Self Generated Project

For this self-generated project I decided to use a pyramid I made last semester in ceramics as my subject. I have always enjoyed making more geometric art and sculpture so when were finally assigned “The Slab Project” in ceramics, I couldn’t have been more excited. 

To add interest to my pyramid, I decided to make a series of cutouts in it. At the end of each cutout a small raised cube shape reminiscent of the base of the pyramid is placed. By doing this, I intended to create some sense of movement in the pyramid and make the viewer feel as if the small cube was making the cut out as part of its trail. In regard to glazing, I knew I wanted to make it all one color so the focus could be on the sculpture as a single unit. I did some research on pyramids and their textures and was surprised to read that when originally built, they were shiny (https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/facts-never-knew-about-pyramids-of-giza). The idea of a shiny pyramid amused me. It made something typically thought of as dirty, ornate looking – similar to Sherrie Levine’s gold-platedreproduction of Duchamp’s urinal sculpture.

 

Since my original intention with my sculpture was to make something interesting and geometric, I took the same ideals into my production of a 2D version. For this I looked at various pieces of geometric art. I found one piece that created the feeling a pyramid shape through a series of simple lines  -- no crosshatching or shade, just a lot of lines. I decide to use the same mentality in my piece – no shading, just intricate line work.

When planning, I also began looking into other various pieces of geometric art. I explored optical illusions, various pieces of op art(http://www.theartstory.org/movement-op-art.htm#important_art_header), and the perspective and illusions of MC Escher http://www.mcescher.com). Just as Escher does, I wanted to make something that was interesting to look at; something the viewer’s eye wanted to travel around and explore. I briefly considered trying to construct some kind of optical illusion or something that conveyed a sense of movement reminiscent to the small cubes on the original pyramid, but decided to instead create a large perspective piece. Though we were not required to make a big drawing for this assignment, I knew I wanted to make this geometric piece larger because then the piece would take up more of the viewers field of sight and cause them to get more immersed in the lines (I know I myself got a bit lost in all the lines when drawing it).

 

For color, I chose something subtle and similar to the glaze of the original pyramid sculpture. After completing all the line work, I briefly considered just leaving the black lines on the white paper, but felt that the cutouts in the pyramid got too lost in all the times and needed some color to help emphasize them. Watercolor was the clear option for creating a ceramic glaze like look. Just how I made the glaze of the pyramid a single color in order to establish the sculpture as a single unit, I knew I wanted to make the coloring of the entire piece relatively even and consistent so as to not distract from the complex line work (aside from a slight shadowing in the “cutouts” to separate them from the rest of the pyramid).