Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Jesus does not go in the dishwasher
I have this mug that used to have an image of Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, clipping coupons, with the saying, "Jesus Saves." When you put a hot liquid in it, the image of Jesus would become clean-shaven and the saying changed to, "Jesus Shaves." One day, my roommate, Sara, accidentally put Jesus in the dishwasher. As I was unloading the dishwasher, I noticed that Jesus had been disfigured. "Dammit Sara! You crucified Jesus!"
Friday, May 27, 2011
Art Class #3
Valerie Vanderkolk
3-D Form
Project 3 Response
Professor
April 14, 2009
01. In your own words / from your own understanding, what was the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project was to use language as a starting point for a piece of work and also to work with wood. It is important to be able to take language (a word) and be able to translate it into a visual. We also get to spend some quality time with Walt where he teaches each of us how to take the blade out of the scroll saw.
02. Describe your work (critically, visually, and conceptually).
For this piece, I decided to use a plywood that would splinter and break better than the much more processed MDF. Plywood, which is not pressure treated will take paint much easier than the MDF because it does not have a smooth surface, it has rough surface and will be absorbed into the wood.
03. Explain the staging of your work. How is it presented to the viewer and what makes it appropriate in this context?
For this piece, I wanted to create a sense of gravity, so I staged to work to hint that the piece had fallen off of the wall and fractured on the floor. I had one single letter nailed on the wall, while the rest of the letters where either lying flat on the floor or propped up against each other, tacked together with glue. Each of the letters had been broken and wired back together with a large “staple.”
04. What terms did you find essential in maintaining a critical dialogue with the project, and…
04. how does your project make use of this vocabulary?
When I looked up the word “fracture” in the dictionary, I pulled more inspiration for the piece from the second definition which talked about the fracture of bones and I wanted to treat each of the letters like a bone which needed a pin to put it back together.
05. In what way or ways is your project successful?
The performance of reading the definition from the dictionary was very successful and people were able to guess the word without knowing the word ahead of time.
06. In what way or ways is your project unsuccessful?
The splintered could have been bigger and I wished it had won when I took it out to races last week.
07. Are you satisfied with your work?
If you were to recreate your project, what, if anything, would you do differently? If I were to recreate this project, I would break the pieces after I had painted them. I broke the pieces before I painted them, and the paint softened the fractures on each of the letters.
08. If you were to alter your work outside the parameters of this assignment, what would you do differently and why?
I would not have use a flat color, I would have painted the letters to look like bones.
09. What did you learn during the execution of this project?
I learned how to take the blade out of the scroll saw and I love Scotch. Scotch, Scotch, Scotch.
10. Do you have any personal thoughts that you would like to share with regard to this project?
When I was right out high school, I worked for two summers as an intern at Heritage Theatre Group in Grand Rapids, MI. We spent the majority of the time building scenery for all of the plays and there I first learned how to use most of the power tools we used in this project (except that most of the saws did not safety guards on them). When I first learned how to use a table saw, the scene shop foreman/ set designer told a horror story about how one of his workers in the past almost cut his fingers off while using the table saw, and then he had me cut roughly 20 different pieces for the set, after he scared the crap out me. To this day, I am still morbidly afraid of table saws and I do believe that the most terrifying thing in the world is a table saw with snakes on it.
One tool that I am glad we did not have to use in this project, is my arch nemesis, the pneumatic staple gun. Three years ago, I had to take an intro to scenery and lighting class and as students in the class, we had to work hours in the scene shop on the shows. One day, my friend Erin and I were stapling plywood around a curved plastic pool and I almost shot her with a staple, several times in a row. We’ve been friends ever since.
3-D Form
Project 3 Response
Professor
April 14, 2009
01. In your own words / from your own understanding, what was the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project was to use language as a starting point for a piece of work and also to work with wood. It is important to be able to take language (a word) and be able to translate it into a visual. We also get to spend some quality time with Walt where he teaches each of us how to take the blade out of the scroll saw.
02. Describe your work (critically, visually, and conceptually).
For this piece, I decided to use a plywood that would splinter and break better than the much more processed MDF. Plywood, which is not pressure treated will take paint much easier than the MDF because it does not have a smooth surface, it has rough surface and will be absorbed into the wood.
