Exhibition Text
The art piece “Modern Past” is meant to challenge the practicality, beauty and experience of driving, because the newer generations of cars have lost their true meaning and they only serve a purpose. Cars are no longer as enjoyable as they use to, cars were fun because of how they looked, how they feel, how they are different. And it is captured in this piece with the sharp corners and edges, or the old and new aspects such as the spoiler and hoods.
Planning
Inspiration
I plan on making a model clay car that has aspects of the future and the past to also show the beauty of time, and I plan to make a model clay car because it involves an organic material such as clay to make an industrial product that is common in the production of cars, alike in art. I believe that the process of making the concept model of cars itself is art as it involves the process of planning, sketching, modeling, finding inspiration and actually making. I plan of making the car of both the future and past because I feel that modern cars seem to lose aspects that made a car feel like a car rather than a ride that requires minimum control since cars have new technology that helps the driver do less. And I wish to tackle this because driving is not just to move from a location to another location, it is part of a journey, it's an experience, it is what one does when they need to clear their head from their problems. To me driving is much more, and with this clay model I will express it by integrating the aspects of the older cars into modern cars to make a balanced car when talking about the assistance and experience of driving. I also plan on using the coil method, to make the correct shapes of the car, considering that it will have edges and sharp turns. That is why my artist inspiration is Clement Meadmore, an artist who makings organic shapes that are complex and they explore the use of form. I like the concept of his art which is that industrial materials can make organic art, meaning that labels are never true, and that labels can never depict the true version of anything or anyone.
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Process
I begin by placing a clay block in a bag, while being wrapped in a wet towel to soften the clay to allow it to be usable for making a sculpture. Then I begin to throw the clay against the table to break all air bubbles inside the clay, so it wont blow up in the kiln because that would destroy my work. Then I start carving the general shape of a car out of the block. After a while it begins to look like a car, and I start smoothing it out with a wet sponge. After this I start hollowing the car's base and I add supports so it will not collapse on itself. Then I add clay to the exterior body for the hood and the wheels.
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Experimentation
My experimentation was in the making of the clay as I have never prepared clay before, and it was fairly simple if all the steps were taken in order. First I had to get a block of clay out, and cut it with a metal wire. Then I had to put a wet rag over it for a day or two, and it was then ready to be used. I did not experiment with the process of making the sculpture as I already have experience with the clay building process. Although I am experimenting with my cultural inspiration, as I have never used cars for an artistic inspiration. I decided to break away from the typical art movements for inspiration and I went for something new to create a diverse piece.
Reflection
ACT Prompts
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
My inspiration caused me to create a clay model car that had aspects of both the old and new cars, to create what I think would be the best version.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author had a monotone voice and he had an informational tone as he spoke of the clay model's size and details.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have learned that people use clay for modeling cars, even today when they can just run it through a 3-d printer, or a digital modeling program. Meaning that this old method still holds to be useful.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my work was the idea of combining old and new features of cars into one, because I feel like cars have lost their best aspects over time.
Citation
http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1312-fifth-generation-ford-mustang/photo-11.html
http://www.meadmore.com/
http://www.meadmore.com/