Ephemera
Title: Deterioration
Size: 8 x 30 cm
November 2016
Exhibition Text
“Deterioration” is an Ephemera piece that exhibits the retrogressive life of mankind. “Deterioration” was inspired by Francis Picabia who created a piece called Untitled (Match-Woman I), 1920 in which he used everyday items to create a woman. In “Deterioration” I used matches to create what would represent humanity and burned it to signify the decay of humanity.
The Meaning
Deterioration focuses on the way humanity has diminished over time and how we don't really appreciate or notice something until something bad happens or it gets damaged. The burning man symbolises humanity and how humanity is made out of simple, but yet complex feelings, emotions and thoughts that make us a whole. This human is made out of matches because normally matches are used and then rapidly thrown away, I decided to use matches to represent the way that humanity behaves, how we destroy everything that we touch and how decomposed our society is. The way that the human figure turns out to be in the end is way different than what it looks like in the beginning, and this is the reality of our society, at some point it was great and just, now its all decomposed and horrible. Throughout this piece I wanted to exhibit the feeling that I get whenever I see careless people that are materialistic and corrupt, I belief that art can open people's minds, therefore I want to let people notice these things by using my ideas and converting them into meaninful art.
Experimentation
From the beginning I was experimenting with the type of material that I wanted to use in order to create the human figure, therefore in order to exhibit my meaning in the best way possible I decided to use wooden matches.
After I was done sketching and doing some research, I had to experiment on the surface that I was going to be building the piece in, I experimented first without a surface, that did not work at all. Then I sketched the human figure in a bright piece of paper and putted the paper in a plastic cover. This plastic cover did not work as well as I thought, since every time the hot glue would touch the plastic, the plastic would melt and it was really hard to get the matches out of the burned plastic. At the end I was able to experiment with a mirror. I found that the mirror was the best surface to work on since the hot glue would stick to it, but it would come off easily. Later as I was building the piece I experimented by building the piece all together, this did not work because the full body did not have enough support to hold itself, therefore I started all over and created a solution to the problem. What I decided to do was to built each piece of the body separately and then join the together with hot glue. Gluing the pieces together was also my experimentation because I tried to glue them directly to the surface and wait for the glue to cool down, but this didn't work because as I was pulling the piece off the surface, the matches would fall apart of break; instead I glued first the pieces together, by taking match by match and gluing them together and then out of those matches create the feature. After I had all of the features done, I glued them together carefully and then placed the features on the surface. In order for the piece to hold itself up, I made some supports to the legs (bottom of the piece) so that when the time came to burn it, it would stand by itself.
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Here I drew the silhouette on a bright piece of paper so that I could see the figure better as I was making the final piece
Once I decided to use the mirror, i took a marker and drew the figure in the surface, so that as I was working I could follow the pattern
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My final time of experimentation was when I had to burn the human figure. I was trying to find a space to burn the piece where the background was not distracting the emphasis on the human and it looked neat. This was a hard task to do because there was not a lot of clean and neat spaces around the place that I was developing this part of my process, so I decided to just do it in the deck. This was a bad decision because I wasn't able to place the piece on the same spot for the whole time, therefore my camera wasn't in the same position and place. This dramatically damaged my piece because on the pictures there was not a lot of detail that one could see and the background of the photo was distracting and not neat. Because of this I had to recreate the human figure and also create a set where I would have to burn the piece. I did this by placing a white base and a brown background, this turned out to be great because these colors did not take any emphasis away from the sculpture.
The last part of my experimentation was the way that I was going to burn the sculpture. I wanted to burn the sculpture outside at night, so that the pictures could be taken only for the figure of the fire and how the sculpture decomposed throughout the process. Trying to have an even way of which the fire would burn the piece was really hard, because I was not able to control the wind, not the fire, therefore the wid and the fire worked together to burn this piece. I wanted the whole piece to burn at the same time, unfortunately this did not happen because of all the obstacles that I had in the creation of the piece.
