LAB 01 Object Analysis
- Name the object:
Blue D6
- Describe the object (size, colour, material, handmade, manufactured, etc.):
Handmade 1.5 cm blue translucent cube with smooth faces and recessed numbers on each side. The numbers, 1 to 6, are painted with white acrylic paint. It is made of epoxy resin and blue alcohol ink. There are two main flaws on the 1 face, a small air bubble filled with UV resin, giving it a slightly more rubbery texture, and a round sprue mark with saw lines where the sprue was removed. There are small bubbles visible inside the cube, as well as small air bubbles around the numbers. The dice is imperfect.
- What is the intended function(s) of the object:
A game piece, often used in games of chance.
- What is the cultural context of the object?
Dice have existed throughout human history, often made of bone or ivory and used in games of chance. This particular die was created in March 2022 when I first took up dice making.
- Do you have a personal connection to the object?
I have a strong personal connection to this object, as it was one of the first successful dice I made when I took up the craft. It is imperfect, but beautiful. I am quite proud of this piece. Beyond being an avid Tabletop Role Playing Game player, I often use dice to help me decide on things when I am feeling indecisive.
- Name the ways the object can be manipulated? (Broken, wrapped, filled, burned, stitched, etc.)
Sawed, melted, painted, sanded, fused to something else, drilled, cracked, dented, polished, encased.
- Mental Associations 1: Name three (3) things/elements that have a commonality or similarity to this object.
A coin – An element of chance and randomization.
Stained Glass – Similarly translucent, colourful caustics
Ice cube – Formed by pouring liquid into a mold and waiting for it to harden
- Mental Associations 2: Name three (3) things/elements that are opposite or in contrast to this object.
A Ball – Smooth, round, contrasting the sharp hard edges of the cube.
Pillow – Soft, comforting, you cannot roll a pillow
Hard Candies – While Dice may look like delicious candies, you cannot eat them. I have tried. Please do not eat the dice.
- Name the object:
Crab Shell
- Describe the object (size, colour, material, handmade, manufactured, etc.):
The top section of a small Red Rock crab shell. 6cm across and 4cm long. The top is a dull burgundy to red gradient with five creamy white barnacles and yellow speckling. The front edge has pronounced ridges, and the back tapers into a smooth arc. The eyes and anetea are still attached to the face, but the rest of the crab has been devoured, likely by a hungry bird. The bottom of the shell is cracked and damaged, the underside is completely missing. The inside of the shell has a shiny pink colour, with some burgundy areas speckled with sand. The bottom right side of the shell has caved in, while the bottom left side is still intact. There is a smooth raised ridge around the back of the shell that connects to the spiked ridges along the front.
- What is the intended function(s) of the object:
To protect and contain the vulnerable meaty parts of the crab while it was alive.
- What is the cultural context of the object?
Based on the size, the crab was likely around 2 years old when it died. Crabs hold a fair amount of cultural significance,especially being widely used as a food source. The astrological sign Cancer is depicted as a crab. There are various stories of giant crabs creating the tides and waves. One Malays legend tells of a giant crab that enters and leaves its cave to search for food, causing the tides.
- Do you have a personal connection to the object?
This shell is one of many that was scavenged by my sister to be used in art projects. On a personal level I often have a hard time allowing myself to be vulnerable, I wall parts of myself off from the outside world. Friendships may attach themselves to my armor but they never manage to penetrate more than surface deep.
- Name the ways the object can be manipulated? (Broken, wrapped, filled, burned, stitched, etc.)
Crushed, shattered, painted, filled with resin, affixed to something else.
- Mental Associations 1: Name three (3) things/elements that have a commonality or similarity to this object.
Armor – Rigid, protection, cold
Egg Shell – Brittle, fragile
Spider – Exoskeleton, multisegmented legs, also an arthropod
- Mental Associations 2: Name three (3) things/elements that are opposite or in contrast to this object.
Blanket – Soft, soothing, comforting, flexible.
Diamond – Shiny, hard, difficult to break
Hummingbird – Flashy, flying, fast
- Name the object:
Paint Brush
- Describe the object (size, colour, material, handmade, manufactured, etc.):
Manufactured 1/2 synthetic flat paint brush with orange bristles, a copper coated ferrule, and black wooden handle. 18 inches long with teeth marks in the inch closest to the tip of the handle.
- What is the intended function(s) of the object:
To create. Specifically to spread pigment quickly and evenly over a wide area.
- What is the cultural context of the object?
This is a modern paintbrush, I likely picked it up at a dollar store one day when I needed a smaller paintbrush for a project. This is a fairly mundane object, though paint brushes have been used throughout human history and across all cultures.
- Do you have a personal connection to the object?