03. Explain the staging of your work. How is it presented to the viewer and what makes it appropriate in this context?
For this piece, I wanted to create a sense of gravity, so I staged to work to hint that the piece had fallen off of the wall and fractured on the floor. I had one single letter nailed on the wall, while the rest of the letters where either lying flat on the floor or propped up against each other, tacked together with glue. Each of the letters had been broken and wired back together with a large “staple.”
04. What terms did you find essential in maintaining a critical dialogue with the project, and…
04. how does your project make use of this vocabulary?
When I looked up the word “fracture” in the dictionary, I pulled more inspiration for the piece from the second definition which talked about the fracture of bones and I wanted to treat each of the letters like a bone which needed a pin to put it back together.
05. In what way or ways is your project successful?
The performance of reading the definition from the dictionary was very successful and people were able to guess the word without knowing the word ahead of time.
06. In what way or ways is your project unsuccessful?
The splintered could have been bigger and I wished it had won when I took it out to races last week.
07. Are you satisfied with your work?
If you were to recreate your project, what, if anything, would you do differently? If I were to recreate this project, I would break the pieces after I had painted them. I broke the pieces before I painted them, and the paint softened the fractures on each of the letters.
08. If you were to alter your work outside the parameters of this assignment, what would you do differently and why?
I would not have use a flat color, I would have painted the letters to look like bones.
09. What did you learn during the execution of this project?
I learned how to take the blade out of the scroll saw and I love Scotch. Scotch, Scotch, Scotch.
10. Do you have any personal thoughts that you would like to share with regard to this project?
When I was right out high school, I worked for two summers as an intern at Heritage Theatre Group in Grand Rapids, MI. We spent the majority of the time building scenery for all of the plays and there I first learned how to use most of the power tools we used in this project (except that most of the saws did not safety guards on them). When I first learned how to use a table saw, the scene shop foreman/ set designer told a horror story about how one of his workers in the past almost cut his fingers off while using the table saw, and then he had me cut roughly 20 different pieces for the set, after he scared the crap out me. To this day, I am still morbidly afraid of table saws and I do believe that the most terrifying thing in the world is a table saw with snakes on it.
One tool that I am glad we did not have to use in this project, is my arch nemesis, the pneumatic staple gun. Three years ago, I had to take an intro to scenery and lighting class and as students in the class, we had to work hours in the scene shop on the shows. One day, my friend Erin and I were stapling plywood around a curved plastic pool and I almost shot her with a staple, several times in a row. We’ve been friends ever since.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Break up Notice
Look, this clearly isn’t going any where. The only thing that is keep whatever you would call what we have going is the fact that you are the first person to get me off and that’s about it. Yeah, you’re fucking amazing in bed, but that doesn’t mean that this is any sort of healthy relationship or that it even qualifies as a relationship. It feels like I have been putting in a lot more effort into whatever we have and I just feel like you are leading me on. We are never going to be able to have a sustainable relationship as long as we both happen to be career oriented. You clearly are not ready to be emotionally available for me, so I don’t feel like crying over you any more. Seriously, I’m sick of this shit. This, never responding to my texts. This, not talking to me, is bullshit. When I was working 18 hours a day on a film, I still managed to have cyber sex with you. It seems really lame to me that you can’t do the same. Well, maybe you’re not emotionally ready, or maybe you can’t juggle a career and sex. Or maybe you are really horrible at you job. I don’t know. All I have to say is, I don’t want to waste my time any more. Seriously, I’m sick of this shit. I have deleted you out of my phone and blocked you on Facebook and Gmail. Have a nice life, you.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Final Art Class
Valerie Vanderkolk
3D Form
Professor ---------
April 22, 2009
Project 4 Response
1. In your own words / from your own understanding, what was the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project, first of all is to work with plaster, and second to start with a found object as oppose to nothing. In theatre production we do this a lot, we search through second had stores and find a garment with we can add to or change to make a costume.
2. Describe your work (critically, visually, and conceptually).
The figurine I drew already had a very dynamic and interesting silhouette that I felt that the details just needed to be smoothed out and blobbified. For color I created a shiny iridescent color on the figurine by using four different colors and layering the colors over each other and leaving small sections to show the other colors underneath.
