For Emily

So I know this semester you are really interested in studying seed travel. Some things that have crossed my mind are if you are incorporating clay into it somehow. If not, have you thought about the way seeds travel...whether they blow or fall, if they stick to animals, if they are eventually eaten by animals, and if they float or sink in water? Some other things I think are important to take into consideration are the types of seeds you plan to study. I think this could make a really interesting project...especially if you were able to capture it on film somehow.

Here's a really interesting/odd/corny video about seeds that can hopefully help you...




On another note I know the other day you were talking about going to Mongolia if you got that Fulbright Scholarship. Here is an interesting fact I found out. Mongolia's natural hazards include dust storms, grasslands and forest fires, drought, and "zud" which are really harsh weather conditions. I think that's really interesting especially if you were to continue studying seeds there. I think this project could get very exciting if you were to study seed travel in America vs seed travel in Mongolia!

Somehow or other, I also have Jen

Some sort of mix-up with the alphabet I suppose. I know you already have a post about your work, Jen, but I had been thinking about patterns for you so I'm going to let you know what I found even though Esteban got here first. 

I've been reading a book called Godel, Escher and Bach for awhile now and have become really interested in how pattern and mathematical/natural patterns like those from the golden ratio show up everywhere. The detail of your work and they way you described the super-absorbing process of doing it reminded me of the way Escher's drawings turn back in on themselves and the way fractals (based on mathematical systems) create sort of endlessly detailed patterns.  

I think the absorbing rhythmic quality of your work is especially interesting. I'm not sure why, but when when I see all the bottles, vases, etc. on you shelf I just want to go inside them. Probably because that's where my mind's been these days. But I was reminded of a pattern exhibit for children I saw in a museum once. The kids learned about patterns in their cells and their DNA and of the changing seasons and turning earth and got to be part of patterns with their body. Sort of like a dance. I wonder if your ceramic pieces could do bellydancing...

Last thing - patterns book: 

  

dear jason

after rereading your first post i was reminded again of a memory segment on radiolab--an nyu offshoot of npr. i listened to it over the summer, and it presents some interesting investigations that i find myself thinking about from time to time. how memory takes on a physical form, and how some scientists are working on ways to both add and delete memory (or maybe just causing brain damage? they're not sure.)

i also never got a chance to hear/see more about the drawings you were making in the summer. they're really dynamic, how big are they? AND when can we see them in person? I imagine that they've informed the 3d line drawings you're creating now. I was watching an interview with Matthew Richie, where he was talking about the infinite lifespan of a drawing--which really caught me because i think of drawings as fragile creations existing on paper (he was discussing this idea while projecting an drawing onto the wall, then manipulating it in illustrator, and having one lazer-cut in steel.) I'll try to find the context, and bring it to class.

the work you've been making lately is incredibly charged-- beautiful and disturbing. Your poem reminds me a little bit of Hugo Ball's sound poems in the way that you're reading them. Maybe you'd find some interesting parallels with a bit of google-ing. we watched this in senior seminar.

-emily

Catherine Hendrickson 1st project written by Samantha Grandy

Catherine first project is simply making pots. She really want to learn how to use the wheel this semester. So she is trying to prefect the art of making pots. The wheel is a great tool to make many different thing, not just pots. For example, you can make enclosed objects, donut shapes, tubes, and tea pots. Another thing that she is experimenting with are glazes and the different types of effects and textures it creates. Catherine wants to try to glaze her pots with marbles. She said you can put marbles into your pot and fire them so they melt and makes a glossy finish. I never knew that you could do that. I guess you learn new things all the time. I thought that was an interesting technique to use. She also want to try different types of firing as well, for example, raku and salt firing to create different effects. She wants to make at least 20 pots for this first project. She like multiples she said, so that way she making so many of them. One of the other things that she is trying to learn is how to trim the pots. For some reason she really likes pots and the way they look, so she is making them to keep at her house. Wish her luck. Shes never really has used the wheel before or the glazes, so its going to be exciting to see what she comes up with this semester. 

By Samantha Grandy

For Esteban

So, Esteban if you remember is interested in using ancient Venezuelan figures as a base for his first project. He has been spending a lot of time with these figures in sketches and hand building these little guys. It makes sense to me that he would start with these Venezuelan figures because of his own family history. I think that it could branch out into other cultures in the future though. Part of his work is incorporating robotics/functioning parts into the figures. I would really like to see sort of a little colony of these figures each with their own purpose. I also wonder about mobility/moving parts for the figures. If they started wandering around the podium or the floor that could be really cool.

