Sculpture: Body as Source
Tuesday and Fridays 12:30pm to 2:30pm **Additional hours in shop required**
Instructor: Tory Fair
Office Hours by appointment
Phone: 6-2676 e-mail:
This course will offer students a chance to explore how the body can be involved in the subject of making sculpture. We will examine different ways in which the body is used as source including observation, process, fragmentation, narrative, and performance. Projects will be introduced through images from contemporary artists implementing the concepts put forth.
Students are encouraged to have taken a semester of Three Dimensional Design or have equivalent experience. Materials provided in the shop include clay, wood, plaster, concrete, and metal. Planned is a rigorous semester where students are expected to work independently and resourcefully to explore materials and concepts in depth.
Nature is within us. We are sick when we do not feel it. The sickness of feeling separate from the world is what is killing it. We are earth above ground, clothed by space, seen by light. The distance inherent in sight has made us treat the “outside” as different. The dominance of reason depends on the continued externalization of the world. The light of reason is balanced by the darkness of the body. The unknownness of the mind and the unknownness of the universe are the same. If we are to survive, we must balance outer action with an inner experience of matter.
Antony Gormley
Requirements:
-Attendance-be on time! After three unexcused absences your grade will drop.
-Come prepared to studio.
-Seek out new materials- be resourceful in finding them.
-Participation in class discussions and during work studios.
-Completion of outside studio assignments. You are required to attend one out of three weekly two-hour monitored shop times to be arranged by your Teaching Assistant.
- Keep an active journal that you bring to every class.
-Read and follow all general safety rules on attached sheet.
In the Studio and Shops:
Jon Koppel is the Shop Technician. He is available on Thursdays for shop demonstrations and questions. Please contact him directly at to make an appointment.
You may work in the studio at any time there is not another class being held. Please use the buddy system when working.
You are responsible for keeping the studio and shops clean. Put your work on the shelves allocated to this class when you are finished for the day. Clean any mess you have made.
Always follow shop safety rules. Do not use tools you have not received instruction on. Be aware of the people around you. Do not use toxic materials in the shop.
Grades:
Grades are based on the above requirements. Each project will be graded individually. Also considered are the ongoing qualities you bring to the studio such as: effort, ambition, willingness to experiment with materials and learn techniques, completion of projects on time, and participation in group discussions.
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Academic Integrity:
You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity (see http://www.brandeis.edy/studentlife/sdc/ai). Faculty may refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Student Development and Conduct. Instances of academic dishonesty may result in sanctions including but not limited to, failing grades being issues, educational programs, and other consequences.
Schedule (subject to change):
The schedule will be broken up into the following concepts. Each project will be introduced with visuals to help demonstrate the concept and ambition of the sculpture. You are expected to take notes and research ideas in your journal that inform the making of your sculpture.
1. Fragmentations and Narrative/Aug 29, Sept 2, 5, 9, Due Sept 12
How can the body be implicated in sculpture by using fragments to create a narrative? How can the body be suggested without being completely represented? We will discuss the usage of materials and how they are important to the concept of an idea. We will also look at the context of materials and how it may or may not determine a specific reading of a piece.
Assignment: Create a narrative that connects a small fragment of your body (finger, nose, ear, etc…) with an idea or an emotion. We will be making a cast of a body part using algaenate- material and demo provided in the shop. The fragment from your body is cast, but the second part of the sculpture will be built and sculpted from plaster or clay.
Artists: Tony Oursler, Robert Gober, Christian Boltanski, Annette LeMieux, Mike Kelly, Jake and Dino Chapman, Charles Ray, Damien Hurst
2. From Fragmentation to Full Figure/Sept 16, 19, 30, Oct 3, due Oct 10
How can we represent the full figure in space? How can you capture the movement and balance of the body with a minimal gesture?
Assignment: Make a sculpture that stands and is as tall as you are. The intent is not to represent the figure fully, but to create a gesture of a full figure. Introduction to welding and wood shop.
Giacometti, Shapiro, Gormley, Saar, Kiki Smith
3. Observation/Oct 14, 17, 21, 24, due 28
How can we use the body through direct observation? What are the implications of rendering a portrait at half scale? Structure will be emphasized. We will look at how proportions can be based on measured perception.
Assignment: We will be using clay to model a self-portrait of your head, life size. Mirrors, modeling stands, casting materials and clay provided. Also helpful is the use of photographs to analyze form in process.
4. Collaboration Photo/Video/Oct 31, Nov 4, 7 due the 11
You have the option to work with a partner on this project to develop a series of still photographs (or a short video if you have experience with editing programs). The goal of the project is to explore the representation of the body with technology in relationship to the landscape. What happens when you represent the body in an image? What are the advantages of using technology? What are the associations of the body in film, in photographs? You may make a short video that documents a performance, you may choose to use editing programs or not. Introduction to the Getz Media Lab.
Artists: Cindy Sherman, Chris Burden, Ana Mendieta, Yayoi Kusama, William Kentridge, Kate Gilmore, Janine Antoni, Paul McCarthy, William Anastasi, Matthew Barney, Richard Long, Robert Morris, Joseph Beuys
5. Body/Architecture/Landscape Nov 14, 18, 21, 25, Dec 2 due 5
How do you relate to your environment? How does a particular building or doorway make you feel? Are certain buildings or spaces on campus oppressive? How does the Brandeis campus reflect a certain attitude towards the body? Can you express a fusion of body, architecture and object?
We will be viewing the movie The Cruise as a source to explore this topic.
Assignment: In this last sculpture you are expected to create a sculpture in a specific place on campus that somehow engages a body, your body, the student body at large, etc... This is in effort to examine, engage, and describe the body in a specific context.
Artists: Beverly Semmes, Anthony Gormley, Andrea Zittel, Richard Tuttle, Lorna Simpson, Mona Hatoum, Anne Hamilton, Bruce Nauman, Paul McCarthy