My verbs, from Richard Serra’s “Verblist” (1967)
- Of Symmetry /equilibrium/harmony/rhythm/similarity/balance
- To Impress /mark/carve/dent/emboss/engrave
- To Knot /screw/tangle/band/bunch/contort
- To Force /cause/charge/compel/impose/coerce
- Of Layering /covering/overlapping/laminating/paneling/folding
The first of the WetLab workshops we completed to start off the Movement brief was focused on clay and plaster. I created two pieces during this workshop, a plaster slab that I let dry a wee bit too long, and an imprint of my own hand which I cast with plaster. Working with different manipulations of surface was the focus for the slab, and I used tools and my own hands to create different grooves in the material. One of the tools left shavings after the plaster was taken away, and I enjoyed the layered appearance of these. The cast piece has really intrigued me, the way that the impressions seem almost skeletal and inhuman is something I might play with in the future.
To continue the workshops, we created two-part molds on Wednesday. This was an extensive process, and not one I am sure I enjoyed. The process was very interesting, as I have always wondered how things like this are done, but like any beginner I made some mistakes that made this mold a wee bit difficult to work with later on. I had no specific shape in mind, so decided to make an egg-like shape that reminds me of a backpack. We didn’t have time to cast our shapes, so I am excited to see what we create with the molds as the workshops continue.
Artist Research
Rachel Whiteread’s House immediately caught my eye. Her work with casting the inside of things, what is unseen, is incredibly interesting to me. House was as controversial as it was outstanding, and I enjoy just how in-your-face it is. I like the medium of concrete in it’s simplicity but resilience, and the stains of the house being transferred onto the sculpture gives you a story within a story. Visually, I reach for linear lines and orientations, with often clear perspective lines and geometry, and there is something so angular about House that has inspired me. Continuing on with clear shapes and lines, Carl Andre’s Equivalent VIII is a direct challenge to the forever disputed question of ‘What is Art?’ Andre’s work, sitting on the floor, daring you to walk around something so “inconvenient”, has got me thinking on the strain of material and simplicity. Equivalent VIII is pure repetition, but I have grown to respect it, and I want to know more.