Choice piece
Overview:
Title: Representation of Faith Size: 22.7 cm x 15 cm x 5cm Medium: Cardboard Date of Completion: March 2023 Exhibition Text: This piece was a cardboard recreation of a necklace that my late great grandmother owned. It is a representation of the faith that my family and I have. This necklace is very important to myself and members of my family, so I wanted to recreate it to its true form, as best as I could using the cardboard. This piece was slightly influenced by the works of Claes Oldenburg, a famous sculptor, as far as some constructional aspects. |
Inspiration
Since this is my second cardboard piece, I was already farmiliar with the works of Claes Oldenburg. When looking at his works I was somewhat inspired with how realistic the works look. The shape, colors, and material of the inspiration is going to be nowhere near how mine looks, however, I was inspired by the realisticness and cleanliness of the pieces. I was inspired by the roundedness of the shapes on the left because in my piece there are also rounded aspects. I was inspired by how random the pieces were placed even though mine would not be placed anywhere. I think overall i was mostly inspired by how Oldenburg rounded the edges in both of the pieces instead making all of the edges look like 90 degree angles. Since the inspirations are so different from how I anticipated my piece looking, it is kind of hard to pinpoint exactly what I was inspired by, but I was.
Planning
The first step in my planning process was to decide which object I wanted to use as my inspiration for the recreation. I though about objects that are personal to my family and I and also would connect to a deeper meaning that connects to my other pieces. I immediately though of an item that symbolizes my family's faith and religion, which is this cross necklace that belonged to my great grandmother. My great mother has had this necklace for decades, and after she had passed away in 2015 my great grandfather gave it to me. It is a great rememberance of my great grandmother and the faith my family has. I keep this necklace on a hook right next to my bed, so I can see it everyday. That is why it is important to me.
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Once I decided that I was going to do a cardboard recreation of my great grandmother's cross necklace, I had to do my planning sketches. The first planning sketch I did was of the top view of the necklace. The measurements that are seen in the picture on the left are the measuremnts of the scaled version that I am creating. I scaled the sizes 10x since the necklace is very small. The sketch was a quick rough sketch since I would have the original necklace right next to me, however, I did want it to be a thorough enough so that I could easily see which measurements go where, instead of remeasuring before I cut every piece of cardboard.
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For the second planning sketch I did the side view of the necklace. I wanted to include a sketch of the side veiw because the side of the necklace is very heavily detailed. The details range from the cutouts to the the little posts that stick up on the corners. I wanted to sketch out these details so that I could do my best to include them in the cardboard recreation, even though it may seem kind of difficult to do. I also including some measurements in this sketch for the same reasons I included them in the first sketch.
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Process
The first step in recreating the cross necklace was to create the base of the it. I took a thinner piece of cardboard and traced out the shape needed. I used a ruler to make each line strait and the correct size. Once I had the shape traced, I used a boxcutter to cut out the shape. I did this twice, one for the top and one for the bottom. I then cut a 5cm thick strip of cardboard to wrap around the bases, to create the 5cm height of the figure. Once I had the base made, I was able to add all of the other details to it.
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The next couple of stepsincluded adding the lines on the side and the little "posts" on the corners. These are both key features on the actual necklace so I wanted to do my best to recreate them. I started by cutting 1 cm thick strips of cardboard for the lines. I glued them onto the base using hot glue. This was done on most of the sides. I then took pieces of thin cardboard and rolled them up for the little posts. I added a few of these rolls to the corners of the base. The stick up taller then the base, similarly to how they are on the actual necklace. I feel like these small details were very important to include in the replica.
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The next step in the process was to recreate the top of the necklace. This was definitely the hardest part of the entire process. It was alost impossible to recreate the individual gems so I decided to leave that part out. I took the rolls of cardboard that I initially made and cut them down smaller to create the circular shape. I then stuck a rounded piece of cardboard and glued it in the center. I initially tried using elmers glue to adhere the circle down but it would not dry fast enough, so I ended up using the hot glue.
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The last part of the construction process was to create the loop that the chain goes into. I did this by taking a strip of cardboard and making the two ends slightly thinner than the middle. Once I had it cut to the right size, I hot glued it to the top of the cross. I left out the chain part of the piece so that the actual cross was the focal point. I felt that the chain would take away from the overall shape.