Finally, I had to experiment in the way that I took the pictures of the human burning, At the beginning I did not set up a spot for my camera to stay in place, not an specific place to where the sculpture was going to stand for the whole process, as a result the pictures did not turn out to be good quality and the burning process was not clearly visible.
Finally, I had to experiment in the way that I took the pictures of the human burning, At the beginning I did not set up a spot for my camera to stay in place, not an specific place to where the sculpture was going to stand for the whole process, as a result the pictures did not turn out to be good quality and the burning process was not clearly visible.
Process
1. Gathering ideas
The first thing that had to be done was to find some inspiration and ideas that I could be inspired on in order to create my piece. On an exhibit that I went to I saw a piece by Francis Picabia called Untitled (Match-Woman I), 1920. This piece quickly got my attention because the woman was made out of common objects, there were a lot of matches and that is what gave my the inspiration to create a hum figure out of matches. Then I also researched some of the artist life and what the meaning of his work was, so that I could have some background knowledge in order to continue with the process.
The first thing that had to be done was to find some inspiration and ideas that I could be inspired on in order to create my piece. On an exhibit that I went to I saw a piece by Francis Picabia called Untitled (Match-Woman I), 1920. This piece quickly got my attention because the woman was made out of common objects, there were a lot of matches and that is what gave my the inspiration to create a hum figure out of matches. Then I also researched some of the artist life and what the meaning of his work was, so that I could have some background knowledge in order to continue with the process.
2. Finding the meaning
While I was doing my research, I researched about what burning something means and other options that I had in my mind before I actually created a sketch. With the research I did, I was able to come up with the theme of the piece and start looking at my inspiration for ideas. Then I sketched all of the ideas and meanings that interested me, and then narrow down my thee and finally choose a final meaning that would collide with the final piece.
While I was doing my research, I researched about what burning something means and other options that I had in my mind before I actually created a sketch. With the research I did, I was able to come up with the theme of the piece and start looking at my inspiration for ideas. Then I sketched all of the ideas and meanings that interested me, and then narrow down my thee and finally choose a final meaning that would collide with the final piece.
3. Transferring my ideas
By transferring my ideas onto a piece of paper it is more clear to see what looks good and what relates to the meaning. I started by sketching some basic ideas based on the theme that I decided to do, and then from those basic ideas I started to create some real sketches. I was able to create four different sketches that would look good and would exhibit my meaning.
By transferring my ideas onto a piece of paper it is more clear to see what looks good and what relates to the meaning. I started by sketching some basic ideas based on the theme that I decided to do, and then from those basic ideas I started to create some real sketches. I was able to create four different sketches that would look good and would exhibit my meaning.
4. Creating my final sketch
In order to create my final sketch I had to decide which of my previous sketches could exhibit my meaning the best. As I was looking at those sketches I came to realize that I wanted to portray the way humans are becoming worst and worst every time, so I decided that the final sketch was going to be the full body of a human and I made it in a way that the gender is not visible, because I am focusing on humanity itself, not an specific gender.
5. Creating the final piece First of all, I had to transfer the final sketch into a larger piece of paper where I could use as a guideline to place the matches in the shape of the human. Then I transferred that stencil into the mirror, so that later I could start composing the final piece. Then I started to glue two by two matches and then glue two pairs of two together to have a total of four matches glued together. This was a long process, but this helped me to keep the figure flat and manageable for me to continue building. Once I had a lot of these matches together, I started to shape each section of the body separately, by using matches and flipping them every time, so that the figure could have the head of the matches all around it and not only in one side. Once I was done building each feature of the body I started to glue piece by piece together. First I glued the legs to the torso, then I added the arms and finally the head. I did this my gluing each piece and then letting it cool before attaching another piece. This turned out to be the best technique to assemble the features into a body. After letting it cool all the way, I started to add some matches diagonally to the back of the piece, so that these could add stability to the human sculpture, once that was done, I proceeded to add the supports to the legs so that it could stand by its own. I made a triangle shape and attached it to the bottom of each leg, as a result the piece was able to stand on its own. Finally, I melted any additional glue that was placed in the wrong spot and let it cooled completely before getting into the next step. |
6. Ephemera
The final step of the process is to burn the piece and take pictures of the burning process. In order to achieve my goal of making the human figure burn properly, I first placed the piece on a set that I had previously created using two other different surfaces. Then after placing the piece and the camera on place I took a picture of the piece before burning it, afterward I started to burn in by the had first and then the arms, until eventually it would just burn on its own and collapsed until it stops burning. Throughout this process I was taking pictures without moving my camera, the only time that I decided to move my camera was when the human collasped and I had to adjust the angle of the camera to be able to see a complete picture of the burning process. After the piece was done burning, I waited until the matches were all used and black to take a final picture of the final piece.
