week 8: Final piece

My chandelier consisted of wire, string, a plastic ring, and plastic bottles. Each piece of wire was cut into long strips and then attached together by intertwining them to create a cone shape. It was challenging shaping the wire into this shape as wire is quite stiff and linear, so I had to constantly bend each section into the shape I wanted.

More strips of wire were secured around the outside to allow the bottles to be hung, which is shown in the first two images. Cutting and shaping each bottle took a long amount of time, as it was a delicate process; the string which was fixed onto the bottles and hung around the wire could easily break as it's very thin. Superglue was used to stick all the plastic parts together. There were safety precautions which had to take place whilst using this adhesive, so I had to ensure it didn't spill on my clothes, and around the area I was working in. I also had to be careful when using the wire as it's quite sharp.

To allow the bottles to hang, I knotted the end of the string, and glued a round circle of plastic on top of the opening of each bottle; this secured the string underneath the cap. There were mostly green bottles around the top of the sculpture, and clear ones closer to the bottom; The clear bottles blended in well with the blue cups as they are both very subtle colours.

 

I captured my chandelier in the dark, and during the day. The sculpture consists of various types of recycled bottles and blue plastic cups. I wanted to communicate the idea that each plastic bottle resembles sea creatures, and how recycling bottles prevents sea life from being harmed. The viewer can interpret this chandelier in many different ways as it is an abstract piece. The fact that the plastic bottles are visible during the day, but not visible in the dark apart from the lights, bears a direct resemblance to different types of sea life which attract their prey with lights.

 

At the bottom of the chandelier, I secured long flowing plastic swirls which represent the tentacles of different types of creatures. My ideas derived mainly from the delicate structure of a Jellyfish. The whole structure of the chandelier is delicate and fragile, but since the components made from plastic which is non biodegradable, it is also quite strong.

 

The bottles are suspended from the plastic ring, with fine cotton, which gives the impression that it is floating, and this adds to its delicate nature. The entire structure is suspended from the ceiling with a thin white rope. It is designed to hang from the ceiling from a single light bulb, but for effect, I have attached battery operated mini lights, and larger bulbs. I have secured them onto the metal frame,

starting from the top, running down along the length of it; This shows off the cone shape in the evening when its lit up.

 

 

 

 



 

week 7: Sharon Marston's chandeliers

Sharon Marston's passion is working with light, and this began from photographing costume designs. Marston was captivated by the woven nylon that illuminated beautifully under the camera lights. The measurements of the chandelier above the dining table are 1200mm H 1700mm. The type of light is a pleat light- woven polymer, end emitting polymer fibre optics.
Marston's creations are fascinating because of their unique and exiting style.; They give a sense of sophistication and glamour. For my final outcome I may include fibre o optic lights around the outside of it , but I need to think about how the lights will work if they are separated from the main compartment; Therefore I would have to place a light below the fibre optics to allow them to light up.
If the fibre optic lights do not work, I will think of another solution to light up my sculpture such as battery powered lights; I will buy multiple lights and attach them around the inside of my chandelier.
I intend to create a similar shape to the pleat light; My sculpture will include recyclable materials such as plastic bottles and blue plastic cups and will be formed into a cone shape.

week 6: My plastic bottle sculptures

These are my sculptures shaped like sea creatures which are made from recycled bottles. In the left photograph I have attached strings of plastic underneath the lid of the bottle using clear tape; The tape was quite strong as it held the sculpture together, but visually it made the sculpture look unstylish. The strings of plastic symbolise the trailing tentacles of a Jellyfish which flow underneath the umbrella shaped bell. I chose to use green bottles to experiment with as this particular colour is more saturated than others, and reminds me of an underwater creature. The sculptures above have been hung with very thin string which gives the idea that they are floating.
The sculpture to the right is much more compact than the sculpture to the left. I collected a few waste materials such as an orange carton, lemon netting and a green plastic bottle and combined them together to create a very unusual and asymmetric piece. The orange carton has been placed above the netting and bottle which represents the main body of the creature. All the colours that I have included are bright and colourful, and the green plastic represents the Jellyfish like tentacles; It also seems as if it's glowing, similar to how deep sea marine animals produce bioluminescence- many animals use this as camouflage, to attract mates or to scare off predators.
Further in my development, I will carry out some research into the dangers of plastic bottles in the sea, and how they are harming sea life and cause great environmental damage; I will include this in my sketchbook.
By using recycled plastic bottles, I am trying to promote the idea that they can be used in an artistic way. I aim to create a final outcome from plastic bottles shaped in a similar way to the images. I intend to communicate the idea of how recycling bottles prevents sea life from being harmed and is greatly beneficial to humans.