I found a few things while wandering around google results that I thought might be useful for Esteban's project.

http://www.thesmileproject.com/index.htm
motorized/animated robotic figures that are interactive by Jason Van Anden


An interesting Teotihuacan figure that lends itself to having parts/screens added

~Jen

For Abby

Abby wants to experiment with different textures and different materials on the surface of clay. She is thinking of making abstract forms as a base, and then using paper such as music sheets or pages from a novel, to decorate the surface. She really likes water color, but since that is hard to do on clay, she is using this paper, wetting it, and then pasting it to the clay surface. Her ideas for the form were a hand, a vase, or bowl. I really like the idea of having text outside the form. I think it would be really cool if the text was something that meant a lot to her, and spoke perhaps of who she is. I really like the idea of the hand also. Or perhaps making a huge sphere and putting newspapers or novel pages around that. I'm really excited to see what she comes up with :)

For Liz

Liz is making puzzle pieces and hanging them from the ceiling. she said she really likes suspending things, and playing with the shadows those things make. we talked about the shadows the puzzle will create and how this is what she is really aiming for. this got me thinking about shadow puppets and what the puzzle could stand for. i am intrested in seeing the entire thing together becasue i have only seen the puzzle in pieces.
http://mindbluff.com/shadow.htm
i was thinking also that she could look into building something 3-d out of the pieces. maybe a box or triangle or some other shape.

http://www.puzzlehouse.com/_jigsaws/3Djigsawpuzzles.htm

For Brittany

So I have noticed that Brittany is working on a piece involving the sense of touch, while encompassing a playful spirit into her work. Texture obviously plays a huge roll in our sense of touch, and aids us in wanting to feel something, or perhaps leaving it alone. I think you should take a trip to the please touch museum in Philly. www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/ everything ( although oriented towards a younger crowd) includes objects of tactile nature. There is this great scene from the movie Patch Adams, with robin Williams, where an old woman is overjoyed at the thought of being enveloped in a pool of noodles. Although this might seem irrelevant I think that touch has a serious impact on people. I have included that clip for you here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyXxqE18skk I think you should also explore what touch means on several different levels. Think maybe towards brail or even the womb which permanently imprints every human with the need to be incompased by something else, allowing for ultimate stability and comfort. Thats why small children enjoy security items ( blankies, plush toys) because it brings them back to that feeling prior to being born.

oh and jen

WILL RAKE LEAVES FOR BATHTUB

um

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW2TqanZTNk&feature=related

For Alex

So we talked... I have your solution! I think to achieve the organic quality and to build the structures that you originally wanted you should be looking into paper clay. Completely awesome material! You can make very organic shapes and work off of it dry so you can build up little by little and then make something huge that is very strong/stable.

Examples:

Here are some awesome leaves that someone made out of paper clay and I think that this may have been the effect that you were going for with the original grass forms that you wanted. So it is possible to make it natural!

Second, You can make crazy structure from it. Can't make pottery like this with normal clay.


Ok last example. You can get this stuff really really thin and if you use porcelain it can become very transparent, which opens a lot of doors to play with the way light passes through or interacts with the surface.

I think you should really go after the grass forms because you could make them really interesting with this material whether it be with the way light interacts with it or just the form itself. I'm sure that you could start some kind of interesting dialogue with the forms if you execute it well.

Here are some sites that may help a little:

http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/porcelain_paperclay.htm
http://www.ceramicstoday.com/howto/htpaperclay.htm

PS... If you want I can copy some of my books that have info on paper clay.

Julianne

Alright, alright. From your presentation in class and your blog post here, I get the feeling that you're interested in space and interaction with space and your environment. I found a few places and things that may help you out.

The Please Touch Museum
Although it's mainly for children, it's a museum that is ok with touching exhibits.

National Aquarium in Baltimore
The rain forest at the top is a nice way to get a feel for an environment other than Delaware. I believe there's also a touch tank.

Now to get you thinking about your new found love of America: Washington, DC!
One of the best places to go that's all about the nation.

Perhaps especially the Natural Museum of American History.

And since there's puppet fever, there's a pretty awsome Jim Henson exhibit in DC also at the Ripley Center: Jim Henson's Fantastic World.

One last environmental link, Giant Pink Bunny on a Mountain.

for Ashley

You are sort of creating this massive personal narrative/invitation to others into your self. Have you looked at other artists that deal with self exposure? When we talked you mentioned the questions you have within yourself, about medication, what is right for you, noting changes in your moods and behaviors. You seem very self aware. You are using things like your drive to/from specific familiar places to invite people in. I have been thinking about that too. I recorded myself doing a familiar drive this summer. You have a strange mix of mundane/hyper personal which is interesting, a whole picture sort of deal. You also talked about this huge final installation that sot of represents your world. Is the connecting thing that they are all about you, or is the randomness/perhaps seeming disconnection part of it? Or should everything have some sort of bond with all the others? I thought about that artist who makes all the pills....beverly...