Paintbrushes remind me of doing watercolor painting on the deck while my dog lounged in the sun. Warm sunny feelings.
- Name the ways the object can be manipulated? (Broken, wrapped, filled, burned, stitched, etc.)
Snapped, sawed, burned, chewed (it already has been), stripped, dismantled, painted
- Mental Associations 1: Name three (3) things/elements that have a commonality or similarity to this object.
Pen – also used to create
Broom – used to move things around large areas
Twig – small and flexible, could be used to create a new paint brush
- Mental Associations 2: Name three (3) things/elements that are opposite or in contrast to this object.
Eraser – Removes rather than spreads
Knife – Destruction rather than creation
Water – Fluid rather than rigid
- Name the object:
Reading Glasses
- Describe the object (size, colour, material, handmade, manufactured, etc.):
A pair of reading glasses with black frames. The right arm is bent up, the clear lenses are scratched.
- What is the intended function(s) of the object:
To help me see.
- What is the cultural context of the object?
Modern. Everyday item. Accommodation.
- Do you have a personal connection to the object?
This particular set of reading glasses do not work for me. My prescription has changed over the years and dollar store glasses are no longer useful to me. I am vaguely superstitious about these glasses because it feels like every time I put them on something goes wrong.
- Name the ways the object can be manipulated? (Broken, wrapped, filled, burned, stitched, etc.)
Broken, melted, scratched, sawed in half.
- Mental Associations 1: Name three (3) things/elements that have a commonality or similarity to this object.
Hearing aids- Accommodation tool
Binoculars – Lets you see things better
Doll – Also has arms
- Mental Associations 2: Name three (3) things/elements that are opposite or in contrast to this object.
Darkness – Makes it harder to see
Paper – Flexible and opaque
Water – Liquid
LAB 02 Mashup
Brainstorming:
I started with sketching, but the ideas weren’t really coming to me with the four items I’d chosen. I was liking the idea of using the glasses as a base, but I couldn’t really see anything beyond that. I’d planned to go back to sketching, but at some point I picked up the glasses and decided to see what would happen if I heated the lens.
At this point I was stuck, I had to use one of the two first ideas I’d had.
I tried seeing if I could saw the paintbrush in half, but that ended up not being what I wanted, so I decided to see if I could drill out the center of the lens out to have more of a starting point.
This cracked the lens, which let me test out the paintbrush idea, but I still didn’t like it. I complained to a friend that the lens just kept snapping when I tried to drill out a bigger hole, at which point she reminded me I own a dremel. So I got set up and worked the hole wide enough to fit the die.
Narratives:
Narrative 1: Fate
You call it inevitable; you call it fate. You believe there is no point in trying because it cannot be changed. Well, it is time to change your fate, to do something about it, lest it be thrown back in your face.
Narrative 2: Over Eager Table
I kept telling them to roll their dice, not throw them. But the excitement of a boss fight gets everyone riled up. Math and alcohol never mix, I knew they’d get the dice bouncing around, so I waited until they weren’t paying attention. One of the dice flies at me, I grab it, scream, and duck. Quickly switching my glasses with the ones I’ve hidden beneath the table, I sit up. They’re all too drunk to realize the prank, they’re sure they’ve nearly taken my eye out.
No one drinks at my table anymore; they’re all afraid of what pranks I’ll pull on them if they do.
Narrative 3: Safety First
“Psh, Safety Glasses? I’m already wearing glasses” they said, right before the sanding belt threw the dice back in their face, nearly taking out their eye. A lesson was learned that day, a very sudden and expensive lesson.
PROJECT ANALYSIS OVERVIEW
With this project we will look at objects through a cultural lens and combine objects to create new meaning and metaphor.
3 Ideation Brainstorms
I seem to have gotten stuck on the idea of Canned Crab.
After some brief brainstorming I felt I had enough of a jumping off point I could start sketching. I found a few ideas I liked, that could use a bit more exploration.
Artist Resarch
Geoffery Farmer
- Where were they born? Where did they grow up? Where do they live now
- Born on Eagle Island, BC in 1967
- Lives in Kauai, Hawaii
- Where did they study art? Or are they self-taught?
- Started studying art at 21.
- Studied at San Francisco Art Institute and Emily Carr University in the early 90s
- What kind of art do they make?
- Art Instillations typically made of cut out images
- Looking at the selected assemblage artwork:
- What are the formal aspects of her work (size, colour, materials, texture, value,
composition, genre, style, etc)?- Given Description: Geoffrey Farmer, Banana and Grass, 2014, paint, foam,
grass, metal stand, 2 wooden wall façades, window, sandbags, dimensions
variable. banana: 67 x 12 x 12 in. (170 x 31 x 31 cm), grass: 76 x 21 x 21 in.
