"Anxiety Coaster"
2 x 1 ft Cardboard Sculpture February 2022 |
Exhibition Text This sculpture was created using recycled cardboard boxes, paper, and superglue. My intention for this piece was to create a sculpture that would show a deep connection to my mental health by visually representing the feeling of anxiety. I became interested in artists Ann Hamilton and Kim Jones who created sculptures that represented extensions of their own body
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and mind. I used their ideas of becoming an alter ego and sculpture that is an extension of self to create my own sculptural hybrid.
Critical Investigation
Inspiration
Ann Hamilton was born 1956 in Ohio is a visual artist who is well known for her large scale sculptures and installations. She first emerged in the 1980's and started her Body Object Series in 1984. As stated by Hamilton she wanted to create pieces that, "demonstrates a relation instead of making a picture of a relation" and she calls these pieces, "the articulation of the self at the boundaries of the body". This series concluded in 2006. Kim Jones was born in 1944 in California and was known for his out of the ordinary artistic demonstrations. In one of his most famous pieces, he would cover himself in mud and walk around Los Angeles during the mid 60's. This mud man piece consisted of Jones wearing nylon stockings, electrical tape, rope, and mud. He would wear a harness on his back that held up sticks and twigs conjoined together to create a wooden web. This wearable sculpture was an extension of himself and considered an alter ego. I took lots of inspiration from Jones and his wearable sculptures and created my cardboard sculpture so that it was wearable and an extension of myself. However, I added my own touch to my sculpture by only having the sculpture surround my head rather than my entire body. Continuing on, many on Ann Hamilton's pieces in her Body Object Series consisted of toothpicks and seemingly found objects that she wears on her body. I took inspiration from the Body Object Series by making my roller coaster attach to me and become a part of me. Although I took inspiration from her pieces, I changed many aspects of her traditional series and made this project my own. Instead of using toothpicks and found objects, I used cardboard and glue. I really appreciated how both artists used their own art styles to create a sculpture that represented an extension of themselves and these qualities really inspired my sculpture.
Planning
For these planning sketches, I drew up some basic designs on how I wanted entire project to look. For the roller coaster car, I wanted it to have 4 seats, head rests, cardboard detailing on the sides and the front so that the car would look realistic. I really wanted the main focus of my sculpture to be on this car so I knew that I wanted to experiment with using corrugated cardboard and cardboard with different thicknesses and flexibility. Next, I started planning out how I wanted the coaster track to work. I wanted the track to vary in height so that I could effectively demonstrate the feeling of anxiety using a large decline. I also wanted to make sure it wasn't just one big circle because that wouldn't be realistic and it would be more aesthetically pleasing to create an abnormal and organic shaped track. Finally, I decided how I wanted the pillars to sit on my body and brainstormed how I could make the pillars out of the materials I had available to me. Finally, I sketched out a design for the "harness" I would wear to hold up the pillars. After some critiques however, I decided that my project would look cleaner if I threw out the harness idea and figured out a way to have the pillars pert-rude from my body.
Process
To begin, I started by collecting materials. I gathered dog food delivery boxes, Amazon packages, old wrapping paper rolls, toilet paper rolls, and television boxes. Later, found out that it was allowed to use brown paper so I I gathered some extra brown paper I had leftover from a paper roll. I also borrowed some super glue, scotch tape, and hot glue from my garage. The first step I took in creating this project was to create the beams to hold up the track around my head. I took one of the toilet paper rolls I collected earlier and cut it in half. I then rolled each individual half roll into mini tubes. Next, I glued the smaller rolls on top of each other to create a long and thin tube. I then wrapped them with brown paper and super glued the paper closed to create a clean and neat finish. I repeated this process of cutting toilet paper and paper towel rolls 3 more times so that I could have enough beams to surround my head and be able to hold up the track similar to how Ann Hamilton created a sculpture in her found objects series that surrounded/sat on her head.
