Suspended Short Story

I chose The Veldt story for my sculpture. I remember reading it in middle school and really loving it. I was absolutely captivated by the story as I read it online again. The amount of depth Ray Bradbury creates through his creative imagery is just incredible.

Important elements to me:

1. yellow color - color of the sun, spread throughout entire story, represents the intense heat
2. thick, bristle-y texture (straw-like)
3. clear, glass or ice-like texture
4. wide, horizontal line direction

_______________________________________________________________________________


In my notes, I wrote down the feelings I felt after reading the story. I then Googled them:

"betrayal, scam, crafty, shifty, untrustworthy, uneasy..."

And came to this image of the Cheshire Cat smile:

I thought this would help display the amount of trickery the children represented. Robotic movements to please their parents but were transparent if ever confronted or their needs were taken away.

This transparency led me to think about objects shaped like these teeth hanging down from a horizontal zone, such as the nursery in the story. But clear, so one could see through to the dangers or other elements - just as the adults did.

I first started with white paper taped together. I then used bright yellow construction paper (just for a visual) and taped it to the back as a background. I then used clear packing tape; layered and taped to the ceiling of the structure to hang down - like teeth.

The objects inside will (hopefully) represent a brittle, straw-like texture. Maybe broom bristles?


In-progress photo:

My idea further stretched into something completely different. I decided to take an object of ultimate comfort - a pillow- and contrast it with something that symbolized danger, deception and death. The pillow represented the children in the nursery - sweet, innocent children that when unmasked, showed the betrayal and danger they really stood for. I started to hang a piece of wood with string to have it all hang. I made the pillow out of paper, masking tape and toilet paper just to get an idea. I wanted it to be fluffy and familiar. Then, I was going to shred it with stuffing coming out and nails and glass poking out with blood droplets. Ultimate deception just like the children were to their parents.

In progress photos:

Artist Statement:

Deception and danger were two major aspects I wanted to showcase through my suspended sculpture. By putting shards of glass, nails, and tears through a soft object I was able to symbolize the children's aggression seen in The Veldt. Representing the ultimate comfort -such as a pillow- in such a dangerous and decietful way was the only way I knew how to portray these feelings from the story itself. I wanted this piece to be eerie, uncomfortable and just "off." The audience should feel disturbed by a soft pillow just as the adults felt towards the terrifying children once they looked past the exterior. Pointy, paper cones hold the pillow up in a crooked manner to reiterate the sharpness.   

Masking Tape Shoes

Touch, A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

What a challenging project! I knew I needed to start with a firm base for the shoe, so I put layers of tape on top of each other for the soles. I then crunched up tape for a bouncy/rubbery feel and covered it with another layer. For the first shoe, I then made the thick, outside that wraps around the exterior. I noticed that this lessened the sturdiness and smoothness. I didn't like it! 

In-progress photos:

For the second shoe, I completed the sole and then went on to the fabric that encases the actual foot. I then tacked on the white, textured outside.

The final product is better than the first try, but still not sturdy enough. It isn't smooth either. For me, placing the tongue of the shoe was most difficult for some reason. I hope I never have to do this again but it has definitely been a very popular subject for my friends and family after showing them what I ended up with!

In Momento

My most significant memory I can recall happens to be when I was young and my father build my little sister and I a treehouse in our backyard. We had tons of orange, grapefruit and mango trees in the backyard too.  Over the summer, she and I would sit in our tall treehouse and collect ripe oranges. We would have a whole stash - and we'd eventually poke holes in the tops of them and suck out the juice until they were deflated with nothing left but pulp. We were sticky and gross but we had so much fun. I would also play "house" and take a piece of scrap wood my father gave me and pretend it was a plate. I would serve my sister crushed up, wet leaves sticks and orange juice. I somehow became very attached to this piece of wood. Not because of what I did with it, but because of the rich, woody scent it gave off even after getting it dirty. I had never smelled it before but I instantly fell in love.
There are a lot of elements about this memory, but the one I wanted to capture the most was the look and feel of the wooden "plate" and the smells. Fresh citrus, warm cedar and earthy grass.

