colmore
01-17-2006, 07:57 PM
Hi, I'm an art student. I'm currently working on a project for a sculpture course in which we are making small (2' x 2') relief sculptures. The general requirements of the project are that it be additive (that is not simply carved out of some material) and employ negative space to a large degree, and also that its main impact be through form and not variations of color & texture, though it doesn't have to be strictly monochromatic or monotextural.
Do to somewhat complicated circumstances, I'm a reasonably experienced artist who must take introductory courses this year (transfer student, administration bla bla bla) The suggested material for this project is foamboard and glue. But, please, nobody puts foamboard in a gallery, and I'm just more ambitious than that.
My idea is to use copper and stone. The copperwork should be fairly simple, basic joints and some wire. I need a good source of information (currently in-print book, website perhaps?) for how to do this sort of thing. Also what are common techniques for finishing/treating copper in such a way that it "keeps" that is, won't lose it's luster over time, as (on the advice of a very good artist) I want to treat student assignments as if they were gallery pieces for the ages.
The stone is where my real concern comes. I (well my father actually) have access to a good, large volume air compressor, and I can get ahold of stoneworking bits. I'm going to need to cut & join multiple pieces, as the project will involve intersecting planes and forms and negative space, so I imagine that's going to involve sinking & gluing steel fasteners of some sort. What sort of stone would be good for a beginner to work with (I've got 3 weeks to do this project and have never done anything with stone beyond carving our dog's name in her headstone?) I want something that looks substantial and kind of earthy. My subject is a tape recorder and its guts, so part of the idea of the piece is the contrast between impermanance (a modern piece of electronics, a somewhat "unbalanced" composition) with permanance (stone, the idea of recording on tape) , so part of the aim of the piecWhat tools in addition to the bits will I need (I'm assuming I'm going to want to borrow a mason's saw.
And lastly, and obviously, what's the best way to fix copperwork and wire to stone? It seems like a lot of artists these days are using bare technical features as part of their work, keeping ugly welds and structural materials visible. I frankly hate this; it kills a lot of the magic and mystery for me.
I've got 3 weeks from today for the project, and I don't mind putting in stupid amounts of time for this. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Do to somewhat complicated circumstances, I'm a reasonably experienced artist who must take introductory courses this year (transfer student, administration bla bla bla) The suggested material for this project is foamboard and glue. But, please, nobody puts foamboard in a gallery, and I'm just more ambitious than that.
My idea is to use copper and stone. The copperwork should be fairly simple, basic joints and some wire. I need a good source of information (currently in-print book, website perhaps?) for how to do this sort of thing. Also what are common techniques for finishing/treating copper in such a way that it "keeps" that is, won't lose it's luster over time, as (on the advice of a very good artist) I want to treat student assignments as if they were gallery pieces for the ages.
The stone is where my real concern comes. I (well my father actually) have access to a good, large volume air compressor, and I can get ahold of stoneworking bits. I'm going to need to cut & join multiple pieces, as the project will involve intersecting planes and forms and negative space, so I imagine that's going to involve sinking & gluing steel fasteners of some sort. What sort of stone would be good for a beginner to work with (I've got 3 weeks to do this project and have never done anything with stone beyond carving our dog's name in her headstone?) I want something that looks substantial and kind of earthy. My subject is a tape recorder and its guts, so part of the idea of the piece is the contrast between impermanance (a modern piece of electronics, a somewhat "unbalanced" composition) with permanance (stone, the idea of recording on tape) , so part of the aim of the piecWhat tools in addition to the bits will I need (I'm assuming I'm going to want to borrow a mason's saw.
And lastly, and obviously, what's the best way to fix copperwork and wire to stone? It seems like a lot of artists these days are using bare technical features as part of their work, keeping ugly welds and structural materials visible. I frankly hate this; it kills a lot of the magic and mystery for me.
I've got 3 weeks from today for the project, and I don't mind putting in stupid amounts of time for this. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.