarth’s Framed. Another idea was to create a self portrait out of painted bottle caps in Chuck Close’s style to represent humanity’s impact on the environment. Lastly, I thought of creating a sculpture of a turtle made of water bottle caps to show the relationship between nature and resources and how both affect the other.
Most of my ideas seemed to be pretty manageable when it came to time and effort. It all went down to how good my composition of my artwork would turn out to be. My plans are to go through with the self-portrait, as I feel like I would be more connected to my work on a personal level and would be able to spread its message to an audience that it would affect. My piece would consist of unity within the bottle caps coming together with the mix of colors and the form of the end result of all the caps being glued together.
Most of my ideas seemed to be pretty manageable when it came to time and effort. It all went down to how good my composition of my artwork would turn out to be. My plans are to go through with the self-portrait, as I feel like I would be more connected to my work on a personal level and would be able to spread its message to an audience that it would affect. My piece would consist of unity within the bottle caps coming together with the mix of colors and the form of the end result of all the caps being glued together.
Sketches
Process
Going along the process of creation, I hot glued bottle caps together, first starting with gluing them in pairs and then gluing the pairs together and repeating the same process. I intended for this piece to stay flat but as I got further along in the development of my 'canvas', it started to cave in and change form from flat to curvy. I tried to straighten it out, but the more I attempted, the more the piece began to take on a bowl-like form.
Eventually, I went with the flow and decided to let the bottle caps stick together and take a form on its own. The sculpture got bigger and bigger the more I added. I tried to close this sculpture, but the more I tried, the more bigger and harder it was for the sculpture to close. As it got bigger, and caving in, I decided to connect a few bottle caps to the other side to create the frame of the sphere it was beginning to take the shape of. Continuing from there, I added more bottle caps that drew from the cluster of caps to connect to the center of the arch to add a balancing structure. After that, I placed plastic bags inside of the structure because it seemed to resemble a basket once I had finished the piece.
Eventually, I went with the flow and decided to let the bottle caps stick together and take a form on its own. The sculpture got bigger and bigger the more I added. I tried to close this sculpture, but the more I tried, the more bigger and harder it was for the sculpture to close. As it got bigger, and caving in, I decided to connect a few bottle caps to the other side to create the frame of the sphere it was beginning to take the shape of. Continuing from there, I added more bottle caps that drew from the cluster of caps to connect to the center of the arch to add a balancing structure. After that, I placed plastic bags inside of the structure because it seemed to resemble a basket once I had finished the piece.
Experimentation
I had time to experiment with the melting of plastic and ways to structure my piece. After a while of gluing, my piece began to cave in instead of remain flat, resulting in the further development of my piece and change in meaning and end result of my unintentional piece. From that unexpectedness, I continued to go forward and experiment with the form of the project and went along with whatever shape it took on. It soon started to turn bowl-like and it continued to cave in. I experimented a lot with placement of the caps when I glued them onto the sculpture and it went from there
I also tried to experiment with how the sculpture should be represented. I wanted to look at it with a different perspective so I experimented with my piece by turning it upside down and seeing if there could be potential for the progression of this piece because of a new viewpoint. I also wanted to see if I could create a new piece out of my own piece because of the change of perspective and new qualities it possessed when it took an alternate look.
I also tried to experiment with how the sculpture should be represented. I wanted to look at it with a different perspective so I experimented with my piece by turning it upside down and seeing if there could be potential for the progression of this piece because of a new viewpoint. I also wanted to see if I could create a new piece out of my own piece because of the change of perspective and new qualities it possessed when it took an alternate look.
Reflection
"Woolff Gallery." Woolff Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
During the critique with a group of peers, I was given useful feedback. I first told them about what I wanted to achieve, which was to try and shed some light into the reoccurring problem of the overuse of natural resources and the waste of plastic and how it is non biodegradable.In order to do so, I decided to use the medium of clear water bottle caps to emphasize my overall theme. Since I wanted to use Ready-Made objects, I knew my piece would fall under that category, but I wanted my piece to also fall under an Assemblage. I planned out ideas beforehand to see what I could possibly do and my peers insisted that my ideas were very manageable and suggested I do the one that would most likely make the biggest impact to an audience.