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Continuing on, after the pillars were completed, I began to work on the roller coaster car. First, I started off by measuring and cutting out the sides of the cart. They had an unusual shape so I used a reference photo as a guide. I made sure that the carts were even and clean so that they would fit together perfectly. Next, I created the bottom piece of the coaster, which was essentially a rectangular piece of cardboard, and glued the side pieces to the side edges of bottom piece. I then added a thin piece of cardboard I gathered from a toilet paper roll to the front and back of the side pieces to enclose the car. Next, I began to make the seats of the car by cutting out arc shaped cardboard pieces and gluing them to the bottom and sides of the cart. I added details to the seats by gluing corrugated cardboard onto the back of each seat. I also added some small head rests to the top of all of the seats. I then added some extra details to the perimeter of the cart by again adding corrugated cardboard to the sides of the car. Finally, I added some 'headlights" made out of thin sheets of cardboard to the front of the car along with some safety bars I added to the backs of the seats.
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Moving forward, I started to create the track of the roller coaster. I sketched out some basic guide lines on large sheets of cardboard making sure I added lots of twists and turns like I had planned in my sketches. After sketching, I had 3 separate track pieces that I cut out using scissors and an Xacto knife. I used super glue and hot glue to attach the 3 pieces to each other but found that the glue would not be strong enough to hold the pieces together. I decided that I would try and use paper mache to bond each track together similar to how Kim Jones used mud to bond stockings to his body when he dressed as the Mud Man. I tore of thin layers of cardboard from various scrap pieces I had laying around and mixed these thin pieces with water and glue. I applied the pieces to the joints where the tracks connected and let the glue dry for about an hour. I found that this method was extremely effective and the track was sturdy. After I attached the tracks together, I cut out and evenly attached 2 inch by 1 inch pieces of cardboard along the entire track. These pieces would represent the rail ties that are commonly seen on roller coasters. Finally, I glued my finished roller coaster car to the top of the decline on the track using super glue so that the car wouldn't shift of fall off.
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Finally, to finish off the coaster, I decided to add paper mach to the bases of all of the pillars so that they were secured underneath the track. I repeated the process of taking thin cardboard pieces and adding them into the mixture of water and glue like I had when bonding the tracks together. I repeated this paper mache process with every pillar and waited for them to dry overnight to ensure their durability. After they dried, I added one more precautionary layer of paper mache to be safe. Finally, I ended up adding some small cardboard circles to the sides of the roller coaster car to make it look like it was actually driving on the track. Overall, I think the sculpture turned out to be successful and just like how I envisioned it.
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Experimentation
I have never worked with cardboard or making sculptures before so I faced many challenges when working on this piece. I first had to figure out how to work with the flexibility of the cardboard. I knew that cardboard wasn't very flexible and it could be hard to make clean looking organic shapes. I also had to figure out what kind of glue would work best with cardboard. In the beginning, I learned that it was easy for me to cut and manipulate the cardboard with an Xacto knife and scissors. I also learned from other classmates that submerging the cardboard in water would allow me to bend the cardboard without having to worry about it bending and snapping. I needed to be delicate but firm when handling dry cardboard and it was difficult for me because I tend to be heavy handed. I also experimented with working with paper mache which is something that I haven't done in years. This use of paper mache resembles to the way that Kim Jones uses mud to bond the stockings to his body when he dressed up as Mud Man. For my version of paper mache, I used thin strips of cardboard to act as the paper, and then I dipped the cardboard into a mixture of water and glue. Finally, I had to experiment with using different types of cardboard. I first had to figure out how to thin the cardboard. I found that the best way I could thin cardboard was to rip the top layer of a paper towel roll off. These thin sheets are what I used for the paper mache. I also learned how to create corrugated cardboard by ripping the smooth layers off of pieces of cardboard. I used this corrugated cardboard to add detailing to my sculpture. Overall I learned a lot and I enjoyed working with this medium. I improved a lot over the course of this assignment and I would definitely be comfortable working with cardboard on another project.