Since everything seems to come from inside I feel like the space needs to be very intimate, I wonder about where all these things will be and how they will be lit/presented and how they will be ale to invade the viewers space... how will we inhabit it?

Although your stuff is really personal you are dealing with some kind of iconic/heavy things.
sculls, pills, chemical imbalance your body changing location...

not so much memory but stream of consciousness?

http://www.haberarts.com/exposure.htm

if you are worried about connecting with your audience, you should take a look at this master of universality I put one of his images at the top.

I was thinking about self portraits, and I thought of Frida Kahlo. Her self portraits had fanstasy/surrealism and serious inner reflection, not simply an image of herself. I also sort of see a connection between this organization of elements or compartments of thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait

Sincerely, to Jen Hintz

This semester Jen Hintz plans to apply her interest in Islamic geometric patterning in different clay surfaces. Mimicking the visual instances of but doing away with the geometrical aspect, Jen looks at this obsessive and meticulous style as a way to “play” and disconnect herself from what surrounds her. The process, as she explains, she finds to be somehow therapeutic, while obsessive in a way. Jen finds both the finished product and the process involved to be important in her pieces.

Two years ago I experienced what it was to be inside a hundred years old Mosque in Granada, Spain. I must say I was completely astonished by the intricateness and meticulousness in the patterning that is seen everywhere, from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling, and doors to windows. It is an immense task to finish one of these amazing monuments, and the dedication from every single person involved is immeasurable. As I walked through the grounds of the Alhambra (that is the name of the Mosque/Castle I visited in Granada, Spain) many thoughts came through my mind, and these I think could help out, or give more ideas to my classmate Jen Hintz.

Muslims once used to be great rulers over west African and Iberian territories, and for hundreds of years they occupied many countries. With them they took their knowledge, art, and religion (like any culture would) but they did not impose any of it on anyone. Their beliefs were simply laid out before everyone’s eyes and, as in the case of Spain, their occupancy was very peaceful and understandable of other cultures, incorporating and respecting them. Years passed and the Moors were “kicked out” of many territories, and those that stayed were violently forced to follow Christian beliefs. Nowadays Muslims still face many problems as they are strongly judged, and most of the time erroneously. As I walked through halls of the Alhambra I noticed how much it is forgotten that this culture brought to Europe much mathematical and astronomical knowledge, much of which instigated the birth of the Renaissance. I know Jen does not wish to incorporate the complicated mathematical aspect in her work, but I would recommend her to possibly consider the disregard of Islamic contributions into modern society, maybe in the display of her pieces

The physical remains of the struggle in Spain can be experienced everywhere, as in their music, flamenco. The output of the overlay of cultures and religious beliefs between the two groups (christians and muslims) is truly beautiful. One can enter a cathedral and see how it was built literally on top of an older mosque, and how some walls of the mosque were conserved in the latter and are part of the overall structure. That could be another idea Jen can consider, the strong visible contrast between two very different styles and cultures.

Two examples of mosques turned cathedrals or churches in their later years.

Here is a song dedicated to the Alhambra ("Recuerdos de la Alhambra"). It happens to also be my favorite classical guitar song, and I believe it could help Jen when making her pieces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzKsNIRrV4

And here the wiki article about the Alhambra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra

For Tracey:

I've had ceramics with you before and I know where you and Kerri were trying to head with you plates ( you will get there, did I mention how excited I am to see the end result?) We spoke and you were talking about your randomness ( I can relate). So I decided to put some random/ not so random information on here for you. I started by looking at the concept of printing on clay, due to your interest in the two. I found this website, there isn't too much information but it is a start:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.printandclay.net/water_closet_workshop/movies/les_lawrence_movie.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.printandclay.net/water_closet_workshop/les_lawrence.htm&h=432&w=446&sz=825&hl=en&start=38&um=1&usg=__yBBgNBDH2MVxFqYMeAbcYfVLxH8=&tbnid=D_ChQ-QNmjfRiM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscreen%2Bprinting%2Bon%2Bceramics%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

If you go to the International museum of print and clay address you can find some of Les Lawrence's work such as:

(I had to throw a skull in there :) )

Also I located some MJ goodies :http://www.michaeljacksonart.com/index.php

The above site is a site specifically devoted to art about and by Michael Jackson. You have to join to see full size images but I thought you might want to check it out. It obviously reminds me of some of you past print work.

