Going into week #6

Things are starting to pick up! The units/modules project is coming to a close and the next project already has many ideas rolling around in my head.

 

The spools have been coming along nicely. I still haven't gotten the hang of closing the spouts up, but I've been able to make the hole much smaller so hopefully it will be less visible. As of today, I have 52 spools--I would like to make as close to 100 as I can, although I probably won't have all of them displayed in the installation.

Throwing on the wheel, on the other hand, has not been so successful. It has been so much more difficult than I had expected, but I'm willing to stick with the challenge. I was able to make a form for the first time this week--one that did not fly off the wheel or get crushed by my hands. I need much much much more practice!

Contiuation of units.

Progress seems to be coming sloowly. I'm completely new to making slip molds so it's been hard to make consistent spools of thread. I've made 20 spools so far, I'm hoping to double that before thursday. I'm still unsure of the final presentation. Whether to glaze them or leave them unglazed.

Units/Modules

For the next project I was very interested in doing an installation piece, having my units hanging from the ceiling, whether with something clear or something visible. For my mold, I'll be using empty spools of thread. While the minimum amount of units is ten, I would like to make many, many more (time permitting). I'm still unsure about how I want to present them, fired or unfired. I want to see how the first couple molds turn about before I proceed with that decision.

Final Project.

I loved how this project turned out. I'm definitely happy with the decision to go with photographs instead of video footage. I want to explore this type of work more during this semester, possibly re-doing this project to fix some technical issues and experiment with different lighting. I'm excited to see where this semester takes my work!

A change in direction.

After some experiments with my previous idea of the verb "to catch" I decided to take a different approach. The clay did not splatter as I was hoping, but rather just came off in chunks--most of it falling to the ground rather than sticking to my skin or clothes.

When I washed off the clay from my hands and legs, I was interested in how the clay came off as well as the way the water interacted with the clay on my skin. All this led me to a different verb, to cleanse. 

The initial color was alot shinier than I expected, so I decided to play around with different levels of dryness and I loved how the clay dried and started to crack. For my final pictures I want to have the clay almost completely dry and starting to crumble off.

Instead of using a hose for the second experiment, I used a bowl full of water which did not work as well as I thought it would. Either the clay wasn't dry enough or it was just too thick to be washed off with water. I'm going to try this again, but let the clay dry all the way until it starts to flake off and then start to wash it off. 

Verb project.

To catch.

I'm super excited about this project, but there is still so much to think about. I've decided to do both video and photo documentation of the process--which one I will use for the final critique is still to be decided.

Instead of the single individual catching a ball of clay, I took into consideration fellow classmates suggestions and thought that a game of catch between two people would be easier to document and be much more effective than if it was just me catching the clay.

I'm still rolling ideas around in my head. I need to think more about what I want my project to portray and imply. Tomorrow is the big test day! I'm going to try different sizes of clay, colors of shirts, and different materials to cover the participants faces.  Pictures to follow!