Abha's blog

Final 2/3

Following on the idea of using no base to create an artwork, I attempted to melt crayons. I failed with this experiment due to the wrong selection of crayons, in the end i was left with dry broken bits of crayons. I want to continue using art materials to form a sculpture that creates an image of facial features, continue using crayons and more supplies. 

Here are some photos from Vernon Ah Kee’s works. 

By removing materials/ drawing base to draw onto, the purpose of making an image fails. However the materials become the canvas in itself for the total artwork, it seems to take a form of set up/ sculpture or 3D work. It fails as a 2D form of portraiture, however the outcome of materials becoming a base in itself is successful with creating an abstract form of portraiture and challenging the possibilities. 

For this experiment, I removed the use of materials to make an image. I’m not using any pens, crayons, paint etc. again linking this idea with the forms of traditional portrait making. The outcome is likely to fail, however there is a chance of successful results from the experiment as visual elements of facial features are recognisable. I crinkled paper to make some sort of an  image of a face. 

With closed eyes, I did lots of quick (30 seconds) drawings in attempt of making a portrait. Particularly portraits as there is the idea of life drawing, perfection, realism etc. The erasure/ removal of vision to draw challenges the final outcome. Chance plays an important role in the making of works - within both options there is another chance of how it influences the final works. 

After working with this image, I begin to realise the importance of view to actually make a successful artwork/ image. I decided to conduct a series of experiments that remove essentials such as materials such as canvas, paint, vision, view etc. - This would challenge traditional art and has a chance of failure or to be successful as a form on abstraction. 

Initially, I wanted to test the functionality of a box once it’s recreated. From the experiments of making a bowling ball, the cardboard work started to look like a face and expressions. 
This gave me the idea of experimenting to create something that reflects the purpose of a box. So when we use a box, it’s usually for the purpose of storage, packing, hiding and putting away. Well here I’m trying to highlight how it can also create the meaning of hiding/storing away bits of us as humans/personalities we aren’t willing to show. I re-created the box as a mask. The video captures journeys of change and new expression overtime, this is reinforced by the use of time-lapse video style. I used paper mâché to create my initial transformation of a bowling ball, pins and a lantern, during the process of creating the transformation I got to tear the cardboard box, this lead to changing the shape of a box into tiny scraps of cardboard. The second experiment was to try and recreate from the scraps and to do so, I used paper mâché glue mixture to reconstruct the pieces into a mask. The third experiment is interesting as it consists of interaction with the audience once the product is displayed. So would anyone try it on? Placing the three different expression masks back into a box is to emphasise parts of our personalities being stored away. The final transformation concludes the different ideas in which the box was changed and used the concept of purpose and curiosity.

My experiment is to try and test the functionality of objects made from the cardboard box. Here I’m trying to make a bowling ball and pins to see if the finished product would work.