Intro to Sculpture: March 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Field Trip To Pittsburgh, PA

Both the Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday classes recently went on an overnight field trip to Pittsburgh, PA. We went on a whirlwind tour... we saw an MFA Thesis exhibition at Carnegie Mellon University, hung out in the South Side on Friday night, went to the Andy Warhol Museum to see some pop art, the Mattress Factory Museum to see some installation art, stopped by the Artists Image Resource to check out a fundraising event, and visited the artist Lenka Clayton in her studio.

(Photo booth images were taken at the Andy Warhol Museum. Other photos were taken by Mike Fleming.)

Field Trip To Northern Lights Candle Factory

The Monday/Tuesday class recently went on a field trip to the Northern Lights Candle Factory in nearby Wellsville, NY. Andy Glanzman, the founder and president of the company, gave us a tour and told us how the company got started (he used to make very sculptural candles and sell them at craft fairs, and now he sells products to companies like Restoration Hardware and TJ Maxx). We learned about how wax, a material the students have used in their mold making and casting projects, is made from different natural and synthetic oils, and formed in molds or glass vessels. We got to experience the factory line and think about how the molding and casting process could be used for mass production.

(Photos by Mike Fleming)

Facial Landscape

"Facial Landscape"

Materials: Plywood, Wood Glue, Cherry Stain

Size: 2 ft x 41/2 ft x 7 inch

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Metal Sculpture

Joe Pogan

David Smith

1^st piece- The Banquet (1951)

March 9, 1906-May 23,1965. Considered an American Abstract Expressionist. Best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculpture. Welded on an automobile production line before becoming an artist. Joined Art Students League of NY in 1927, began to study art history and sculpture. Created Terminal Iron works studio in 1940 which allowed him to increase the size of sculpture. Influenced by Picasso. WWII decreased the supply of metals available and the demand of abstract art so Smith drew and painted for the latter part of his career

2^nd piece- Ancient Household (1945)

Anthony Caro

1^st piece- Dream City (1996)

Born March 8^th 1924, currently working. Went to school for engineering and later studied sculpture. Classified as a Modernist. Mostly influenced by Smith. Often paints his finished pieces to make then look more uniform since he uses different grades of metals.Tutored at St Martin’s School of Art for a period of time. Credited with removing sculpture from a plinth or platform.

2^nd piece- Black Cover Flat (1974)

Antony Gormley

1^st piece- Angel of the North (1998)

Born in 1950 and grew up in London.Went to college for sculpture. Mostly uses the human body as a part of his subject matter. Uses his own body for metal casts a majority of the time. Quote-"My art is an attempt to materialize the place at the other side of appearance where we all live.”

2^nd 1 of 31 figures that can be seen on Londons Skyline “Event Horizon”

Richard Serra

1^st piece- Fulcrum (1987) 55 ft tall, located in Liverpool street station, London.

Born November 2^nd 1939. Classified as an American Minimalist. Involved in the Process Art Movement. Holds an Honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Williams College.

2^nd piece- Sea Level

Alexander Calder

1^st piece- Flamingo (1974)

July 22^nd 1898-November 11 1976 Comes from a family of artists. Created many public installations that are permanent. Moved to NYC when he decided to become an artist. Also studied in Paris during his college career. Also painted many of his pieces before executing them.

2^nd piece- Man 1967

Antoine Pevsner

1^st piece- 30 degrres dynamism

Jan 18 1886-April 12 1962 Classified as a Russian Sculpture. Considered a pioneer of 20^th century sculpture and kinetic art. Coined the term constructivism. Made new marriage of art and mathematics. One of the first to use blowtorch in sculpture.

2^nd piece- Elan 1958

Joe Pogan

After serving in the Navy went to school for art and welding. Worked as a professional welder for 20 years. Uses found metal for the “skin” of the piece and then uses round stock for the armature. Quote- “The stranger the piece of metal the better, since the end goal is an eye-catching, fascinating amalgamation of metal with odd nooks and crannies you can explore for hours.” Tries to leave no space between the pieces.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Creating Destruction

11" x 8.5" x 2.25"

Raw Cake Batter, Baked Cake, Frosting, Cooking Supplies

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Steel

Steel is an iron alloy, with 2% or less of carbon. Manganese, chromium, vanadium and tungsten are also combined with iron in the production of steel. The amounts of metal which go into steel affect the tensile strength, hardness and ductility of it.

Alloys with higher amounts of carbon than steel is cast iron, with a lower melting point and castability. Wrought iron has lesser amounts of carbon, and results in slag inclusions. Comparatively, steel is nicely rust-resistant and weld well.

Iron ore straight from the mines contains a higher amount of carbon than is preferable. To reduce the carbon content, the metal is melted and processed before more metals may be added to the alloy.

Steel can be heat treated in various ways. Annealed steel has been heated to a high temperature to soften it. The temperatures to which steel is heated for this process varies according to the constituent metals of the steel alloy.

Quenching is when steel is heated and then rapidly cooled in water or oil, making the steel hard and brittle. Hereafter, the steel can be tempered - a particular type of annealing process - to make it more ductile and fracture-resistant.

Slag is a partly vitreous byproduct of iron. Basically, it is the crappy bits of carbonized metal when it has been heated and used a lot.