Transcript Visual Arts 2012 - Scholarship Sculpture exemplars

Scholarship – 2012:
Sculpture (93308)
Examples of Candidate Work
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OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP
This sculpture submission circumnavigates a range of conceptually related propositions. The candidate states early on that their interest lies in finding
things in secondhand shops and being inspired to make them into something else. This notion also acts as their primary method, one thing ‘inspiring’
another. They employ an intelligent approach to the selected subject matter and extend the conversation through high-end negotiation and thought
process. The folio work serves as a series of investigative projects in relation to recycling and found objects, specifically clothing. Each project takes
on a different intent. Works unpack formal and conceptual aspects - fabric as form, fashion as object, and moves between abstraction and pattern,
form and functionality, handmade and manufactured, craft and mechanical. Making is technically sophisticated and advanced for this level.
Documentation is clear and appropriate for each project, with necessary conditions (such as a client contract) and contextual details are noted on the
folio.
Processes of recycling form the conceptual underpinning for the work. The candidate collected unwanted clothes and turned these into a quilt, an
object of value. An interest in repurposing, taking the old and making it new, led the candidate to further stage a work that involved people donating
clothes they disliked, which were then repurposed into something more pleasing. The candidate uses recycling processes to ‘upcycle’ garments from
seemingly low value to high value through innovative re-use.
The folio shifts between drawing-led investigations and sculptural practices (object, interactive art, installation, solo performance and public
performance). A performative approach shows a keen awareness of contemporary contexts. For instance, Duchamp’s Large Glass is used as a
referential format for a washing line installation. Drawing is treated as a proposition in its own right and used to speak to formal qualities under
investigation related to pattern; form, shape, motif, 2D to 3D (the translation of flat plane to object).
Early experiments involve working with the visual and physical properties of clothing patterns - the one-sided symmetrical nature of a dress pattern
(patterns only provide one side of the object), the fragility of pattern paper. The candidate engages in a responsive making process, starting with an
cutting a pattern into a sheet of fabric, a curtain, which then opens up further ideas about positive/negative space and essentially reduces form to
nothing but leftovers (new form, new idea). Each work is a kind of re-purposing. The labels from found or received garments are assembled into
book form, like fabric swatch books. In a large-scale performance work, six models wearing tailored clothing made out of dress patterns pose (fitted
and sewn by the candidate), stand and sit casually in between public at an Arts & Cultural dinner. This work is an ambitious undertaking and
successfully concludes what is an articulate and sculpturally informed enquiry.
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SCHOLARSHIP
This submission presents a candidate-led proposition of highly experimental inventive works and installation. From the outset we see an imagination in
action. One of the main themes is power - higher power over a smaller power and the potential destruction this brings. This is managed through an
combined exploration of symbolic object, material process and staged installation. There is a strong material focus underpinning each work or series.
Materials are used to accentuate action.
Objects are expressive; there is evidence of the candidate’s hand in the making. Materials such as clay, mince, bread and jam are shaped, formed,
pushed, moulded, smeared, squeezed, grabbed, peeled. Sometimes this is to express a gesture in reference to the absurdity of power. At other times
materials are stuffed into forms and objects so they can spill out or be squeezed out to create effect. It is this material dramatisation that draws us in and
then pushes us away. The candidate uses process/media/materials in abject ways to refer to heightened sensibilities (brutality, savagery, failure,
destruction, etc.) This approach builds concept.
The folio presents a series of works that direct a sculptural conversation linked by association and metaphor. Many of the scenarios reference
animation. Ideas are played out in various forms, but are always solved in sculptural language (one form expands/ another deflates). Metaphor is a tool.
On board 1 the ‘little guy’ is being minced and the blue hand is trying to control (trying to create authority). There are also many instances when
‘something’ is happening that verges on the grotesque and potential revulsion, such as … the little guy being eaten alive … skinning their face off.
These actions are all translatable into sculptural verbs (material actions).
The candidate demonstrates technical confidence with materials through their handling both literally and metaphorically. When an object or surface is
caked in clay, it has a material presence that recalls the process of its making and reveals an absurdity or incongruity. Strange figure forms are moulded
in interesting ways; materials cover the ‘host’ form in such a way that it seems to become a new object, but with an echo of the original. This echo adds
an eerie element, with one object being given power over another.
Photographic documentation is excellent; images are well directed and composed. Each image is understood in context. There is no extraneous
information or visual distraction. Appropriate elements are used to display or present objects. Props are often objects (sculptures) or part of an
installation. Lighting is used to create effect and also animate imagery. This is purposefully managed in relation to the various outputs.
This is an ambitious folio and workbook. The candidate moves fluently and holistically between the miniature and real-scale, showing a versatile range
of skills that are appropriately linked to concept. The workbook reveals an enquiry underpinned by a well-considered rationale related to the narrative,
and shows evidence of a good understanding of established practice.
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