3. Explain the staging of your work.
How is it presented to the viewer and what makes it appropriate in this context? The piece was presented on a pedestal draped in an iridescent fabric. I considered placing the figurine on its side, but I liked how the figurine already had a dynamic sense of movement and form and I wanted to keep that. The fabric was puckered around the base of the figurine to hide how it did not sit flat on the pedestal where the figure had chipped while I was adding the plaster to it. When I first got the figurine, I was nervous about dropping it breaking it, so that apprehension did spill over into the presentation, because I am afraid of breaking it.
4. What terms did you find essential in maintaining a critical dialogue with the project, and… how does your project make use of this vocabulary?
Blobject – a blobby object, by having the project entitled this it automatically sets restrictions for the piece: 1) it has to be abstracted because it cannot be an identifiable object and 2) it has to be smooth, texture is very limited on this piece because blobs are not prickly.
5. In what way or ways is your project successful?
The piece is successful in the surfacing; it is very smooth and people went up to the piece after critique and touched it.
6. In what way or ways is your project unsuccessful?
I don’t know if I was able to abstract the figurine enough.
7. Are you satisfied with your work? If you were to recreate your project, what, if anything, would you do differently?
After I set up the figurine, I did want some more fabric to extend the space. If I had had more time I would have sanded down more of the paint to show more variation on the paint. I tried to do as best as I could with the spray paint but I would have like to do more with the surface.
8. If you were to alter your work outside the parameters of this assignment, what would you do differently and why?
I think it would be neat to do an entire blobject Nativity scene.
9. What did you learn during the execution of this project?
I learned how to mix and work with plaster. I learned the word blobject.
10. Do you have any personal thoughts that you would like to share with regard to this project?
I once rode a camel at the zoo. Ben (classmate) got more sleep last night than I have all week. I normally try to tell a funny story in this part to get you to laugh when you are reading it, but I running low on material.
3D Form
Professor ---------
April 22, 2009
Project 4 Response
1. In your own words / from your own understanding, what was the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project, first of all is to work with plaster, and second to start with a found object as oppose to nothing. In theatre production we do this a lot, we search through second had stores and find a garment with we can add to or change to make a costume.
2. Describe your work (critically, visually, and conceptually).
The figurine I drew already had a very dynamic and interesting silhouette that I felt that the details just needed to be smoothed out and blobbified. For color I created a shiny iridescent color on the figurine by using four different colors and layering the colors over each other and leaving small sections to show the other colors underneath.
3. Explain the staging of your work.
How is it presented to the viewer and what makes it appropriate in this context? The piece was presented on a pedestal draped in an iridescent fabric. I considered placing the figurine on its side, but I liked how the figurine already had a dynamic sense of movement and form and I wanted to keep that. The fabric was puckered around the base of the figurine to hide how it did not sit flat on the pedestal where the figure had chipped while I was adding the plaster to it. When I first got the figurine, I was nervous about dropping it breaking it, so that apprehension did spill over into the presentation, because I am afraid of breaking it.
4. What terms did you find essential in maintaining a critical dialogue with the project, and… how does your project make use of this vocabulary?
Blobject – a blobby object, by having the project entitled this it automatically sets restrictions for the piece: 1) it has to be abstracted because it cannot be an identifiable object and 2) it has to be smooth, texture is very limited on this piece because blobs are not prickly.
5. In what way or ways is your project successful?
The piece is successful in the surfacing; it is very smooth and people went up to the piece after critique and touched it.
6. In what way or ways is your project unsuccessful?
I don’t know if I was able to abstract the figurine enough.
7. Are you satisfied with your work? If you were to recreate your project, what, if anything, would you do differently?
After I set up the figurine, I did want some more fabric to extend the space. If I had had more time I would have sanded down more of the paint to show more variation on the paint. I tried to do as best as I could with the spray paint but I would have like to do more with the surface.
8. If you were to alter your work outside the parameters of this assignment, what would you do differently and why?
I think it would be neat to do an entire blobject Nativity scene.
9. What did you learn during the execution of this project?
I learned how to mix and work with plaster. I learned the word blobject.
10. Do you have any personal thoughts that you would like to share with regard to this project?
I once rode a camel at the zoo. Ben (classmate) got more sleep last night than I have all week. I normally try to tell a funny story in this part to get you to laugh when you are reading it, but I running low on material.