I first cut wood into four pieces and trimmed them to be circular like the piece of wood I once had from my father. I then stained the wood to be a darker color. I stacked them on top of each other and used a small piece of scrap wood from my trimmings to add underneath. Giving it height was important because I needed to represent how tall I felt up in the tree house as a young girl. I wanted the wood to be similar to both my "plate" and the treehouse.
After the main structure was completed I wanted to add the orange peels. I baked them in the oven to heighten their scent and glued some of the pieces to the wood. Using very tacky spray adhesive, I also sprinkled orange zest, and crushed up leaves. This texture is similar to the sticky feeling on our little hands and mouths after handling the oranges. Too add more depth, I rubbed cedar-scented wax on the bottoms of some of the wood.

On Longing - Why We Keep Things

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale. Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience. The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental and the 3D into the miniature which can be enveloped by the body."

To me, this sentence mainly says, "Keeping small objects is important because it allows for an intimate feelings that others cannot embrace. Both the object and the experience or memory must be specific to the person and it "must be small enough for the body to envelop it."
_________________________________________________________________________________

"Nostalgia can't be sustained without loss."
"The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for the desire to be generated."

I used to collect keychains when I was in elementary school. My grandfather nailed pieces of wood together and put hooks on each piece so I could display them. He painted it white and put my name on it. I covered it in stickers over the years. One of the keychains was a dragonfly whistle painted green with little leather pieces for the wings. I wasn't to fond of it because the sound it made was so screechy - like a dog toy. I don't remember what happened to them all or the frame that held them, but this summer I went back home to work. One day my Flagler lanyard broke off of my keys and of course I kept losing them. My mother has always liked to interject so I ended up finding my keys laying on my desk with a new item hanging on the ring. I chuckled, knowing she probably couldn't stand that I wasn't doing anything about it. When I looked closely, I realized that it was that damn dragonfly whistle keychain from my childhood. I immediately rolled my eyes and started to take it off the keyring.  For some reason I never did, and I ended up keeping it on the whole summer. Now when I look at it, I wouldn't dare take it off because it means even more to me. My friends always ask me what it is and I show it off - blowing the annoying, squeaky whistle.
________________________________________________________________________________


"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy."

exotic: of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced fromabroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized: exotic foods;exotic plants.

strikingly unusual or strange in effect or appearance: an exotic hairstyle.

of a uniquely new or experimental nature: exotic weapons.

trophy: taken in war, hunting, competition, etc., especiallywhen preserved as a memento; spoil, prize, or award.

anything serving as a token or evidence of victory, valor, skill,etc.

a carving, painting, or other representation of objectsassociated with or symbolic of victory or achievement.

any memento or memorial.

a memorial erected by certain ancient peoples, especially theGreeks and Romans, in commemoration of a victory in war andconsisting of arms or other spoils taken from the enemy andhung upon a tree, pillar, or the like.

specimen: part or an individual taken as exemplifying a whole mass or number; a typical animal, plant, mineral, part, etc.

(in medicine, microbiology, etc.) a sample of a substance ormaterial for examination or study: a urine specimen; a tissue specimen.

My friend traveled to Africa with her family. She came back with lots of gifts including a necklace made with string and shell. It wasn't very pretty and didn't show craftsmanship like it was handmade or anything. Nothing special. I probably would have given it away if it wasn't from Africa. But because it was so exotic, something from somewhere so far away from me, I had to keep it. I never wear it but I do keep it because it is like my "trophy" or "token." It is important to me that I possess something from another continent. 

Elements and Principles in 3D form (Paper)

This piece represents "texture" in a 3D form. There are frayed pieces on the bottom that I purposely distressed. The height is from repeated folded paper accordian-style. I used the wood glue instead of the tape because I wanted to use up the middle space in a vertical way. Dripping the glue and letting it settle at the bottom allowed this piece to show even more "restricted chaos." I think this is my favorite piece because it is simple yet complex through the texture displayed.

The next piece represents "space" and was actually the first structure I completed. I was interested in representing positive and negative space with the clear packing tape. There are two pieces of card stock for support of the taller structures. Facing opposite directions, the pieces are folded inwards. I then used the clear tape to demonstrate a sense of inwardness and inward space. Adding small irrelavent pieces of masking tape created shadows and sense of emptiness on the inside. I also taped long pieces of paper to the outside that are elongated past the shape of the structure for a dramatic scene occurring on the outside space too.

For the last piece I really wanted to play with the different sizes of masking tape. I wanted to showcase the patterns and depth I created so I decided to cut a simple piece of paper and prop it up with tape on the back. This piece represents "pattern," having different twists and turns that intertwine was what I wanted.

In conclusion, I think this was a good first project to complete for this class because it was simple practice for me. I was not familiar with making tangible objects but starting with paper and glue I think was helpful.