Project Four
Aged 30cm x 84cm x 30cm Mixed Media November and December 2021 This sculpture is a compilement of found objects, trinkets, chachkies, and what others might consider trash from my rooms. I often find value in objects that remind me of an event, and I hold on to these "meaningless" things. This is a build up of my childhood hanging from the ceiling; the older the object the closer it is to the ground. This work was inspired by Stuart Haygarth's own hanging works. |
Inspiration
Tide 200 by Stuart Haygarth (2018)
Close up image of Tide 200
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Stuart Haygarth is a sculptural artist that most commonly does instillation works. He most often does mass grouping of found objects.
Haygarth uses objects either he personally found - for example the beach from "Tide 200"- or those he was given in commissions - the weapons collection from the airport. The works are mostly made of plastic found objects, and the variety of textures and colors of those objects creates it own unique texture. These neat, but also chaotic, sculptures are very interesting to me. If you are not close up to the works they look like groupings of color, while close up you can the large quantity of objects that create the sculptures. Some of the objects you are unable to tell what they are, but others it is clear what they are and what they could have been used as in a previous time. All of these discarded and washed up objects makes up a whole work that can be appreciated in another from. |
UFO by Stuart Haygarth (2009)
Close up image of UFO
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Planning
While looking into what objects I could possibly use for a sculpture, I relaxed I could incorporate the objects from around my rooms. I have my knickknacks and random objects that hold much sentimental value to me. I have kept objects from since I was in elementary school because they hold memories and value to me. After studying Haygarth more I formed more ideas on how I could display the objects. I formed some ides on how they could be shown: on the floor, the wall, the ground, and hanging from the ceiling. I felt the most connection with my objects hanging from the ceiling as is it adds another layer to the inter activeness with the audience that I wanted to include.
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Experimentation
I have not made any works with found objects before so I wanted to be able to succeed at getting my message across. I want to show that this is another end of a chapter for me. Collecting the object I wanted to use were easy, but the difficult part deciding how they were to be arranged. This is were I tested different possibilities and arrangements of set ups. |
Process
All of the objects mean something to me. It is all a notion to me growing up more: I am 17 going on 18; graduating high school; going to college; getting a job; going out into the world. There will be changes in my near future, it will be contrasting to my current life. A bon voyage to my childhood, hence the objects from my childhood. Planning the positions of the objects was important as the older the found item is the closer to the ground it is.
To do this I collected all of my items and tied them with fishing line. All while documenting the objects and describing their significance to me and when in my life they are from, |
After attaching all the trinkets to the fishing line, I started arranging them according to my planning sketches. I was unable to achieve this because I did not previously factor in the high contrast of size between the objects, limiting by ability to arrange the objects like I intended to originally I attached them on to a canvas so it is more portable friendly. This also allowed me to reposition when needed and to be more free form with the composition of the work overall. I attached the objects by threading then through the canvas then knotting the fishing line at the desired length and then hot gluing them ton the canvas, |
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Reflection
While I wanted to a project that was more like an instillation and less pure sculpture, I still enjoy what I created. Being that this piece is so personal to me, I think the message was well executed and the composition is effective. I would have liked to possibly have kept the form of the sculpture more clean, as the edges are sloppy looking. This might be due to the little space I chose to mount the objects to and also the amount of objects I have. If I were to do something like this again (and I am planing to), I would like to make it larger and include more objects, and hopefully that will allow e to make the edges cleaner. In then end though, I want people to see a compilement of my life up till this point and to see that many factors make up a person.
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Critique
Similarities:
-Both works contain groupings of objects of choice suspended off the ground. -They similarly contain objects that have a variety of textures and hues. -Haygarth's and my sculptures attempt to bring out the individual objects by representing them as a whole through grouping them. Differences: -Haygarth's work contains trash and invaluable objects to him, while mine hold value to me. -His objects of choice have more unity than mu objects, as they are generally made of plastic or are clear, while mine is a smorgasbord of textures, materials, hues, and patterns. -The orientation of UFO is an oval and filled in, while my work is more free from and less filled. -Haygarth's work has connections to the environment and pollution, while mine touches on personal connection to the objects around me |
ACT Responses
1) Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I was inspired by Haygarth's work and used his composition and use of found objects as a starting point for my own ideas. 2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? There was a positive, informative approach to teach. 3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? There are people who care to take a stand on issues they believe in. For example Haygarth's use of washed up debris in his works. 4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? Instillation works that possibly were extended off the ground. 5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research? I assumed the level of involvement it took to make instillation works was less compared to other from of art, but it requires high levels of involvement to produce a cohesive work that utilizes the space. |
Bibliography
Haygarth, Stuart. “Tide (2005).” Stuart Haygarth, n.d., http://www.stuarthaygarth.com/tide-2005.
Haygarth, Stuart. “UFO (2009).” Stuart Haygarth, n.d., http://www.stuarthaygarth.com/ufo2009. Wilkins, David G., et al. “Analyzing Installation Art.” Art Past Art Present, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1990, pp. 14–15. Yoo, Alice. “10 Beautiful Art Installations.” My Modern Met, 14 Mar. 2009, https://mymodernmet.com/10-beautiful-art-installations/. |