Studio 1Exhibition TextOctober 2016
Found Object Sculpture Cammed Table For my piece "Cammed Table" also inspired by James Corbett, I created a table composed of automotive engine parts that acted as a functional table while retaining asethic appeal. This piece was intended to be able to stand on it's own while suggesting complexity, that could be achieved by any of my fellow artists. During the process of acquiring the primary pieces involved in creating the piece, I had to disassemble a automobile engine as as well. Inspiration & ResearchFor my inspiration for this piece, I went to a went to James Corbett once again for his immensely fantastic sculpture pieces that he used to create his work. James Corbett acquires his materials through scrap yards and mainly materials that generally pertain no value other than scrap. This artist particularly matched my interests for this piece because he and I share a similar motive for wanting to focus on automotive sculptures, that being the enthusiasm for the automotive culture, for Corbett, it was racing that grabbed his attention. A method admirable about Corbett's creation was the fact that he does not bend or manipulate the automotive pieces he uses to create in order to allow the someone to be able to recognize the piece that was used. After learning about this technique used, I decided that I should include this method within my process with the hopes that people observing my piece would be able to tell where my materials were sourced from. And coincidentally, his family business is also involved with the auto motive industry, which similarly to my artistic background, is where his pieces were derived from. In terms of the creation of the Cammed Table, I wanted to convey the same atmosphere that Corbett's pieces did, that off complex but yet simple. I planned on having piece incorporating some of the design elements that I incorporated within my conceptual sketches as well. And lastly, I wanted to use the resources that were available to me without having to purchase anything, for the sake of saving a few dollars, literally, and from my past experience I found that looking for things to use for creating a piece would always result in a better final product with a more unique composition of materials.
Process & SketchesBefore completing this piece, I created a set of conceptual sketches that were also inspired by James Corbett and his, but at the time of the illustration of the sketches I had not come across the research that described the process of how exactly he had acquired his materials that had made up his pieces. I had also set goals that included having piece the piece suggest the simplicity to be created by any fellow artist, while conveying a simplistic theme.
I first began to acquire the parts for the piece, and at the time of, I wasn't entirely sure as to how I was going to utilize each piece, although this didn't act as obstacle fortunately. I had access to a engine that had been recently removed from a 2011 Toyota Highlander, and the engine had been deemed not salvageable, and I had asked to keep the rest, at no charge. After being gifted the engine, I set a date aside to take it apart. This involved taking apart this 200-300 engine and making sure not break any bolts, which if occurred, would result in pieces being trapped inside the engine. After disassembly, clean up the pieces cam after. Unfortunately this engine had been laying outside for 1 week, and during these seven days the rainfall and other moisture had started to rust on the surface of these parts, this had given me the task of thoroughly scrubbing away any rust that hadn't been just more than on the surface. The clean up process involved warm water and tough enough sponge, and Dawn dish oil. After scrubbing for 30 minutes, all the surface rust was gone, although some rust, which was no longer removable due to exposure to the elements, was still present, but this did not seem like a potential appearance issue. Laying the pieces out on a concrete ground was immensely helpful in analyzing and brainstorming. Fortunately I had also acquired a crankshaft pulley, which luckily worked like a key and lock with the other parts within the piece, and same could be said for the camshaft and flywheel. After experimenting with different part positions I decided that any welding or use of glue would be unnecessary, as the locking into each other that parts had performed was more the sufficient fro providing rigid and independent structure. Then after coming up with the final composition of the pieces, I decided that for the final touch that would allow me to give this piece the correct amount of functionality would be the simple addition of plastic overlay. This is a commonly used household item used for larger dinner tables. It's addition to my piece gave it a sense of belonging in the environment that I choose to display it in. ReflectionLooking back on my piece, I feel that I've accomplished my goals in that, the piece conveys comlexity and simplicity. Complexity in terms of the process and within the materials used. Simplcity within the overall structure of the piece itself. In terms of comparing the piece that I was able to create with my source of inspiration I believe that my work does convey the essential qualities, those being displaying craftsmanship that suggest home built. If I were to create a similar work in the future, I would attempt to use more complex and larger items within the piece itself for better physical appeal.
