11/22/2006

i'm in last-3-weeks-of-first-semester hell. this story made me laugh so hard i peed a little.

I Was Placed On This Earth To Put Off Doing Something Extraordinary

The Onion

I Was Placed On This Earth To Put Off Doing Something Extraordinary

Ever since I was born three weeks overdue, it was clear that there was something different about me. However, it wasn't until I postponed going...

11/15/2006

shitty, shit, shit.

I feel like a big ole bag of poop today. I should be doing homework, but instead I'm lying on the couch, reading blogs and surfing the 5 tv channels we get. I have a presentation and essay due tomorrow night, but can't concentrate. Seriously, I just had to check the spelling of 'concentrate'. Even though it's right, it just looks weird to me.

It's probably just the Nyquil.

11/09/2006

you are what you eat


assignment #3 for sculpture class

assignment #3 for sculpture class

assignment #3 for sculpture class

This is my third assignment for my Form and Structure course, and it's due tonight. The assignment was called 'The Body'. The guidelines were:

  1. The structure of your work can either be a fragment of the body OR a relationship/association created between 2 or more body parts.
  2. Your completed broject will focus on, and be expressive of, a theme/idea/meaning
  3. Your sculpture can be abstract/representational/self-contained/assemblage/installation/personal/political
  4. Materials suggested: mould-making medium, plaster, plaster bandage, air-drying clay, sculpy, wax, wood, fabric, organic materials, etc.
SO, the idea I wanted to explore (as this post title suggests) was 'you are what you eat' in relation to how little we think about all the invisible stuff (fertilizers, pesticides, hormones) we put into our bodies when we consume seemingly innocuous foods, like fruits and vegetables. This is exemplified in the fingers that are bitten off along with the apple, as if the "biter" didn't notice. This also touches on the theme of the psychological impact of the mindless consumerism western culture, which is on my mind a lot lately with Christmas coming up, and me not having much money to spend. In fact, Kirk and I are considering making it a Buy Nothing Christmas.

Anyway, I really wish I had taken pictures of the whole process for ya'll. Instead I'll just tell you how I did it. I used alginate to make a 'negative' mold of my friend Melissa's hand, holding an apple, sans bite. Then I made a 2-part plaster bandage shell to hold it all together while it set. The shell also allows for you to pour your material to make your 'positive'. We then melted down some oil-based clay and poured it into the alginate/plaster bandage mould and poured it in. Once it was set, we pulled off the mould and had a great clay positive of my sculpture.

Then Melissa took a few bites out of the clay (yuk) and I used some hand tools to clean it all up. Then we repeated the alginate/plaster bandage process to make a new negative to pour the hydrocal (white gyspum cement) into. When the hydrocal started to set, we inserted a 3/4" wood dowel into the base, for mounting, and let it dry overnight. During the curing process, the dowel expanded with the moisture and heat and unfortunately cracked the base below the wrist. So I had to mix up some more hydrocal and work it into the cracks. Next time I'll remember to use a metal rod.

Once it was all dry, I sanded it and used spray primer to get it as white as I could. Kirk helped me make a plywood base (phew!) and I primed that as well. Last night I put it all together and this morning I epoxied in a real apple stem that I also had primed, and VOILA! Done, aaaaand done.

Ok. I'm off to school to present it to my class, where I will endure all manner of critique. Wish me luck!

11/05/2006

worst wallpaper ever.

me
This is me (and my dad's hand) in 1975. I'm guessing on the year, but this shot was taken before we moved into our first house when I was just over a year old, so it's a pretty good guess.

11/03/2006

yes. this IS me.

yes. this IS me.