Monday, October 25, 2010

Where Oh Where Has This Kidney Been?










Our assignment for this project was to choose an internal body part, and create a much larger sculpture of it using cardboard and hot glue, and then add color to it. I chose to create a kidney. 

Before I could start the final sculpture, I had to create a small model in paper. This was more complicated than I originally thought. I started by making different strips that came from the opening, which a tube of paper with one open end, around the back, and back to the opening. This was not a successful method, so I started over. I took a piece of paper, cut a hole in the middle, and then created strips from that center that wrapped around to the back of the tube. This was complicated, but worked better than the previous method. 

Once I finished the paper model, I began work on the large cardboard sculpture. I started by trying to replicate the paper model, but that did not work. The cardboard wouldn't bend and shape the way I wanted it to. So I reverted back to my original idea. I made a large central tube with one open end, and added strips that connected to the opening on both ends, wrapping around the back and connecting to each other. I had to make smaller tubes around main one to prevent the sides form collapsing. This worked very well; my kidney was holding its form and standing on it's base, directly under the opening, as this was the strongest and most stable part of the sculpture. From that opening I inserted three tubes to represent the urethra, artery, and vein. 

I colored my kidney in pastels. The three tubes were colored due to their function; the urethra yellow, the artery red, and the vein blue. The kidney itself I colored in various shades of orange, starting at the top with a light orange, then a red-orange, followed by a maroon-orange color. I sort of shaded my kidney with color. 

While this project was frustrating and time consuming, I learned a lot. I discovered that paper and cardboard and very different, and do not behave in the same way; that colors can shade, in a way; that sometimes a base is structured for you; that the end result will not always follow the model; and that pastels are even messier than I had originally thought. All in all, it was just more learning experience. 

6 comments:

  1. I hadn't even noticed that the kidney was shaded different colors, but now that you mention, it looks amazing! The shading really gives it form and value, even though it's already 3-dimensional. Also, the veins really add to the overall effect of kidney-ness. Bravo, Erin!

    The only thing that bothers me is that it's more of a circular shape than a kidney shape, but that's okay.

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  2. "that the end result will not always follow the model" is one of the core concepts I hope everyone gets out of this course - I am so pleased that this was one of your main realizations! Ideas are just the start, where you take them once you get going in the making of your object is completely up to your own artistic interests. Glad you included the last shot of the kidney on its side too - this is my favorite look for this piece as it resolves some of the missed-shape issues Brooke brought up, while keeping a lot of tension within the piece. The photographs of this piece are also universally excellent - good job!

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  3. I really appreciate how you took pictures from many angles of your piece. I find the piece as a whole very successful as well as realistic. I can tell it's a kidney from far away without any previous knowledge as to what it might be. Your attention to detail on the three tubes is very nice, making sure they're in the right order and the right color really helps the piece. Lastly, your changing of the color on the actualy kidney itself is very nice and shows even further your attention to detail.

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  5. I'm really glad I got to see this piece in person despite the fact that you were not there the day we critiqued them. I think you did a really good job at accomplishing your goals on this project. You were able to create a round shape out of the media despite your initial challenges, and your addition of the ureter, renal artery, and renal vein really add some interest to this piece. My only criticism is that they go straight into the kidney where there should be more of a hole / opening (the renal sinus). But apart from being technical you did a really great job on this.

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  6. Reading Jared's comment made me finally remember why I did not remember this piece in all of your other works related to it. Its a pity I never got to see your sculpture in person, but from the looks of the pictures you did a fantastic job. You made a nice step from the original paper sculpture and did a great job manipulating the cardboard.

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