(193 x 54 x 54 cm) - A foam banana sits upside down, peeled, half eaten, on a black stand. A
bundle of dry, dead grass sits nearby, wrapped with what looks like twine.
- Given Description: Geoffrey Farmer, Banana and Grass, 2014, paint, foam,
- . How do these formal aspects affect how you “read” the artwork?
- Artificial banana vs real grass
- What materials and methods might she be using to make these works?
- Forming/casting the banana
- Painting the banana
- Collecting and bundling the grass
- Shaping and weighting the bundle so it may stand on its own.
- What is the context for this work (when this work was produced, what is going on
politically, theoretically/philosophically, in the art world, in their personal life)?- Produced in 2014
- Food scarcity
- What emotions does the work elicit for you?
- Confusion.
- What ideas does the work cultivate, or questions does the work ask you to
consider?- Why was this made
- How much more work do we put into obtaining food that then goes to
- waste vs the food we have easier access to
- What does the artist say about their own work?
- Works a lot with popular culture and history.
- …… What other questions about this artist or their work do you have?
I do not really have any.
- What are the formal aspects of her work (size, colour, materials, texture, value,
- Is there anything about this artist’s work that interests you? What and why? If not, can
you articulate why that is? What is missing for you?
None of the Farmer’s work interested me. I do not do well with abstract though in the
way it is presented here. I see no meaning; I see no metaphor. It is a foam banana. It’s on
a stick. There’s some grass, it is dead. I see no way to convey emotion or thought beyond
placing two objects next to each other. I lack a narrative to follow. - Is there anything about this artist’s work that you can carry over into your own art
practice? What in particular?
I believe I can learn from the things I dislike about Farmer’s work. Be sure to include a
more concise idea, a more deliberate narrative.
grass, metal stand, 2 wooden wall façades, window, sandbags, dimensions
variable. banana: 67 x 12 x 12 in. (170 x 31 x 31 cm), grass: 76 x 21 x 21 in.
(193 x 54 x 54 cm)
Sources:
https://catrionajeffries.com/artists/geoffrey-farmer
https://catrionajeffries.com/artists/geoffrey-farmer/works/geoffrey-farmer-banana-and-grass-2014
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Farmer
COLAB 01
I reached out to a couple friends from my D&D group with the question I thought would be the most interesting for them to consider.
If you were a fantasy or sci fi traveler, what object from this realm would you want with you (not including a phone and internet)?
Friend 1:
Swiss Army Knife. It will give me enough things to help me figure out to how to exist in my current environment. There are few things more useful than a reliable knife.
I’m pretty sure the biggest success you can say about this time period is our computers and our reliance on the internet and free access of information. Because that free access allows us to access different *things* from different areas and ideals. Everything we mass produce is kind of crappy, but a good knife is always useful.
Friend 2:
If you mean time travel, then a book of all the celestial events so you could plan on some sort of profit.
But if it is fantasy like traveling to different realms and worlds, that one becomes much more difficult. Honestly, I might just choose a hair tie, because I don’t know what the world will have or won’t have, but my hair getting in the way will make whatever it is more difficult. And I’ve seen enough sci fi and fantasy to know that the hairstyles are far too difficult to deal with in the morning. Just being able to throw my hair up in a ponytail in the morning would be a godsend.
Guest Artist Reflection
Amber Morrison Fox
The September Artist Talk was given by Amber Fox, she makes a variety of artworks including watercolour, performance, digital publication, and a video game. Amber sees herself as an eclectic artist who creates from a place of love and curiosity. She lets her curiosity lead her in new artistic directions rather than caving to the views of others. Amber sees herself as a dreamer.
I did not really connect with any of the ideas, concepts, or artwork. Perhaps I just tend to work a less figurative way. The most concrete idea Amber presented was her thesis exploring precarious employment through the video game she created.
I did not learn any new technical studio applications. My background is in 3D Modeling and game design, so the aspects of using video games to tell a narrative story is something I was already aware of. I know how to model, rig, light, texture, and use the Unreal Engine to create a videogame, as such I greatly respect how much work was put into “exhibition by institution: a culture work simulator” (2021). It does make me happy to see more people with a fine art background seeking out video games as a narrative medium.
I did not learn any new ways of working or collaborating. I have been working as an online artist since 2015, so much of this talk was rehashing much of what I do daily. I create youtube videos, I sell my work online, I made a collaborative zine for several years that was the bane of my existence. Amber is successful in her pursuits and that brings me great joy for her.
Project Development 01
Silicone Stress
I chose to do my first idea, which meant I would need a silicone mold of a can to be able to be able to make the resin insert. This was where my plan first started to go off the rails.