Critique
This sculpture was inspired by the works of Ann Hamilton and Kim Jones so there are many similarities and differences within this project. To compare, I incorporated the wearable component of both of their pieces by transforming into an extension of myself like a hybrid. Another similarity is the structure seen in both my sculpture and Kim Jones' sculpture. I used Mud Man as my inspiration when deciding where I wanted my sculpture located and figuring how I could make the sculpture look like it was growing out of my body. Jones used twigs and logs to make his sculpture pert-rude from his body so I used cardboard rolls to represent pillars holding up the track and to make the sculpture look like it's bursting through my skin. This element makes the anxiety coaster and the Mud Man look similar in nature. A third similarity between the pieces is the very muted color scheme. Hamilton used lots of black and white when photographing her body objects series and Jones used black and different shades of brown in his mud man sculpture. My medium for this project was cardboard so I too used this muted/brown color scheme. Some differences that are present in both pieces are the different mediums used in each piece. Jones used mud and sticks for his famous Mud Man and Hamilton used toothpicks and found objects in her Body Object Series. However, I only used cardboard and glue as my medium. Another difference is the form in our sculptures. In my sculpture, the form is very simple and it flows in a visible circular shape. However for Jones' Mud Man however, there is no explicit form. The sculpture looks messy and thrown together with seemingly no purpose for specific placement. Thirdly, our pieces are different, because of the different meanings behind the sculptures. My sculpture was created to represent mental health and something that I already am but Hamilton and Jones both wanted to become alter egos of them self and become something new or different.
Reflection
My inspiration for this project was Kim Jones and Ann Hamilton's extraordinary sculptures. I really appreciated the way that each sculpture was formatted and I think that the way these sculptures are unique from anything else I've seen is very beautiful and original. I wanted to be able to create something meaningful and powerful and I think that these artists were a very good choice for this project. I loved the overall texture of the sculptures and I think that the texture I brought into my own piece really brings the entire print together. I also really enjoyed how there is a large emphasis on the roller coaster cart and the detailing on it. All of the attention is brought to the cart. I think that this project was overall very successful. I think that I did a really good job for my first try at a cardboard sculpture and I love the concept and final product. If I were to re do this assignment, I would probably practice cardboard butting skills more ahead of time so that I can have cleaner lines and overall neater sculptures. My biggest challenge for this project was trying to make the coaster car. Although I was successful, I found it challenging to try and add small details with such a rigid medium. Overall, this project was successful and I would definitely use this medium again.
ACT
1) I identified that because of the sculptures created by Kim Jones and Ann Hamilton, I was inspired by their uniqueness and style. This lead me to create a sculpture that was also extremely unique and intricate.
2) Hamilton and Jones were very inspired by unique sculpting and different mediums which lead them to create these different sculptures. These styles are very interesting and full of personality.
3) I have made some conclusions about this style of wearable sculptures. I believe that this style of art is something that is out of the box and meaningful. The sculptures are and can be found in different museums and display shows.
4) My central idea and theme was to build a roller coaster that represents how my anxiety feels to me.
5) I concluded that sculpture uses extensive arches, shapes and curves and is a common art style that is beautiful and unique.
2) Hamilton and Jones were very inspired by unique sculpting and different mediums which lead them to create these different sculptures. These styles are very interesting and full of personality.
3) I have made some conclusions about this style of wearable sculptures. I believe that this style of art is something that is out of the box and meaningful. The sculptures are and can be found in different museums and display shows.
4) My central idea and theme was to build a roller coaster that represents how my anxiety feels to me.
5) I concluded that sculpture uses extensive arches, shapes and curves and is a common art style that is beautiful and unique.
Bibliography
1. “Kim Jones (Artist).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2021, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jones_(artist)2. Wikipedia contributors. (2021, November 27). Ann Hamilton (artist). Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Hamilton_(artist)
2. Ann Hamilton (artist) - Wikipedia. (2022). Retrieved 22 February 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Hamilton_(artist)
3. Ann Hamilton Studio. (2022). Retrieved 1 March 2022, from https://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/objects/body_object.html
2. Ann Hamilton (artist) - Wikipedia. (2022). Retrieved 22 February 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Hamilton_(artist)
3. Ann Hamilton Studio. (2022). Retrieved 1 March 2022, from https://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/objects/body_object.html