More Art Class
Valerie Vanderkolk
Project 2 Written Response (yarn and wire sculpture)
3D Form
Professor ------
March 22, 2009
01. The purpose of this project is to explore how line can be created and used in space to create a dynamic form. It shows how lines on paper can be transformed into 3D forms.
02. This piece gives a sense of gravity and plays off of what the container was based on, a pill bottle.
03. The piece is suspended from the ceiling and is just below head height.
04. Over spring break, the piece and I talked a great deal about cross contour lines.
05. One of the successes of the piece is the surfacing material and how it added even more form and color to the piece.
06. I am not sure whether or not the surfacing supports the overall point of the assignment because I went about surfacing the piece differently than the examples.
07. I feel that this piece is complete and that there is not another element that I can add to it that would continue on in the same vein of the work. If I were to re do the work from scratch I would make the container unit larger.
08. I would not alter the piece outside of the assignment, because I feel that this idea has gotten to its stopping point and I am ready to abandon it, but I did enjoy working with the surfacing material (perhaps a little too much) and also figuring out a way to systematically work with the wire.
09. Coat hanger wire is actually a much stronger gauge of wire that I thought, even the light flimsy coat hangers. While writing this critique, I learned that buttermilk is not a good substitute for milk in coffee.
10. I dyed some yarn that I had, which originally was a mixture of baby blanket colors all puked together on one skein. I dyed the yarn an orange pumpkin color and while I was dying it, I was reminded of the hamsters my old roommate’s boyfriend had. He would spend more time at our house than his own apartment, but he had two hamsters that lived at his place. After coming home after being at our house for a couple of days, he walked in on one of the hamsters eating some strange stingy matter that was once the other hamster. Ironically, the cannibal hamster died shortly after this because it had gotten so fat that it got stuck trying to come out of its hamster house.
Project 2 Written Response (yarn and wire sculpture)
3D Form
Professor ------
March 22, 2009
01. The purpose of this project is to explore how line can be created and used in space to create a dynamic form. It shows how lines on paper can be transformed into 3D forms.
02. This piece gives a sense of gravity and plays off of what the container was based on, a pill bottle.
03. The piece is suspended from the ceiling and is just below head height.
04. Over spring break, the piece and I talked a great deal about cross contour lines.
05. One of the successes of the piece is the surfacing material and how it added even more form and color to the piece.
06. I am not sure whether or not the surfacing supports the overall point of the assignment because I went about surfacing the piece differently than the examples.
07. I feel that this piece is complete and that there is not another element that I can add to it that would continue on in the same vein of the work. If I were to re do the work from scratch I would make the container unit larger.
08. I would not alter the piece outside of the assignment, because I feel that this idea has gotten to its stopping point and I am ready to abandon it, but I did enjoy working with the surfacing material (perhaps a little too much) and also figuring out a way to systematically work with the wire.
09. Coat hanger wire is actually a much stronger gauge of wire that I thought, even the light flimsy coat hangers. While writing this critique, I learned that buttermilk is not a good substitute for milk in coffee.
10. I dyed some yarn that I had, which originally was a mixture of baby blanket colors all puked together on one skein. I dyed the yarn an orange pumpkin color and while I was dying it, I was reminded of the hamsters my old roommate’s boyfriend had. He would spend more time at our house than his own apartment, but he had two hamsters that lived at his place. After coming home after being at our house for a couple of days, he walked in on one of the hamsters eating some strange stingy matter that was once the other hamster. Ironically, the cannibal hamster died shortly after this because it had gotten so fat that it got stuck trying to come out of its hamster house.
Art class
While I was in college, I decided to take some art classes to broaden my horizons as a costume designer. Here are some of the written reports I had to turn in as part of the class.
Valerie Vanderkolk
Project 1 Written Response (building a geometric wall sculpture out of card board)
STA 114
Professor ----------
February 25, 2009
1) The purpose of this project was to build a structure from a model instead of building the structure right out of the final materials. The model was to be “sketched out” through taping together cubes, pyramids, and tetrahedrons to create a dynamic structure. There are many different ways to work through the process of designing a 3 dimensional structure. One way to sketch out the design is on paper, however, this process is limiting because the sketches are only 2D instead of 3D like the final piece will be. One way of solving this problem is to build a scale model of the structure to work out any composition issues before it is built to full scale. Additionally, this project helped me use some of the card board boxes that I had been saving for some unknown purpose until this project was assigned.