I had picked up some silicone that is supposed to cure in 4 hours. After 4 hours, my first mold had not cured so I decided to attempt a second mold with more exact measurements, By this point it was 11pm and if this mold had not cured by morning I would have to drive down to Comox and buy another box of silicone because I did not have enough for a third attempt at a mold.
Sure enough, the silicone had not set. I was left sitting with two containers of jelly and a bucket full of rage at the three hour trip I was going to have to make. I’d already committed to this project so there was no going back.
After a ‘quick jaunt’ down the highway I had what I would need to finish this project:
– OOMOO Silicone that cures in 75 minutes, so I would at least know quickly if this wasn’t going to work.
– Deep Cast Resin, so I would only need to pour it once. Though given the 72 hour cure time I would only have the chance to pour it once.
– Waxed measuring cups so I would be absolutely sure of my measurements.
– Mold Release so I can make it easier to remove things from the molds
Four hours later I’m home, at my desk, and ready to make a new mold! I double checked the needed measurements, put in a can, and waited…
It took an extra hour, but the mold did set! I was finally able to start! The first thing I had to do was get the can out of the mold, this would be easy, right?
Except that I forgot to use the bloody mold release.
I say bloody because I managed to cut myself pretty badly trying to get the can out. I bled through three bandaids. I did eventually get the can out, but it was in many, many small pieces.
I have a faster setting resin than the deep cast, so I decided to delay the final cast by 12 hours to make sure I knew how I wanted to approach the sand. I decided to lay down dry sand then pour the resin on top of it. I also added a couple small crab shells just to see how they interacted with the resin and what challenges I might face when doing the final cast.
Project Development 02
Resin Chaos
It turns out that the silicone I picked up for my backup mold and the resin I use do not mix!
The resin cured on top, but anything that was touching the mold did not cure. I also had to completely destroy the mold to remove the small puck I’d made.
The resin also did not penetrate far enough into the sand! I need to completely recalibrate!
The crabs also, expectedly, floated to the top of the resin. I will need to find a way to weight them down.
Thankfully I have a couple good rocks I can epoxy the final crabs to! I sure hope this works, because this is my best crab shell.
Mercifully the second mold I made seems to have set. It took 40 hours instead of the 4 it was supposed to take, but at least I don’t have to try make another mold before I can cast it. I just hope the resin will actually cure!
Now all I can do is wait… See you in 72 hours crab friend!
While I wait I can at least prepare the outer shell of the can. Made close friends with the box cutter today. Another few bandaids.
Project Development 03
Unmolding and Assembling
Is it done?! Did is cure?!
The mold leaked, so it’s shorter than I was anticipating, but it’s solid.
I once again forgot to use Mold Release, so I had to cut the mold to get the piece out. I didn’t have to cut it down too far though, so maybe I’ll be able to reuse the mold later.
Alright, it’s a bit taller than I wanted, I would need to sand the base to fit it into the bottom of the pop can fully. But it is together, the light is in it, it’s all around a decent looking piece! I would like to have the time to sand it, but I don’t.
I feel like the bubbles around the edge add to it rather than take away from it. The can would be full of carbonation anyway! And it looks so good lit up!
I decided to take a shot at a possible arrangement. But I’m really not happy with this. I have a better idea for the final assemblage. Time to spend five hour gluing pop cans together…
Project Documentation
Title: Canned Crab
Materials: Aluminum Cans, Aluminum tray, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic spoons, plastic straw, epoxy resin, crab shells, sand, bull kelp, brown algae.
Reflection
The intent of the work is to highlight overuse and pollution.
I spent some time collecting cans for this project to highlight the aspect of resource consumption and overuse. I created a mold of one of the cans using silicone, then took sand from the local beach resin, and some small crab shells to create a false bottom. I built a structure of cans with epoxy to manage the look of a heap, then surrounded those with bottles, cans and trays. Once on the beach, I used a shovel to spread more sand over top of the objects, making them look more like they could have been washed up on shore rather than just placed there. I found some kelp along the waterline to drape around the back of the cluster, and placed an intact crab shell on the front of it, facing the false can I had created with smaller crabs in it.
I specifically chose crabs for this piece as they have been shown to have a sabotaging nature when trapped. The metaphor of “Crab Mentality” is described on Wikipedia as “While any one crab could easily escape, its efforts will be undermined by others, ensuring the group’s collective demise.”(Crab mentality 2022) This seems to be where we are headed as a society. We are trapped in this vicious cycle of overuse and pollution, content to drag each other down.
I hope that the viewer may take a way a sense of reflection on their consumption habits.
Wikipedia:
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, September 30). Crab mentality. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality#:~:text=Crab%20mentality%2C%20also%20known%20as,are%20trapped%20in%20a%20bucket.