The final step of the process is to burn the piece and take pictures of the burning process. In order to achieve my goal of making the human figure burn properly, I first placed the piece on a set that I had previously created using two other different surfaces. Then after placing the piece and the camera on place I took a picture of the piece before burning it, afterward I started to burn in by the had first and then the arms, until eventually it would just burn on its own and collapsed until it stops burning. Throughout this process I was taking pictures without moving my camera, the only time that I decided to move my camera was when the human collasped and I had to adjust the angle of the camera to be able to see a complete picture of the burning process. After the piece was done burning, I waited until the matches were all used and black to take a final picture of the final piece.
Artist Inspiration
For my ephemera piece I was inspired by Francis Picabia. This artist was one of the main figures of the Dada movement. He is best known for his pieces that foreshadow aspects of conceptual art, such as his piece "The Handsome Pork-Butcher".
The idea that a person can be made up of matches fascinated me, therefore I decided to use this as my inspiration and use the matches to create the human figure for my final piece. In Untitled (Match-Woman I), Picabia used common artifacts to create the figure of a woman, such as wooden matches, string and pennies, this was what inspired me the most, since I wanted to create a piece with things that we may use in our daily bases that we don't really appreciate, but once they are gone one really understands how important that item actually is. |
Francis Picabia
French, 1879–1953
French, 1879–1953
Reflection
Overall Deterioration was a success. Deterioration focused on how humanity has been decomposing over time and how we don't really notice anything until something is gone or damaged and I belief that Deterioration clearly exhibits this meaning. The process was also a success because after the experimentation the process went more smoothly and I was able to achieve my goals for every step that I took. Some of the limitation that I had with Deterioration were that I had a lot of obstacles when building the piece, because even though I had experience with matches and hot glue, I had never experience them together, therefore I struggled to built the sculpture. Another limitation that I had was the setup of the burning process, I clearly had no experience in photography and because of this I was not able to get accurate photos the first time, the second time I did the process I was able to use my experience and create better photos. If I were to do this piece again, I would probably have more caution with the hot glue gun, because it really hurts when one gets burn. Also, I would get some tools to hold the matches while applying hot glue to them, so that the application can be more evenly and less dangerous. I am pleased with my final piece due to the fact that it exhibits my meaning and I was able to use some past knowledge and gain knowledge from this project.
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration was Francis Picabia and in his work he uses common, daily use items that one might not appreciate a lot, but because of this I decided to use matches and represent the same meaning as Picabias and show how everything is important to humanity, even the smallest objects.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author of my research focused mostly on the way that Picabia used daily items to create beautiful and exotic pieces, the author explained how Picabia uses a lot of foreshadowing and as a result he creates these amazing pieces.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that the environment that one comes from extremely influences the techniques and the ideas that once does and creates.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme of my inspiration was about learning that everyday things are as valuable as any other thing. Also that these items can create some of the most beautiful things.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Some inferences that I made were that having a meaning is truly important for the piece, also that there is more than just painting to create some amazing pieces.
Bibliography
"About This Artwork." Untitled (Match-Woman I) | The Art Institute of Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
"Animated GIF Makerimages to Gif." Images to GIF Maker - Imgflip. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2016.
"Animated GIF Makerimages to Gif." Images to GIF Maker - Imgflip. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2016.