Originally, I wanted to base this piece off ready-made objects and create an assemblage with it. After major reconsideration because of how my plans weren't going accordingly, I had to find inspiration in new pieces and come up with a whole new theme. The hard part about this was that I was unsure about whether this piece was going to be the same way as I anticipated it, because this piece was unpredictable. I never knew if it was going to stay the same or change in shape/form. I had drawn inspiration from artists who specialized in self portraits like the artists above but once my piece started to go another way, I wanted to embrace it and find inspiration in other artists that would potentially be similar to the outcome of my own piece.
In the end, I just continued to go along with the curving of the form and embraced the new form it was becoming. I gathered more bottle caps and eventually connected bottle caps the center of the sculpture to add more support to it and still feel architectural. The finish piece was nothing I ever expected and ended up looking like none of my planning sketches. I am pleased to an extent because I had no idea where this was going at first and felt that if I was more in control, then maybe things would have gone the way I planned it to go. However, if I had more time to work on this project, I would continue to find more bottle caps and fill in the gaps in the sculpture to complete the form and appreciate the unique structure of the asymmetrical, spherical form.
UWM Critique Reflection:
I was extremely nervous about presenting my work because I felt like this piece could have turned out differently if I had more bottle caps. I was skeptical about adding more to my final piece and completing the form of my piece by covering the negative space with more bottle caps to accentuate the form my piece was taking. This critique made me question why I added plastic bags inside of the sculpture when my true intention was to keep it the way it was. In a way, I was still debating if my piece should stay the same, or change after the critique, but now having my feedback and advice, I believe that I should continue to collect bottle caps and fill in the whole shape. It would be interesting to see how this piece connects to its form and could hold meaning in its form for the audience to depict, as well as making it aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The bottle caps seem to compliment each other as they unite to create the spherical form and the hot glue that holds them together helps immensely without being visibly noticed.
Overall, I want to change my piece and continue to complete it. If I learned anything from this critique, it'd be to defend all of my artistic choices and defend the meaning in what I intended to direct to my audience, instead of adding false meaning to everything.
Overall, I want to change my piece and continue to complete it. If I learned anything from this critique, it'd be to defend all of my artistic choices and defend the meaning in what I intended to direct to my audience, instead of adding false meaning to everything.
Connection to ACT
Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
I believe that my artistic inspiration allowed for my piece to go its own way much similar to their own work and be more sculptural and abstract, rather than planned out and architectual.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that my inspiration attempted to portray was the idea of structure and unity within objects that are intended for other purposes. The objects serve a new purpose than their original purpose.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I concluded that people do not take into consideration their daily used things because of how they do not realize how easy they have things. Some people do not have it as easy as others and I wanted to make a statement about this using a very common, but forgotten item in daily life.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea for this piece was to get people to realize that everything they use is at risk of being overused and will cease to exist. I want people to be more grateful for their everyday things because the little things can cause change in anything, so it is significant that society acknowledges their importance.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that there was going to be a lot of mixed media artists, especially in our generation because of how contemporary artists tend to defy the expectations of art. Quite contrarily, there seems to be a lack of mixed media artists based on my own research and I found it difficult to find inspiration from artists who specialized in this field.
I believe that my artistic inspiration allowed for my piece to go its own way much similar to their own work and be more sculptural and abstract, rather than planned out and architectual.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach that my inspiration attempted to portray was the idea of structure and unity within objects that are intended for other purposes. The objects serve a new purpose than their original purpose.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I concluded that people do not take into consideration their daily used things because of how they do not realize how easy they have things. Some people do not have it as easy as others and I wanted to make a statement about this using a very common, but forgotten item in daily life.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea for this piece was to get people to realize that everything they use is at risk of being overused and will cease to exist. I want people to be more grateful for their everyday things because the little things can cause change in anything, so it is significant that society acknowledges their importance.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that there was going to be a lot of mixed media artists, especially in our generation because of how contemporary artists tend to defy the expectations of art. Quite contrarily, there seems to be a lack of mixed media artists based on my own research and I found it difficult to find inspiration from artists who specialized in this field.
Bibliography
"Mixed media." Tate. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.