ORGANIC VS INDUSTRIAL
Artificial Love
22.5 cm x 13 cm
Wire Sculpture
March 01, 2017
22.5 cm x 13 cm
Wire Sculpture
March 01, 2017
Exhibition Text: This piece was made with the overall theme of artificial love. For generations, mankind has been trying to recreate many organic things, ranging from nature’s beauty to creating artificial organs. I wanted my piece to convey that while many of our body parts can be replaced with technology and artificial parts, our emotions and way of being can never be replaced. It's what makes each individual unique. This piece was inspired by the works of Gavin Worth.
PLANNING
Artistic Inspiration:
Artist Gavin Worth never attended art school and in his spare time has nurtured a lifelong obsession with drawing, painting, and sculpture. By bending black wire into something of freestanding line drawings, Gavin Worth creates sculptures that engage the viewer by involving them in their subtle changes. When the light in the room shifts, so does the mood of the piece. A breeze might softly move an arm made from wire. Most of Gavin Worth's wire sculptures capture simple human moments such as a woman adjusting her hair, a face gazing from behind tightly wrapped arms, or a mother gently cradling her baby. Gavin Worth finds unguarded moments to be honest and the most beautiful.
Planning Sketches
In this sketch, I thought of making a deer's head out of wire mesh and regular wire. The antlers would made from random tree branches. I wanted to combine nature with industrial materials to create this piece. I'm still debating whether or not I should add flowers to the antlers to increase its aesthetic qualities. |
In this sketch, I decided on making the outline of the human heart using wire and attaching it to a wooden block. Out of all of my sketches, this is the most easiest one to accomplish. The meaning of this wire heart was to convey the meaning that even humans can be artificial in their ways of being. It kinda of resembles the metaphor of having a cold heart. |
PROCESS
Using small pliers, I outlined the shape of the heart. When ever I finished making a curve in the wire, I would tape it down to the paper so that I wouldn't bend it further whenever I tried bending another part of the wire. It also made it easier for me to complete the outline of the heart because it prevented the wire from moving that would delay me in finishing. |
Using the remaining wire I had, I coiled it around one of my little sister's sippy cups to give the wire a circular shape. I kept the wire in place by wrapping the sides of the circular shape using the smaller type of copper wire. Lastly, I attached the end of the wire coil to the heart and made adjustments to ensure that the sculpture could stand on its own. |
REFLECTION
Meaning
For my piece, I wanted to convey that while many of our body parts can be replaced with technology and artificial parts nowadays, our emotions and way of being can never be replaced. It's what makes each individual unique. Computers can't handle any process that completely integrates information, so they cannot be conscious and capable of feeling. In today's era, technology has improved and you can basically replace every single body part for an artificial one. However, there is a limit when it comes to technology. Technology cannot replicate emotions nor thoughts. By making a heart out of wire, I wanted to let the audience know that while your heart can be artificial, the feelings you experience are totally real. I choose to make the heart out of copper wire rather than steel wire like Worth because of the color. The copper wire closely resembled the color gold. By making a heart of "gold", it further emphasizes my point that your emotions make you YOU.
Compare & Contrast
SIMILARITIES:
- All wire sculptures feature humans or human body parts
- All wire sculptures can stand on their own
- "Hands Clasped" and "Artificial Love" both feature specific body parts whereas "Corpus Callosum" features two human beings
- Both of Worth's pieces stand on a wooden block but I decided to have mine stand with the wire itself
- Worth's sculptures are made from steel wire but mine is made from copper wire
ACT RESPONSES
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
After viewing the works of John Lopez, I was inspired to create an animal out of metal, in a similar style to his.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regards the work of John Lopez as fascinating pieces and goes into detail about what exactly inspired John Lopez to create metal sculptures.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While I was researching my artist inspiration, I came to the conclusion that art can essentially be made out of anything. I used to be close-minded and always assumed that art was either drawing or painting. It never occurred to me to reuse trash or everyday objects and giving them a whole new purpose.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research was of artificial beauty. For example, many women look in the mirror and see flaws only. This is because the media has perceived beauty to have a specific meaning. Women wear makeup cosmetics to hide what they assume to be not conceivable to the public eye. The media falsely unveils to us exactly what beauty should be. This in turn makes women feel insecure, like they have to live up to some sort of expectation. Woman should instead be concentrating on the good things about themselves rather than trying to improve their flaws. You should embrace what you have instead of trying to keep up with the façade of being like everyone you see in the magazines.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading my research, I inferred that beauty now a days has no true meaning. It is constantly being conformed to multiple ideas and opinions. For some, beauty lies in the blossoming of a flower while some find beauty in dead leaves. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder .Beauty can be ugly, sad, or happy. There is no particular definition of beauty. Beauty is a characteristic of a person that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. An “ideal beauty” is an entity which is to be admired.
After viewing the works of John Lopez, I was inspired to create an animal out of metal, in a similar style to his.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author regards the work of John Lopez as fascinating pieces and goes into detail about what exactly inspired John Lopez to create metal sculptures.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While I was researching my artist inspiration, I came to the conclusion that art can essentially be made out of anything. I used to be close-minded and always assumed that art was either drawing or painting. It never occurred to me to reuse trash or everyday objects and giving them a whole new purpose.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research was of artificial beauty. For example, many women look in the mirror and see flaws only. This is because the media has perceived beauty to have a specific meaning. Women wear makeup cosmetics to hide what they assume to be not conceivable to the public eye. The media falsely unveils to us exactly what beauty should be. This in turn makes women feel insecure, like they have to live up to some sort of expectation. Woman should instead be concentrating on the good things about themselves rather than trying to improve their flaws. You should embrace what you have instead of trying to keep up with the façade of being like everyone you see in the magazines.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading my research, I inferred that beauty now a days has no true meaning. It is constantly being conformed to multiple ideas and opinions. For some, beauty lies in the blossoming of a flower while some find beauty in dead leaves. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder .Beauty can be ugly, sad, or happy. There is no particular definition of beauty. Beauty is a characteristic of a person that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. An “ideal beauty” is an entity which is to be admired.
Bibliography
- http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/09/wire-sculptures-by-gavin-worth/