|
|
ACT Questions
1. Clearly Explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
-The effect that my inpiration had on the piece that I had created could be seen within the structure and the overall composition of the materials and process in general. James Corbett had said that, when acquiring his piece he always used extra parts, and each peace was repurposed in terms of what the materials were originally desined for. This process is very similar to my piece in terms of process as well, which I indentified when I was reflecting on the process, where I too repurposed my materials, and saw value where in a capitalistic sense, there wasn't any.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author(from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-The research that I did for this piece included looking into how certain engine parts would react with other parts when a applied in a situation like this, and the "authors" of the work would consist of engineers and accountants in terms of engines who believe this applicaiton is more of a ineffective use of materials, rather than repurposing materials, these authors would usually believe these parts should retain their purpose and be put into an original application.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you were researched your inspiration?
-A conclusion that I came to after researching my inspiration was that, artists do not neccescarily need to follow a specific guidline or need to fit in an artistic movement or medium in order to be considered art. My inspiration James Corbett, is sculptor who started creating these types of pieces after he had seen a similar work and decided that he could do better, and he then later became more well known and made much more complex and attention grabbing pieces, all the while not affiliating with a movement or art period.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
-The central theme that revolved around the research that was done was very similar to the conceptual piece in terms of "do it yourself", although despite having the same artist for inspiration, the theme for this piece was mainly revolving around repurposing items, and seeing some sort of value or potential, when looking through a uncapitalistic perspective. My artist inpiration had always used generally discarded and unwanted pieces, while simalarly in my piece I had used pieces from an engine that was deemed un repairable.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
-During the process of my research, I had assumed that the artist that I was looking into had been creating these types of complex sculptures since a very young age and must have a serious artistic background, because the first thing that I paid attention to when observing his works, was the amazing amount of detail and craftsmanship that was in the work, a level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that could be compared with world reknowned sculptors like Michelangelo himself.
-The effect that my inpiration had on the piece that I had created could be seen within the structure and the overall composition of the materials and process in general. James Corbett had said that, when acquiring his piece he always used extra parts, and each peace was repurposed in terms of what the materials were originally desined for. This process is very similar to my piece in terms of process as well, which I indentified when I was reflecting on the process, where I too repurposed my materials, and saw value where in a capitalistic sense, there wasn't any.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author(from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
-The research that I did for this piece included looking into how certain engine parts would react with other parts when a applied in a situation like this, and the "authors" of the work would consist of engineers and accountants in terms of engines who believe this applicaiton is more of a ineffective use of materials, rather than repurposing materials, these authors would usually believe these parts should retain their purpose and be put into an original application.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you were researched your inspiration?
-A conclusion that I came to after researching my inspiration was that, artists do not neccescarily need to follow a specific guidline or need to fit in an artistic movement or medium in order to be considered art. My inspiration James Corbett, is sculptor who started creating these types of pieces after he had seen a similar work and decided that he could do better, and he then later became more well known and made much more complex and attention grabbing pieces, all the while not affiliating with a movement or art period.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
-The central theme that revolved around the research that was done was very similar to the conceptual piece in terms of "do it yourself", although despite having the same artist for inspiration, the theme for this piece was mainly revolving around repurposing items, and seeing some sort of value or potential, when looking through a uncapitalistic perspective. My artist inpiration had always used generally discarded and unwanted pieces, while simalarly in my piece I had used pieces from an engine that was deemed un repairable.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
-During the process of my research, I had assumed that the artist that I was looking into had been creating these types of complex sculptures since a very young age and must have a serious artistic background, because the first thing that I paid attention to when observing his works, was the amazing amount of detail and craftsmanship that was in the work, a level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that could be compared with world reknowned sculptors like Michelangelo himself.