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I hen went throught and cleaned up some of the edges of the piece and removed the strings of hot glue. I used the blade to take of the glops of hot glue that was on the base and the top design. I wanted to do this to make the object more clean. This was the last thing that I needed to do for this piece. Overall, the time to make this piece was not as much as it took for the larger cardboard camer I made. However it did take quite a while to make.
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Experimentation
The experimentation that took place for this piece included figuring out how to make the posts that I placed on the corners of the cross and also how to make the top design. I first tried stacking small circles, however it was tedious cutting small circles. That is when I decided to roll cardboard strips. This is how I came up with the strategy for the top design. Once I scored the cardboard it was fairly east to roll it into the shape I needed.
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Critique
The differences between my work and the works of inspiration are fairly obvious and there are not many similarities. To start small, the medium of my piece is cardboard which obviously is not the medium of the inspiration. The inspirations are just random objects that Oldenburg decided to create and randomly place, while my piece had a very intentional meaning. My piece signifiies my religion and the faith that my family and I have, which is not the meaning of the inspirations. The inspirations have an immensly larger scale to them whereas mine is only scaled 10x. Also the color palettes are very different. One of the inspirations is all gray and the other is gray and red. Mine is just brown, the color of the cardboard. I would say that my piece does nt have a clear focal point, however it could potentially be the top circle. I think some of Oldenburgs works also somewhat lack a focal point because on the left it is all one color which does not really creay a focal point. On the right, the focal point is the red handle. These are some of the notable similarities and difference beween my works and the inspirations.
Reflection
This is the second cardboard piece that i have created thus far, so it was somewhat easier to work with the cardboard this time around. However, there was still some aspects that were difficult for me, as far as the measuring and scaling. I still found it difficult to get everything scaled properly while also keeping the true form. I wanted it to look as close as possible so that I could truly honor the piece that my great grandmother owned. It was very important to. I know that not everything may be scaled perfectly and some shapes may be slightly off, but I did put a lot of effort into it. I think the easiest part of making this piece was creating the base shape. Once I had the measurements and everything cut out, putting the components of the base together were super easy. If I could do this process again, I would allow more time for the smaller details on the side and on the top, but I do think I did my best. Working with cardboard is probably now one of my favorite materials because it is fun to work with. I love working with materials that aren't super conventional to recreate everyday objects.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause and effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
With my piece and the inspiration pieces I am able to see a cause and effect relationship within the simplicity of the form while it is also true to the original form. My piece has a very simple form to it, while it is also true to the original form of the original object, similar to the inspirations. The saw in the inspiration looks very realistic and simple, same with the binoculars.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Oldenburg is a famous sculptor who is familiar with taking everyday objects and recreating them with material and keeping them realistic looking.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I would say that I made the conclusion that recreating everyday objects bring people joy. With the works of Oldenburg being placed randomly is city settings, I would think it would bring people joy.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is family and religion. My family is very religious, so I wanted to recreate an object that would symbolize my religion and faith.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inference that I made with reading my research was that not many sculptors have specific reasons for creating what they did. As far as Oldenburg, I found it hard to see why he would create these certain objects.
With my piece and the inspiration pieces I am able to see a cause and effect relationship within the simplicity of the form while it is also true to the original form. My piece has a very simple form to it, while it is also true to the original form of the original object, similar to the inspirations. The saw in the inspiration looks very realistic and simple, same with the binoculars.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Oldenburg is a famous sculptor who is familiar with taking everyday objects and recreating them with material and keeping them realistic looking.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I would say that I made the conclusion that recreating everyday objects bring people joy. With the works of Oldenburg being placed randomly is city settings, I would think it would bring people joy.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is family and religion. My family is very religious, so I wanted to recreate an object that would symbolize my religion and faith.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inference that I made with reading my research was that not many sculptors have specific reasons for creating what they did. As far as Oldenburg, I found it hard to see why he would create these certain objects.
Citations
Cunningham, Ed. "Where to See Claes Oldenburg's Art around the World." Time Out Worldwide. Time Out, 19 July 2022. Web. 8 Mar. 2023.
Rose, Joel. "Pop Art Master Oldenburg Unveils Another Big Idea." NPR. NPR, 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2023. <https://www.npr.org/2011/09/30/140929475/pop-art-master-oldenburg-unveils-another-big-idea>.
Rose, Joel. "Pop Art Master Oldenburg Unveils Another Big Idea." NPR. NPR, 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2023. <https://www.npr.org/2011/09/30/140929475/pop-art-master-oldenburg-unveils-another-big-idea>.