Throughout the course of the organic structures project, I have encountered and overcome myriad design challenges, technical shortcomings, and personal hurdles. There have been many new ideas introduced to me that will undoubtedly alter my approach to assignments and obstacles in the future. For instance, the project began with something I generally find difficult, vexing, and generally unenjoyable: drawing from real life. However, after a couple hours of carefully analyzing the minutia of the natural world (or at least the more natural areas of campus) I began to find that the precise measurement and collection of system data was quite interesting. There are a vast number of impossibly complex and beautiful systems found in the simplest of natural examples and, if observed closely enough, in all things.
Though I have always paid close attention to the details of the objects and scenes around me, this assignment has helped to augment my preexisting love of patterns and systems. After weeks of sketching, sculpting, and designing from my chosen systems of the onion, I have grown stronger in my ability to quickly analyze, break down, and re-apply patterns found around me. Just this afternoon I found myself staring at a sign made from a piece of paper hung on a soda fountain. It had at one point been dampened, resulting in soft, cloud-like shapes that were more translucent than the surrounding material and thus more visible through the light of the machine behind it. I took this information and memorized the bleeding pattern present and added it to my mental database for later utilization. This is just one example of the sort of data collection that I have been doing since the start of this project. I believe that as time progresses, I will be able to amass a large enough quantity of detailed imagery to create things that truly stand out against their competition. One of my main goals as an artist is to build a body of work that is unique, and I hope to accomplish this through the persistent gathering of information that can be injected into my work or act as a starting point for my work.
This project has also helped me to advance my work ethic and improve my commitment to my art. I have not always been studious, and at one point I was easily seen as a slacker. However, my entrance into the college world, especially that of an art college, has helped me to enhance my dedication to my work and to increase the amount of effort I’m willing to put into things. This project, with its demanding requirements, myriad revisions, and numerous iterations, has pushed me as a student and an artist. When once I might have left out a possible detail or aspect of the piece I was working on for convenience’s sake, I now take the harder of the two paths in an attempt to get the best possible resort. Of course, this did not always pay off. I made decisions that led to sub-par finished products on a regular basis (I’m looking at you rubber tubing filled with plaster of paris) and was forced to start from scratch all the time. But thanks to my rapid fire and experimental approach to design, I was able to make corrections that put me back on track. This process of quickly devising new iterations, isolating factors that were not working, and adjusting for future design is one that I intend to refer back to on as many future projects as possible, because I believe it is one of the most efficient methods of creation. This is not to say I did not get quite frustrated by my frequent failures at times though.
On numerous occasions I found myself staring in wonder at the trainwreck that sat before me after what I thought to be a productive creative expedition. As previously mentioned, I had attempted to fashion a structure from rubber tubing, thread, and plaster of paris. I combined these media by sewing the thread through the tubing and filling it with plaster in an attempt to force the tubing into a strong, firm framework. Only after hours of work did I find that the plaster was incapable of fully hardening in a relatively airtight container. Because it did not solidify, the arc that the tubing was supposed to hold looked sloppy, and the whole thing was structurally unsound, flexing wildly and barely keeping upright. Basically, the entire concept was flawed from the beginning and I was forced to abandon it. I found this challenging due to the amount of time I had invested in it. But there is no use in pining over a broken idea. It is better to collect data regarding the experiment, consider its future application, acknowledge its uselessness in this setting, and chuck it. In the end however, I was pleased with the way my piece turned out. It was pleasing to consider that it would have never come into being if not for the rigorous retuning I implemented so frequently. One of my major motivations in my work is creating a feeling of immersion, and it takes a lot of effort and iteration to create things that implement this feature.
At the beginning of my research, I was searching hard for a subject that could be reasonably morphed into something that was easily analyzed and studied by the viewer. After examining a number of different fruits and vegetables, I found that I was repeatedly drawn to the simplistic complexity of the humble onion. On the surface it is a minimalistic tapered sphere with some contour lines on its body. But once dissected, it revealed a number of intricate, concentric shapes, circular or tear drop depending on the style of the cut. These were immediately accessible due to their low contrast and simple shape. However, the nature of the repeated shapes leads to a sort of hypnotic effect that invites the viewer to move along each iteration of the shape in a deliberate rhythm. In my studies I worked to recapture this complex simplicity. It took many individual efforts to achieve something close. Many of my first pieces were all simplicity and no complexity. This led to relatively boring work. But once I discovered needle and thread as a medium, I began to learn how simple concentric shapes can work together to create more complicated forms in the negative space between the stitches. This technique was implemented in my final product, and I believe that I was able to capture a similar aesthetic to that of my source material without recreating it. It reflects the systems that drew me to the onion in the first place without copying it directly.
Another helpful aspect of the project was its repeated emphasis on the ready display and communication of ideas. In previous work, I have generally created something I found aesthetically pleasing. I was not always working from structured concepts or plans, and many times, my work lacked any sort of intellectual foundation. But with the close analyzation, interpretation, and application of the data we collected during the course of the project, I have found that I am considering new art from a more informed standpoint. I no longer wish to design something because I think it might look interesting. I am growing continually more interested in design that holds secondary meaning and is rooted in deeper subject matter. Furthermore, as we progressed and collaborated, I noticed an increase in the complexity of both our creations and our ability to express our thoughts regarding them.
The many critiques that we went through had the massively beneficial consequence of raising the communicative abilities of everyone in the class. I used to be terrible (and perhaps I am still not great) at expressing my thoughts and showcasing my artwork to others. However, after much practice and many opportunities to grow comfortable in a formally critical environment, I believe that I am more capable as a presenter.
The structure of this project did a lot for me as an artist, but I believe that my biggest steps and largest amounts of progress were made during the portions that called for unabashed experimentation. When we were given the opportunity to sculpt with paper and materials of our choosing, I felt freed of restriction and able to attempt work I would have avoided in a more structured environment. When it comes down to it, my personal growth is up to me, and I am able to move faster when there are no rules to inhibit the path of my ideas. This is not to say though that I would have preferred that the entirety of the project be fully free-form with no structure whatsoever. For example, I accomplished more when forced to utilize only paper as a medium than when I was allowed to choose my media. I enjoy freedom, but if there are too many possibilities and available avenues of exploration, my brain tends to shut down. Give it one or two parameters though and it will start working overtime to circumnavigate the hurdles in its way. So in the future, knowing that I react this way to rules and restrictions, I intend to give myself assignments that employ simple but rigid rules that will help guide and motivate me in the most efficient way. I will not be overwhelmed with possibilities or crushed by the weight of too many constrictions and will therefore be able to accomplish much more in my personal work.
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