Also I am sure you have seen this before, but I couldn't help but add it due to the simple fact that it is a statue by Jeff Koons, is ceramic, and is of MJ:



Finally ...I think your art should do, be, have, resemble, express... a little of this:


Or you could take it this direction:
.

I spoke to Greg briefly in class about his plans for the semester and where he may be going with his ideas, and coincidently I didn't know at the time he would be my partner. He said he was still allowing the ideas to come to him and my mind immediately shot back to a scene of him laying in his pool for 4 days straight this past summer letting thoughts fill his days.

I remember Greg saying in his presentation that he spent a long time thinking about his past decisions and future regarding the career choice he would one day make. Was he sure he wanted to do art? "What is art" he would ask. I honestly don't know if Greg even knows at this time what his concepts will be this semester but I do know where ever his mind takes him I can be sure it took much thought to get there and I respect that. It is hard for me to even try and guess what direction he will go because Greg seems to be a very deep thinker and really wants his work to illustrate what he is thinking. Good luck Greg and when you get closer to some definite direction be sure to fill me in, I'm excited! :)

GREG! You're my partner, I need your email address :) Mine is catherine17302@yahoo.com

Well, my friend Sasha is exploring all the intricacies of identity and how to portray oneself threw art. What makes up an identity: race, gender, age, religion or memories? Its really hard to classify oneself because of the multiple layers that create the human personality. I think its very interesting to try and understand all the different layers of the human personality especially oneself own self. The more layers you can unfold the closer one can get to understanding who you are and as a result understand where you are going. I think you should look into psychology and about memory storage, it might lead to some new ideas. I have observed that Sasha is very interested in texture and outer surfaces. Which is very exciting and I think you should look into other types like bark or fo-fur.







http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Social_Psychology/Identity

http://www.identitytheory.com/visual/

FALL 2008 2nd blog assignment

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Monday, September 29th.
postings must be at least 200 words, include at least 2 different images, and at least 2 links to different websites related to the content.

THE 2ND STUFF: in this posting you are asked to respond to one of your classmate's research/work as presented here on the blog. you must also communicate with the person somehow (talk in class, email, IM, text, telepathy--whatever works to transfer information from their brain to yours). your posting should communicate a sense of where they are right now with their work and some ideas/thoughts you have for them and the work.

how do you know which classmate?? you should talk to whomever follows you alphabetically by last names. confused? check in with Abby to confirm who your subject should be.

This semester I want to explore motion, space relations, and landscapes. I want to use the extruder to create organic forms with clay. I’m really interested in the beauty of curves found in nature, like blades of grass. Also after getting my hands in clay again I started creating these little ‘worry’ pinch pots that are taking on a great form.





Next I want to explore the motion of water in a static piece. I want to create a mosaic wall mural, describing the motion of the ocean. The rhythm is just so beautiful and soothing.



Finally I want to create a huge piece of bacon on a little clay plate. I think size and spatial relations are really interesting and important to explore.

What inspires me? (and) Project Ideas:

This semester I really want to work with the wheel a lot more because I know that if I am going to invest in a wheel one day, which I plan to, I better at least make peace with the art of throwing. I love ceramic bowls of all shapes, sizes and colors and I really can't explain why the love affair- it just exists! I would really like to experiment with glazes and mixing recipes myself this semester as well. Texture is something I'm very excited to explore with these glazes.



I would also like to explore the concept of multiples and how that idea can be displayed. For my first critique I would like to have a large amount, atleast 200 pieces of clay molding around the inner and outer parts of my hand. I think the idea of creating my own "fossil" is pretty facsinating but also how to display the creation is something that can be very meaningful. In the past I've done work with multiples and in one critique I had for one such project, I learned just how important display truly is. This was the piece:

Abstract pieces also interest me greatly and so for this semester I would like to work with one or two ideas and form them into some type of abstract piece that can possbily be incorporated into multiples. An example would be the fossil project.

http://hildadeschutter.blogspot.com/2008/01/flockage-message-from-kirsten-hardie.html

http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/cat_ceramics.php?page=2

Publish Post

Catherine Hendrickson

'Roids & 'Ramix!!!!!

Ok, here's the rundown for now.

Trying to finish the dinnerware piece w/ Kerri.

Looking into playing with sound.

Want to think about some sort of installation piece possibly.

watch it

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11315646&ref=ts#/video/video.php?v=561409054704

This year I would like to start off by pursuing a growing interest I am having with identity. Although I have a few ideas that stray from this thematic presence, I would like to focus on what it  means to convey ones self. In terms of identity I want to focus on heritage as well as personal identity and events that shape the human condition.  As an end point I want to portray the people who directly impact me on a day to day basis.  

