Structure and Constructivism
I cannot believe I am a third year student at OCAD University! I started school last week and I was already working on my projects for some classes. This is all very exciting. I know there is gonna be a lot of work coming at me this year and it is going to be a tough year but I hope I can manage everything well.
Yesterday, I started working on my first project for my structure class. First thing first, I did some research and ideation drawings. This year's project is on constructivism. We were told to create a sculptural piece using planes only. To be honest, I am not a big fan of neither constructivism or planes so we will see how I feel about this project.
I constructed a mind map after my research on Constructivism and fellow Constructivists: Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner. Constructivism was an art movement which was originated in Russia between 1913-1920. Constructivists played on the idea of "Truth to materials", meaning that certain materials were specific to certain forms. Sculptures made in this period were very industrial-like, angular and played a lot with the idea of geometric abstraction.
I was really drawn on recreating structures of an alligator, a human spinal cord or some carnivorous plants for this project as I was researching. A lot of interesting forms could seem to be derived from these natural structures. I was particular fond of the little spinal cord on the right bottom corner. It would be nice as a pair of earrings or a necklace. The possibility was endless.
Making models with polystyrene and some Raz-N-Bond! Modeling in polystyrene was not fun at all. This was actually the first time I worked with polystyrene. Surprisingly, it was hard to manage because the material itself was rigid and I spent quite some time to cut through it. I also used a sandpaper to sand down the edges for a smoother look.
Ended up making three models: Two spinal-cord-inspired (left and middle) and One alligator-inspired (right).
I spent the weekend mostly working on models. I was not particularly impressed by the models so I might do more to explore the forms and structures more. I was a little bit excited to see how this project would turn out but I knew it wouldn't be easy. Let's see what happens during the design critique on Wednesday.
Mikayla