Serpa's Props & Puppets

21. Self-Directed Manifesto: Final

Where NASA was once the federal agency solely in control of spaceflight in the United States, private companies now flourish as NASA’s efforts to get back to the moon are faltering. “NASA’s Falcon Heavy” uses a private company’s rocket, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, to make a humorous display of how the rocket would appear if it was made or owned by current-day NASA, upside down with the three main boosters still attached to either other and a second stage already deployed with fairing halves split on the ground. The Falcon Heavy rocket is carefully scaled down to be accurate to the measurements of the real full-scale rocket. Knowing that modern day spaceflight as a topic is quite niche, the intention was to use a modern rocket that was the most “rocket-like” and a somewhat explicit title to get the idea across, although the lack of any SpaceX logos on the rocket definitely hurt in making that clear.   

“Prop Department” is an artwork of foam hammer props made using the techniques and materials of prop-making that are displayed to show the absurdity of themselves. As they are made using a mold taken of a real hammer and the mold is coated with silver powder prior to the pouring of the castable urethane foam (Smooth-On’s Flex Foam-It X), the props appear like metal hammers on this simple wooden storage rack. The paint application on the handles makes them look like the different, nonmetal material that they should be. The combination of the flexible high-density foam and tie wire within the hammers allow them to be absurdly bent out of shape which contrasts the rigidity that we know normal metal hammers would have. 

This work is a simple flip of the ordinary materials of a bowl of cereal, placed atop a white pedestal within a gallery. The metal utensil is replaced by a Rice Krispie cereal spoon while the typical cereal is replaced by individually cut and patiently cleaned sections of steel pipes. The disappearance of milk or any liquid is factored into the spoon having marshmallows/butter to make it a solid Rice Krispie treat. My intention was to make an artwork that is simple in theory, easily readable, and contradicts the appearance of an ordinary object, particularly food due to my practice of making fake things that may appear lifelike or could fit a particular narrative. 

12. Radical Theory and Practice - Self-Directed Practice: Final

“Modern Dumpster” is made to simply make fun of Tesla Cybertrucks by inflating their dumpster-like appearance utilizing the presence of a raccoon and their weak construction by making the model out of cardboard. The Cybertruck/dumpster model itself relies on the geometry of the original vehicle without any other distinguishable features and with a dumpster-like base to achieve its portrayal. Cardboard as a material is low-cost and effective for achieving the notoriously necessary shapes of the vehicle, reflecting that low effort build of the actual truck. The raccoon works to emphasize the appearance of a dumpster as they’re notable for inhabiting them, but in its extreme detail and careful construction it contrasts that simplistic, boxy, and boring appearance of the Cybertruck. Where the Tesla Cybertruck is designed to annoyingly stand out among other cars on the road, this raccoon outshines it in this work. 

“COMEUPPANCE” spawns from a hatred towards mosquitos and a continued push for unconventional interactivity in artworks within a gallery space. The oversized bug swatter with grip tape on its handle invites the audience to take swings at the mysteriously liquid filled mosquito targets protruding off of the wall. The swatter is the size that it is in order to encourage this strange action, and the mosquitos are depicted through drawings over capsules in order to have them be relatively closer to their actual size. I wanted to produce a work that was simple in nature and in intent, but would have a unique, humorous play to it despite a possibly lackluster appearance. 

I disliked Untitled (Forest) because I just read it as a mess of objects and shapes with no cohesive form and without being able to make out what anything really is. The lack of specificity in the materials adds to my dislike for its messiness, despite the fact that foam, epoxy, and paint are materials that I commonly use. The work is supposed to use commercial materials in a way in which they adapt to an environment like things in nature would, but I don’t see that coming through. The only redeeming quality for me is how it might be lit and the shadow it casts. At least with a shadow, a mess of shapes and obscurity is the point of it as shadows tend to overlap into one or few layers. Maybe something with that could be more interesting for me.  

“Fallen Armor” is a video showcasing how the object utilized in “Untitled (2)” can stand on its own as an artwork and how it was actually damaged by its usage. Despite not taking any actual damage from the action taken upon it in the other video work, the process of putting it on, wearing it, and taking it off left it breaking at some of the twine connections. This video documents it resting on the ground until the metal slips and the armor falls partially out of frame. The unintentional background audio adds to the ambience of this armor of possibly unknown origin as someone was drumming their own, assumably cultural, music in the park in which this was filmed. I think that the cars driving past also add to it as they conflict with the drumming and could give these senses of this armor having both industrial and traditional roots. 

“Untitled (2)” is an even shorter video work that emanates “Untitled” with a new upper-body suit that now resembles some sort of armor made out of scavenged wood planks, metal, and twine. This work builds off of reflecting on how one’s own muscle structure can act as natural armor. There was also a focus on creating a better object than the first video work, where the armor could stand on its own as an artwork without a person wearing it. The usage of pallet wood and found steel give the armor an appearance of being made out of usable materials found outside of indoor settings. The video copies the format of the original work to attempt to give some familiarity to it before the sudden swing, impact, and explosion of a dead palm frond cuts into the frame. I think the video element can be improved by taking more hits from random objects found within the environment, such as more palm fronds, sticks, or rocks, until it actually hurts or the armor breaks at the twine. 

“Untitled” is a very short video work that utilizes a clearly fabricated upper-body muscle suit to concisely speak on the concept of male idealizations. I meant for the work to speak on my own specific male idealizations based around a genetic mutation I have that can result in features such as increased height, longer limbs, and reduced/poor muscle mass. While these things aren’t really bad, they often have an impact on how I look at myself physically, good or bad. The idea is that the upper body features an idealized form with a relatively larger figure while my lower body remains unchanged with my natural lankiness, hopefully resulting in a humorous image. I believe that the male idealization concept comes across while the more specific intention of the work does not as I’ve found it hard to talk about it without necessarily literally saying what it is yet.