2) When the project was first introduced, I was intrigued by the tetrahedron shape as it is the triangle version of a cube. The model used more tetrahedrons than cubes and pyramids combined. Color is always very important and using a white bubble gauze and nearly white netting to surface the piece was intended to create the greatest amount of color contrast (that is possible with a single color) with the shadows created on the piece.
3) This piece is presented to the viewer above the average eye level mounted on the wall. The piece was specifically designed with this presentation style in mind. The subtle pink color of the netting allowed a slight distinction between the piece and the wall it was displayed on.
4) The piece and I didn’t really talk much, but I’m sure if asked, it would describe how much it appreciates the use of the units into modules and modules into an overall dynamic structure.
5) The piece was successful in its subtle use of color and the reuse of cardboard. The netting on the surfacing helped create a softer, more delicate feel to the piece despite the strong lines of the form.
6) The piece was unsuccessful with the netting on the surfacing helping to create a softer, more delicate feel to the piece despite the strong lines of the form. I have not decided whether or not I like the choice I made.
7) What I would do differently is take more time to carefully consider what material to surface the piece with as that is the element which will make or break the piece. I do not know how to feel about this piece.
8) If I were to alter the work I would probably create multiple forms and surface them with different materials to see how surfaces can drastically change the mood and tone of the piece.
9) What I learned through the execution of this project is that 1) some people will pay for materials that others are giving away for free, 2) Walt probably has the best job in the entire art department, and 3) making models in ½ scale are much easier than making models in 1/4” = 1’ scale.
10) When I was in high school, I dated this guy who hated the sound of cardboard rubbing against itself. Taking the card board out to the dumpster was always an anxiety ridden experience for him, so I dedicate this project to him.
Valerie Vanderkolk
Project 1 Written Response (building a geometric wall sculpture out of card board)
STA 114
Professor ----------
February 25, 2009
1) The purpose of this project was to build a structure from a model instead of building the structure right out of the final materials. The model was to be “sketched out” through taping together cubes, pyramids, and tetrahedrons to create a dynamic structure. There are many different ways to work through the process of designing a 3 dimensional structure. One way to sketch out the design is on paper, however, this process is limiting because the sketches are only 2D instead of 3D like the final piece will be. One way of solving this problem is to build a scale model of the structure to work out any composition issues before it is built to full scale. Additionally, this project helped me use some of the card board boxes that I had been saving for some unknown purpose until this project was assigned.
2) When the project was first introduced, I was intrigued by the tetrahedron shape as it is the triangle version of a cube. The model used more tetrahedrons than cubes and pyramids combined. Color is always very important and using a white bubble gauze and nearly white netting to surface the piece was intended to create the greatest amount of color contrast (that is possible with a single color) with the shadows created on the piece.
3) This piece is presented to the viewer above the average eye level mounted on the wall. The piece was specifically designed with this presentation style in mind. The subtle pink color of the netting allowed a slight distinction between the piece and the wall it was displayed on.
4) The piece and I didn’t really talk much, but I’m sure if asked, it would describe how much it appreciates the use of the units into modules and modules into an overall dynamic structure.
5) The piece was successful in its subtle use of color and the reuse of cardboard. The netting on the surfacing helped create a softer, more delicate feel to the piece despite the strong lines of the form.
6) The piece was unsuccessful with the netting on the surfacing helping to create a softer, more delicate feel to the piece despite the strong lines of the form. I have not decided whether or not I like the choice I made.
7) What I would do differently is take more time to carefully consider what material to surface the piece with as that is the element which will make or break the piece. I do not know how to feel about this piece.
8) If I were to alter the work I would probably create multiple forms and surface them with different materials to see how surfaces can drastically change the mood and tone of the piece.
9) What I learned through the execution of this project is that 1) some people will pay for materials that others are giving away for free, 2) Walt probably has the best job in the entire art department, and 3) making models in ½ scale are much easier than making models in 1/4” = 1’ scale.
10) When I was in high school, I dated this guy who hated the sound of cardboard rubbing against itself. Taking the card board out to the dumpster was always an anxiety ridden experience for him, so I dedicate this project to him.
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