Artist Research #2: David East (Ceramics)

David East

After looking up several of the ceramics artists on the syllabus list and examining some of their work, I decided David East stood out for me among the rest. His works tend to be simple but elegant. Although they are ceramic, the symmetry and uniform nature of his pieces are what catch the viewer's eye. A large number of his works utilize clusters of perfectly rounded spheres which can be seen in the image above. Many also have one or more irregular geometrical shapes or ribbons that give his art character. He seems to also be interested in the shape of the modern suburban home as it is also a common aspect of many pieces.

Although not a whole lot is written about David East online I was able to find some important aspects of his career. He currently holds the position of Chair of Ceramics at the Maryland Institute College of Art. David East has also traveled around the globe teaching and visiting schools to educate artists about his work and art in general. Among some of these locations include University of Missouri-Columbia as an Assistant Professor (2001-2007), Alfred University, Kansas City Art Institute, Massachusetts College of Art, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Washington University, Ohio University and Tainan National College of Art, Tainan, Taiwan. His works have also made their way around the globe to be featured in many juried and curated exhibitions such as the Faenza International Ceramic Museum in Faenza, Italy for example. East has received many awards as well. An Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, a Lighton International Artists Exchange Program Grant, and an artist-in-residence at the European Ceramic Work Centre in The Netherlands are to name a few.

According to David East's artist statement, he is " interested in the sources and by-products of invented utopian promise, exploring forms that reference the duality of our monocultural, suburban landscape. A landscape typified by its balance between hope and fear, the suburbs are an invented plan, created mathematically, an idea before a phenomena. The suburbs have become a frame of mind rather than a geographic location. " This frame of mind seems to take form in a lot of his almost all of his work. He seems to enjoy using ceramics as a way of making simple forms with very little color which matches his "gray" outlook on pre-determined suburbia.

Artist Research #1: Tony Cragg (Sculptor)

Tony Cragg

For our first artist research of the semester we were to choose from the list of sculptors on the syllabus. After browsing a few works by different artists I became interested in the work of Tony Cragg. His works tend to be metallic, blobby, twisted, abstract forms that I consider very visually pleasing. Some are very simple and some can be very complicated with much detail. Although most of his works are very abstract, they pull the viewer in and encourage them to look deeper at the piece to figure it out. This is something I feel a lot of abstract sculptors and installationists tend to miss. These other artists make objects that are too alien and instantly shut off any interest in most viewers.

Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool during the year 1949. Following a short period of working as a laboratory technician at the Natural Rubber Producers Research Association, Cragg first attended the Gloucestershire College of Art and Design where he studied foundation courses. Later, he achieved his BA from the Wimbledon College of Art and his MA from the Royal College of Art in London.

Early in his career, Cragg experimented with several different found materials hoping to develop "an alphabet of sculpture". This allowed him to gain experience with several different types of objects and methods of manipulation. His later work shows a transition into manipulations of surfaces, using materials such as bronze, steel, plastic, rubber, glass, wood, plaster, etc. These are some of his more popular works. A series developed out of this interest which focused on the body as a container or vessel for the mind and spirit. A later series by Cragg, known as "Rational Beings" portrays arcades of columns showing his shift from organic forms to finite profile edges. 

Class Demos & Continuing Clay Models

Today we had a demo on both wood-joining and making plaster molds for our models using the aluminum strips. Both were very clear and I feel a lot more knowledgable about each process. The wood-joining may take a few tries in order to get some joints that don't crack or that are misaligned. As far as the plaster molds, the process seems pretty straightforward and I feel confident that my model will provide an easy, two-piece mold.
Since my last post, I have changed my model quite a bit. I realized I can maximize the size of my model with the limited amount of clay I have by covering an object of the same shape. Initially I wanted to use boards but I couldn't find any spare wood that suited my needs and I realized it would be very heavy. So instead I folded up some newspaper and cut them the size to make my MIDI Fighter controller a little larger. This way I can spread the buttons out more and add more detail after.
I have also been using the putty scraper as an effective way to smooth out my model. Since I basically had to start over in order to make my model larger, the clay surfaces were made bumpy again. It takes a long time to smooth everything out by hand, especially to the accuracy I want. The putty scraper helps quite a bit in both smoothing and flattening all of the surfaces to give it a more realistic look. Because my object is semi-simple in form, I want to put an emphasis on the realism of it by making it extremely smooth and uniform.

More TAF Ideas & Artist Lecture #1

Since my last post I have narrowed down my ideas for the TAF project. I decided that a DJ controller would be a good representation or symbol for what I enjoy as well as an interesting subject to model in clay. Specifically I am interested in modeling my controller after the Midi Fighter. This controller is unique in itself in that it looks like a retro, arcade-style button layout with bright colors and a simple design. Here are some examples that I will use as a template, but will probably modify for my own clay model...

Tonight I also attended the Randy Bolton Lecture about his "Scene Better Daze" collection of prints. It was a pretty interesting talk that he gave about his work which seems to focus on faux-finished works. I noticed in his presentation he mentioned the duality of his works in that they have both distressed, ignored, unfinished qualities as well as traditional, digitally-fine tuned aspects that people can identify with.
Some of his works he called "sculptural prints" which tended to be large prints on canvas that were sewn front to back and suspended with a frame. This allows these works to activate the space around them by leading the viewer around the object to view all perspectives of it. Most of these double prints also showed duality through polar opposites and before and after scenes.
Another interesting aspect in some of Bolton's pieces is that they come paired with an object or objects that echoe(s) an image from the print. Not only does he recreate some of these objects from his prints in 3D space, but they are generally composed out of media that you would never expect. For example one object in particular was a collection of a pumpkin, some loose debris an a string of flags which looked by fragile and lightweight. In fact the whole thing was made out of cement and weighed up to 60 lbs.
Overall it was great to see some some types of art I hadn't really been exposed to. It was also interesting to hear Randy Bolton's processes and how he gathers ideas for his works.

First Post/ TAF Project Ideas

So this is my first post on the blog. I'm cutting it a little close to class as I had work late last night and didn't get around to doing it then. Anyways, below are some images I have been considering for this project during the past few days. I'm struggling to find something that will be the rights size with enough detail but I will keep at it.

Kendama....

Speakers...

Xbox Controller....