Wax & Foil.

In Progress.

It's like building a snowman, only you're dealing with the opposite temperature!

Scooping the wax from the edges..

Piling the wax to the center to create a pile.

So far so good! When the wax is at the right temperature ( not too hot) it's easy to sculpt.

Materiality as the Basis for the Aesthetic Experience In Contemporary Art- Christina Mills.

I've picked up some key notes and thought provoking quotes from Christina Mill's essay on Art and Materiality.

The research for this thesis focuses on how contemporary art, in all its various 

forms, functions via art’s material qualities or materiality. The objective is to 

ascertain the significance of materiality in contemporary art within the notion of 

temporal proximity and to establish the importance of the physical experience of 

works of art irregardless of whether the artwork manifests as an object, as in the case 

of painting, or as an experience as in performance art. The aim is to establish the 

fundamental relationship between the viewer and the work of art as it originates from 

material experience in all its manifestations.

Considerations of materiality can be universally applied in the aesthetic 

assessment of diverse contemporary art forms that range from traditional, low-tech 

media to conceptual, ephemeral works.

The artwork’s physicality, those aspects that can be sensed and verified by viewers, is a first 
consideration; physicality impacts content and, subsequently, meaning.

Plan of Action.

Finding out my new sensitivity to my materials now that I've become more critically aware of my drawing strategy. I'm going to try these options out in order to gain a better understanding for what will or will not work. I'm excited for my final piece!

Mid paper review- responses and feedback

After the crit, I've established that its the translucency and opacity of the wax on foil that is my main focus. I was given great constructive feedback which has made me feel more confident in my direction.

Henrique Oliveira

Though Henrique Oliveira works in a whole different medium. I admire how he can turn his primary material wood (plywood) into a whole new material entirely. Some of his work carry a heavy, cemented weight while other installations feel more active or as if the movement was stopped for a split second. It just goes to show how far you can push a material and create a whole new quality to them.

Materiality Installation.

Below are images of the work I presented for my mid paper review. Cranking out the work has paid off!144 pieces were displayed. I am pleased with the way it has been installed. See next post for notes from my crit.

Wax melting and solidifying.

My attempt to document wax melting in a sauce pan and drying onto one of my many foil pieces! I'm interested in the varying qualities ( opaque to translucent) of the wax as it goes through an alchemy process.

Material Thinking & Drawing Strategies

First initial notes

I'm starting to pick out and highlight drawing strategies to drive my work to it's final stage. It is important that I let the materials ( wax and foil) drive the artwork.

The Accumulation, Repetition and Systematic is what I am focusing on in creating my next body of work. I'm currently cutting out same sized bits of foil, crunching it or half crunching it, and dipping it into the wax before letting it settle. There is a sense of provisionality through the making of this work as I do not know how it will turn out.  Installing the work will play an essential role toward how my work will be received. My options are still open so for now, it's al about cranking the work!

Marco Maggi

Uruguayan artist Marco Maggi takes everyday objects such as photocopy paper, aluminum foil, apples, and parking mirrors as the foundations for his precisely-rendered sculptures and drawings. Using humor, wordplay, and a range of visual allusions, Maggi uses his meticulous processes to explore the relationship between information and knowledge in our contemporary world.

The medium, he has said, interested him not for its process, but for the way in which it provided a “threshold between two and three dimensions.” This formal interest connects directly to Maggi’s longstanding concern with the variability of knowledge—the way in which overwhelming amounts of information are disseminated flatly, deflecting introspection or focus.  By making works that are both subtle and meticulous, Maggi encourages his viewers to slow down and reflect upon each object’s details and intricacies; that act, of slow looking, is a political act that runs counter to the dominant tendency to look quickly and superficially.