week 6: Aurora Robson's Installations

Aurora Robson is a Canadian American artist who works in sculpture, installation, painting and collage, focusing on themes related to the environment. Her work formally references recurring nightmares that she had as a child. The sculpture on the right is called Trichotomy. It was made in 2009 and is 48''x28''. It is made from plastic debris, aluminium rivets, tinted polycrylic and mica powder. I think Robson's work resembles sea creatures with long tentacles because of their unusual  shapes.

The colours she uses are quite vibrant, especially when they are lit up like  the bright yellow cylinder shape on the right. Even though most of her sculptures consist of monochrome shades, and have a simplistic form they look very busy and complex but at the same time quite elegant. If her sculptures included a mixture of bright colours it would have seemed too hectic and unstylish.
The sculpture to the right seems delicate because of the thin fragile form and light  pink and peach colours. This structure reminds me of a squid; the shapes are similar to the cephalopod, but this sculpture is a much lighter shade of pink.

The way it is photographed without any visible support seems as if it is floating and this conveys the idea that it is weightless.
The photo on the right is a gigantic vivid cylinder created from various types of recycled plastics. The way all the plastic parts are protruding from the cylindrical shape reminds me of the sun exploding ,a fiery comet with inner power.
. There is movement within the sculpture because of the continuous loops and patterns within the image.





MY CUP INSTALLATION

Many cups were collected to create this hanging sculpture. Each cup was cut into long ringlets which seem like  the tentacles of a jellyfish. The ringlets were cut at different lengths to give a sense of scale and movement. Each curl represents a tentacle. The texture of the cups have a very smooth and slippery appearance similar to the sea creature.
The broken CDs which are glued onto all the cups give the impression of poisonous tentacles; This is similar to the harmful tentacles of a Jellyfish. It was difficult smashing the CDs as they are very stiff; I tried to use my hands to bend and snap them which was dangerous as the pieces were sharp and would scatter everywhere, so I used scissors to cut them instead which was also challenging. There were safety issues which had to be carried out such as avoiding the sharp corners as you could easily cut yourself, and being aware of all the pieces which fell on the floor as this could also cut someone.

The way I photographed this image without strings to support it implies that the sculpture is floating; similar to Aurora Robson's creation of the peach coloured model. It isn't controlled by anything because there are no strings attached which connotes the idea of freedom. It seems weightless and delicate because of the thin opaque plastic swirls; Even though it seems pleasant to look at, the model is imitating a toxic and deadly sea creature. The CDs represent the millions of small stinging cells in a Jellyfish's tentacles, which are used to capture food by injecting toxin into their prey.
I could have improved this model by including small LED lights inside the top of the cups to enhance the colour of the plastic. For a more fascinating outcome, I could have included other types of recycled plastics which could have hung from the top of the cups; This would of given the sculpture more texture.

Further in my development I will focus on experimenting with other types of recycled plastics, and see which are the most effective when combined with lights. I will draw tracings of the sculpture images which i will be creating, to  see if they are strong enough to further develop for my final outcome.

week 5: Veronika plastic bottle sculptures

This artist uses recycled materials including plastic bottles to create these fascinating sculptures. they are made from PET, which inspires her because of their light quality, which close to glass characteristics. Richterova uses this material for developing light designs for her limited editions. Safety is ensured by using energy saving bulbs which produce minimal heat.
These incredible sculptures, which number in the hundreds, give new life to thousands of recycled plastic bottles that the Czech artist collected from around the world. The collection, called PET-ART, features all kinds of playful fauna and flora from an adorable cactus collection to a cluster of flying fox bats.
The way she creates her sculptures together in a cluster is more fascinating as it feels as though you are surrounded by various kinds of plants which are simply made from PET bottles. I think it's clever how the artist photographed the bottles in the first image against the white clouds as this enhances the blues and greens on the sculptures.
The second image reminds me of a hot summers day because of the plastics made into roses against the light blue sky; The colour of the whole picture seems very subtle and feminine.

My plastic bottle sculpture

I have recreated Veronika's work by creating flower sculptures from plastic bottles. The process was enjoyable as I was able to cut into the plastic and create interesting objects. I took images of the sculpture outdoors which was difficult as I had to hang a white blanket behind it so that the bottles stand out, but the wind was blowing the bottles and blanket out of place, so I had to constantly re arrange everything. As I hung the bottles on the piece of wood I thought It seemed plain as there were no other colours or textures included, so then I thought of collecting some flowers from my garden as they relate to my creation.

I placed a few petals inside the bottom of the bottles and flowers which hang from the branch; This creates a sense of movement. Also there is an interesting contrast between the natural delicate flowers and petals hanging and resting on the man made plastic bottles.

The viewer can interpret this sculpture in various different ways for example they almost appear like hovering UFO'S. The sense of movement comes from the delicate plastic petals of the bottles and their coiled stem. There is a contrast between the natural flowers and bottles as the flowers seem heavy and stiff; they drop straight down. Whereas the bottles have a sense of airiness, they appear almost weightless.
Adding the splodges of paint unifies the flowers and bottles as it creates an unnatural appearance, linking them to the industrial like bottles. It is almost as though I have reversed the roles, the flowers appear bulky and the bottles seem fragile like flowers.

To further develop my work I would include thinner string to make the sculptures seem as though they are floating; This will also create a neater look and distract less from the subject of the sculpture, as right now all the structural work is visible. Next time I will find a more suitable area to photograph my piece to avoid all the creases on the white sheet.

week 4:Freezing flowers and paint in ice

 Various flowers were collected from my garden, and were frozen in a plastic pot. I have captured the details of the flowers and patterns of the ice which I think are fascinating and quite mysterious in a way because of the cold colours in the first image.
It was difficult at times when trying to capture a close up as the ice began to melt, so I had to take as many photographs when the ice had slightly melted. I have intended to take abstract photos which I think I have executed well, especially with the second photo. This image can be interpreted in many different ways; It's quite hard to tell that it's a red flower frozen in ice. For some it seems like blood because of dark shades of red, and for others it looks like a landscape of fiery red trees reflected in a river.
If these photos were shown on a larger scale, they would look mesmerising.











 I have taken another set of photographs with paint combined with ice. I was inspired by Cliff Briggie's work. The detail of the ice has been captured well in both images, but the paint isn't very visible in the first photo. It was quite difficult taking a photo of the paint with the ice as the paint was dripping down the ice very quickly.
 The first image seems very abstract as the ice at the bottom seems cut off and underneath you can see a dark red line which seems like a dark tunnel; This creates a mysterious atmosphere. The ice reminds me of a close up of a white petal as the texture seems quite smooth and the bottom part of it seems as though it's flicking upwards, which is how a petal is shaped.
In the second image, the paint seems like vains because of the thin coloured lines of blue, purple and red.

week 4: cliff briggie

Cliff Briggie captures these fascinating photos by combing water colour and ice. He says, “I make photographic images by opening heart and mind to their naturally wakeful state—a vivid, raw, intimate experience’. I love the abstract effect he creates, and the combinations of the colours are mesmorising. Briggie allows the paint to travel down the ice to create different swirls and patterns. I like how each photo of the ice and paint have their own unique pattern and colours; they all create different moods and atmospheres. I love the contrast between the black background and the bright and vivid colours, I think this enhances them and makes them seem much more vibrant.

Cliff Briggie has been inspired by a line from Rilke's poem THE WAY IN: Whoever you are, some evening take a step out of your house, which you know so well, enormous space is near........ So, perhaps infinite space is right in the midst of our day-to-day life. At the same time, nothing special....very ordinary. But then, familiarity gives way to shock and awe as we come eye to eye with life's inconceivable spaciousness and vastness. Still we wonder--is this nonsense, clarity, fantasy, or the true nature of reality?

Some of his images seem as if he has photographed realistic objects and animals; In one picture was a creation of jellyfish, and I found this very extraordinary as it seemed very realistic and looked as if it had been taken underwater.

I have been inspired by Cliff Briggie’s work as it’s extremely colourful, bright and abstract, so I am going to experiment with paint and ice and create my own swirls and patterns.