CLAY
- a very fine grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
HISTORY OF (CLAY) SCULPTURE
The first form of sculpting was from the prehistoric age, the earliest artists making use of materials like ivory and clay - the Venus of Willendorf is the first known sculpture, from 25,000 years ago.
The Egyptians created amazing sculptures of Sphinxes and Pharaohs, and also decorated tombs with them.
In the Greek classical period, many sculptures were created of people, especially those in power. They used stone mainly but bronze was considered to be of higher stature.
During the Middle Ages and Medieval Periods, European artists used sculpture for religious architecture, cathedrals and churches displayed intricate works of art. There were Gothic and Roman periods within this, and in the latter part of the Medieval period, Renassiance sculptors emerged.
In 16th and 17th century Italy and France, the Baroque art style emerged and became widely accepted.
The 18th century held neoclassicism, returning to simplicity, in direct contrast to the baroque style.
Modern sculpture of the 20th century provided a break from the realism traditional Greek style and artists were influenced by work from many different parts of the world. Pop art uses things like everyday items to create art.
Now, many different cultures and influences are involved in sculpture.
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON SCULPTURE
Lots of sculpture now is very abstract and the use of technology helps to achieve abstract designs and shapes (in clay and otherwise.) Also, new tools are constantly being developed to aid the creation of sculpture. This includes the use of technology -
Though working in clay still relies a lot on the use of hand-tools (the methods of sculpting animal/human likeness into sculptures are still the same as they have been for years), other sculpting and working with other materials now uses a lot of powertools like drills. There are speed tools, saws, burrs, plasma cutters...
The main change is in the process of CAD/CAM (computer-assisted design and computer-assisted machining) and newer innovations like stereo-lithography (where complex three-dimensional forms with hollow cavities can be created by a computer-directed laser aimed into a liquid plastic bath which catalyzes into a solid form.) Several companies now use services where a person or an object can be laser-scanned and the information digitized so can be manipulated "in cyberspace". By using the CAD/ CAM interface this scanned form can be duplicated in a great variety of materials.
This technology would also be useful in creating maquettes (a plan could be made without actually having to sculpt it).
Another way sculpting has changed with technology is through health & safety. In mass-production industry to just work in schools, working in sculpture is now a lot safer. It used to be difficult to find out how toxic something was; now there is lots of information available in lots of places.
(CLAY) SCULPTING TOOLS
The tools in bold are ones I will have to use.
Divider
Hole cutter
Spatula
Cutting wire - To separate the piece of clay I need from the main block it came as
Scoring tool
Cutting knife - To cut parts of clay up or off if not needed
Trimming tool
Double/single wire end tool
Rolling pin - To roll the clay flat before texturing it, to add to the "newspaper lizard"
Texture rolling pin - To texture the clay and make it look more like a lizard
Hessian/other materials for texturing - To texture other parts of the lizard so they differ from the texture from the rolling pin
File/abrasive
MARJAN WOUDA
Artist based in the Pennines, North of Manchester. She uses mainly clay (cast into bronze) but sometimes steel, willow and recycled materials. Lots of her pieces are displayed publicly like the Black Knight in Ashton-Under-Lyne and two huge mating tortoises on the island of Mystique in the Caribbean.
She tries to use familiar textures like rope, netting, cloth and corrugated card to texture the animals, and adds a humorous feel to a lot of them. She tries to add human qualities to them, putting them in interesting positions. Most of her sculptures are animals - "Animals often give us the most powerful images with which to explore our experiences today." Traditional nursery rhyme, proverb and myth are high inspiration; she uses cats, dogs, lambs, geese...
Extracts from a review on 'The Mare's Tail' states that 'She explores the inherent tensions between the two sets of animals by the dynamic of the composition, and revels in the different qualities of fur and feathers.' It says "The most powerful aspect of her art is its ability to engage each viewer on a personal imaginative and emotional journey through sympathetic identification with the creature depicted. If all this gets too serious, then her maddening dogs, whether playing dead, dancing, or doing a ‘hand stand’ surely liberate the mischievous child in us all.'
Obviously I don't see myself making something that takes viewers on an emotional journey as I have never finished a proper sculpture and my past experience hasn't been too good, but I can definitely take inspiration from the pieces as sculptures themselves.
PEDRO LINARES (1906-1992)
A Mexican paper-mache artist who was the creator of paper models called alebrijes - he says they came to him in a dream whilst he was ill.
He made initially dragon-like beasts out of wire, paper and paint and modern day alebrijes are very OTT - fish on legs, floral decorated skulls, devils, skeleton figures... The process of making them consists of - an armature being made of reed or wire in shape of the body; newspaper being taped on to build up certain areas; homemade paste (flour heated up in water) used to add layers of newspaper to the frame til its firm and the right size.
I could have used this method to make my artefact (before I just decided to make a clay lizard) or could've used a similar design to examples of alebrijes while creating my clay sculpture - some of the alebrijes are similar to regular animals, but with crazy extended features.
Examples of alebrijes -
