Ephemera
Exhibition Text:
This piece portrays diverse personalities and emotions which all at one point seek a sense of peace that like the piece is meant to fade over time. This is a self-made piece created with found and natural objects such as; beans, flowers, and leaves. This was a piece inspired by ephemeral artists Andy Goldsworthy who creates designs with natural objects in places with personal significance to him.
Process and Brainstorming
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Planning
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Materials
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Meaning of the PieceThroughout this piece I wanted to represent a central idea that emotions are not long lasting and that the peace we all seek will also fade over time. I wanted to explore this idea by researching the symbolism behind colors. Colors played a significant role in the meaning of my piece. That being each color represented an emotion; pink symbolized caring and tenderness, red being aggression and violence, green showed jealousy, orange being energy and enthusiasm, and yellow representing joy and happiness. The girl was used symbolized our personalities, within the colors you see the different emotions that we have all at one point experienced. On the other hand, the bird was meant to represent a peace messenger which is symbolized by its dove shape. Within the dove lie mixed beans which are a representation of us, our personalities are all different and diverse such as the beans. And more often than not the peace within all of us will interfere with all of our other emotions. However, those feelings don't last long, at one point they end up getting mixed together and lost. The result being a few feelings left lying around for us to experience, and the beautiful peace/dove will get lost in its journey just as peace.
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Experimenting/Developing Ideas
The process of creating this piece required a lot of trial and error and experimentation. I new what materials I wanted to create but often found myself getting distracted by the materials. Multiple times I changed what I wanted to do because of many ideas that would begin to formulate after gathering my materials. Besides my distractions I also experimented with materials and the placement of the piece. I tried constructing my piece at the beach and within the sand, using rocks to outline a face. However, the method did not result with the expected outcome since the rocks did not look like a face. Also, I experimented on concrete and again the outcome was not successful due to the constant weather this time of year, that kept blowing my piece apart. Therefore, at the end I was able to identify which base or location would be best for my piece, which ended up being inside on top of a black poster.
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ProcessWhile beginning to create my ephemera piece the initial step I took was collecting my materials. I knew that I would have to gather things found in nature that were both beautiful and held many colors. Therefore, I started to collect leaves, roses, and other plants that held the colors I looked for. Later I laid two black poster boards side by side and drew on an outline of my designs. Then I just began to add the color by adding flowers and beans. After creating my design I then spread additional flowers and beans along my designs.
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Perspective |
Reflection |
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After creating my piece I believe I accomplished to symbolize a meaning of emotions or feelings not lasting long or forever. I felt successful in they way I was able to express the meaning or appearance of an interference. I also liked the fact that each part of my piece had its own symbolism that takes ones own interpretation to find. I also found my materials to be successful in creating my designs and they were not hard to shape. However, I found that my piece could have been more detailed and creative. When looking at my piece I felt as if it was simplistic, I lacked a general movement that I was seeking to display.
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Artistic Inspiration
My inspiration for this piece was Andy Goldsworthy. Andy Goldsworthy is best known for his ephemeral work which is directly focused on the environment incorporating natural objects to create sculptures that are non permanent and documented through photography. Most of Goldsworthy’s work is created outdoors in locations that contain a personal significance to the artist. His environmental work has been published through books and documentaries progressively displaying his work to a large audience. As an ephemeral artist Goldsworthy understands the his work will not be long lasting, however, this concept does not affect the artist as he says, “It’s not about art...It’s just about life and the need to understand that a lot of things in life do not last.” Goldsworthy’s work is meant to teach a lesson that is hard for every artist, he shows that as painful as it is, you can let go of a beautiful piece and enjoy it at the moment. Also, his work is follows a concept of discovery, objects that we rarely pay attention to and step over daily are arranged to create a beautiful piece of art. I particularly found inspiration through the art Goldsworthy creates with the arrangement of color. He is capable of constructing these pieces through the addition of color to make something life like such as an eye. The beauty, color, and concept of his pieces is what truly inspired me. I wanted to add the separation of colors to my piece in specific because I like how colors can help make a piece more appealing to the viewer. His work was meant to be enjoyed through photography and at the moment because it was not meant to last for ever as most artists would wish. Also, Goldsworthy’s art was meant to express life in general not art, meaning his art hold a symbolism about life which is an element I wanted to incorporate into my piece as well.
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Goldsworthy, Andy. "Melt". 2016. Web. 28. Nov. 2016.
Goldsworthy, Andy. "Rowan Leaves & Hole". 2012. Web. 28. Nov. 2016.
Isaacs, Susan. "Artists That Inspire Me: Andy Goldsworthy | Paragon Design Group." Paragon Design Group. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
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Connection to the ACT:
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your work.
My inspiration was capable of causing my work to display a color movement that gave it a unique appeal. Also, Goldsworthy inspired me to use different materials that are seen or used in a daily basis.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Andy Goldsworthy approach to making art about life is revealed through most of his work as he uses objects in nature or objects in life to create his ephemeral work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
A conclusion I discovered about Andy Goldsworthy is that he wanted to create art that would not last long and eventually be gone for ever which is something painful for an artist to accomplish.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was that peace is not long lasting due to our other emotions that we cant help but experience.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
An inference I made was that letting go of a piece of artwork can be an emotional pain felt by many artists everywhere.
My inspiration was capable of causing my work to display a color movement that gave it a unique appeal. Also, Goldsworthy inspired me to use different materials that are seen or used in a daily basis.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Andy Goldsworthy approach to making art about life is revealed through most of his work as he uses objects in nature or objects in life to create his ephemeral work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspirations?
A conclusion I discovered about Andy Goldsworthy is that he wanted to create art that would not last long and eventually be gone for ever which is something painful for an artist to accomplish.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was that peace is not long lasting due to our other emotions that we cant help but experience.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your
research?
An inference I made was that letting go of a piece of artwork can be an emotional pain felt by many artists everywhere.