Improvisational patterning

Over the past few years I've developed a fascination with patterns. These patterns can occur in visual, audio, and movement. I demonstrated patterns of movement that I've learned over the past few years through dance. Similarly I have learned to play traditional drums from both west africa and the middle east. In art I have observed patterns and cut and pasted them together to create something my own. For each application I observe and learn traditional/conventional patterns and layer them however I so choose at the moment. So far it has turned into something almost therapeutic, obsessive, and completely given to escapism but I haven't quite played it out yet so I plan on continuing it. For the semester's work I plan to continue with my play to see where it takes me before graduation and being tossed out to find a "real job." Who knows, maybe its just a need to escape for the last few months before finding said "real job"

Since I'm usually a painter, ceramics is useful for me to play out 2d vs 3d pattern/form/ect. Because of that you'll probably see a fair amount of surface treatment in my work. Both the forms that I create and the way that I carve out the surfaces are important to me and my process. Among my favorite inspirations for visual patterns are islamic art, art nouveau, and 14th century french illuminations. For the purpose of ceramics I plan on focusing primarily on the islamic patterns for their ease of translation into ceramic and their geometric quality.


The mathematic equations behind the symetries for islamic patterns are highly fascinating to me although they go beyond my commitment to meticulousness. I can't quite comprehend how they work or how one would lay them out. Instead I mimic them and use them almost like toys, without doing the math for perfection.

My starting point for the semester will be working with separate double walled forms, moving to connected forms, and then to I'm not quite sure yet... maybe building together with the previous projects and continue trying my hand at making traditional ceramic drums (doumbeks/darbukas/dohollas)

I think that about covers my thoughts at the moment... some other things to look at:

http://www.catnaps.org/islamic/geometry.html



-Jen Hintz

Interesting..

I’ve noticed that I enjoy doing things on a large scale. I also like taking a shape or design and repeating it over and over, but often in a different size or at a different level in space. Also, I want to learn how to throw large pots on the wheel. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a nerd, and I have found myself occasionally day dreaming of what kinds of different pots I can make. So learning how to make them is definitely a goal of mine.
I do want to experiment with different types of clay as well as firing. I would like to try using porcelain. However, I really want t do a huge pit firing. Last year Jeremy Tan and I talked about going to the beach or something and doing one, but it never happened. It would be awesome if we could do one!
Some pieces I really like are by artists such as Marianne Lovink and Corinna Ghaznavi. Here are some websites I was looking at:

http://www.katharinemulherin.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=43&Count=0

http://whipup.net/category/ceramics-wood-glass/

Esteban Pilonieta - Proposal

This semester I want to try and re-interpret Venezuelan indigenous pre-Columbian artifacts. By using their style and techniques I hope to create something that is my own, maybe by incorporating modern mediums, styles or simply different meanings. I would also like to experiment with how two completely different materials can influence each other, as for example clay and metal, or clay and silk. The basic process I would like to go through in order to make something concise (to me) out of the whole "modern Venezuelan artifacts" would be as follows:

1 - Immerse myself completely in the indigenous style by drawing (as blue prints I guess) their artifacts, designs, weaves, etc.
2 - Try and duplicate them by using alike styles, clay and burning methods.
3 - Interpret and manipulate the figurines my own way until they become something completely different, and ?modern?

The 3 steps are very basic, but as I go through all this I also want to try some other things with the objects (or characters, or whatever they might become eventually). For example, motorizing them.
A couple of things really stick out in the research I've done about their artifacts though, like the religious meaning behind them, how all designs represent the tribe in question, etc etc. So, another thought I had was to create my own religion and depict the "gods" I create with my own modernized style.
There is also the issue of the environment in which the indigenous that created the artifacts I'm looking at lived in, and the one I currently live in. Even when comparing the "Venezuela" (apostrophes since for them the land wasn't really denominated through boundaries in any way) and the one I've seen. Venezuela was, and still is, a very beautiful country, and small as it might be, it has it all (mountains, desserts, beaches, amazon...). The indigenous that lived in the terrains had very "weird" customs to the Western eye, so most of them were killed, but some where respected and left alone, some where just simply inside the lands and never found until modernization and modernity reached them. A Venezuelan person nowadays is quite hard to describe, but basically we are very happy people, who like to live comfortably even in the worst situations, who keep a strong sense of humor no matter what, and party until your body gives out. The judiciary system is pretty messed up (yeah, slang, but its the best way to describe it). It is Kafka's nightmare to be eaxact....

Let's see where this goes. Hopefully, somewhere interesting....

This is a big part of the current "Chavez" Venezuela:

This is where I'm from, Merida: