Death of Jesus and His Disciples
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Inspiration
The artist I was inspired by was John Defazio, who is a Los Angeles-based director of photography in the film and television industry, who is also known as mixed-media. His work combines more traditional materials such as photographs, paraffin wax, plaster, glass, copper, steel and found metal objects with non-traditional materials such as medical imagery and decayed organic substances. But I was more inspired by his crematics which are little bits of controlled chaos. His ceramics incorporate almost one of everything as he seems to blend the overload of imagery of his work to its most important elements into amazing complex and consistent imagery under a relying theme.
In his Ronald Reagan urn that he had created with tiny bits of scattered imagery where, through the urn, Defazio was able to speak what he thought were the failures of Ronald Reagan. Like how Reagan never spoke about the Aids epidemic going on during his presidency represented by the skull with the word aids on its fore head. Or how on the gold spike it has the word Reaganomics and ketchup written on it. Reaganomics refers to his trickle down theory that never worked for the economy. Ketchup referred to how Reagan cut the budget for school lunches by taking vegetables away and making ketchup and other condiments as a substitute. The over arching theme for this piece is how Reagan could be considered a failure of a president. The other inspiration were the biblical stories depicting the deaths of Jesus and his 12 apostles. Like Defazio I plan to use different imagery around my piece to convey my message and theme. |
Defazio, John."Ronald Reagan Urn".john-defazio.squarespace.http://john-defazio.squarespace.com
Defazio, John."Dada-Throne".john-defazio.squarespace.http://john-defazio.squarespace.com
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Planning sketches
This sketch represents my family life, I grew up to be religious. the base is molded after the Virgin Mary with her figure and halo around it. With a rosary around the sculptures neck. the sandal represents my mother and how she used to not be afraid to take her sandals off hit me with it when I did something dumb. the guitar represents my families musical talent, the soccer ball for a head is because we always have it in the mind.
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The base of my sculpture, I initially was going to tell the story of the life of Jesus and his miracles he performed. such as the time he brought Lazarus back to life, when he gave back sight to a blind man, when he healed a man ear when it was chopped off by peter, up till Jesus' death by crucifixion on top of a mountain. but then opted to make it a bout him and his 12 apostles deaths.
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Process
This was going to be a two part piece that I was going to put together later after its fired and hardened. I started by grabbing a block of clay and carving out the excess clay that I knew I wasn't going to need for the heart. Then using my palms id mold the clay to a non atomically correct heart shape. But I still wanted it to give the heart veins pulsating out of it and to emulate them I rolled thin strands of clay which I then pressed down to the heart so that the impression of a vein would be left. I repeated this over and over until I have what I felt enough vein impressions. For the stab wound on the side of the heart I rolled up two short, thick strands and made a lip shape on the side of the heart and pressed down on them leaving the impression of a wound. Utilizing my carving tools to refine the detail in the wound and veins. Then when I was all done with the vein details I stabbed two nails through the heart. I didn't have nails long enough to pierce through so to emulate one nail I stabbed a nail on opposite ends. And then later painted the whole heart with multiple layers of a dark red acrylic paint sand then to emphasize the veins and wound by surrounding them with dark shadows by using a mixture of one part black paint and 10 parts red paint. |
To make the second portion of the piece, the pot, I first rolled up two pieces of coil which I then would individually roll them up so they could both become the base of the pot. To join both bases I scored the bottom base and added water so that it could blend together. But unfortunately this is when I realized that I used the wrong kind of clay for the sculpture. Since the clay was oil based it was impossible for the water to have any effect on the clay but make it stick. So instead I just added to the mass of the pot little by little and made it thicker so it wouldn't collapse. I kept doing this till I had the desired height smoothing out the clay through out with my fingers.
For the crown of thorns I used sticks and twigs found around my neighborhood and interwove them together and using a hot glue gun to reinforce them. For the details around the pot I used found items around my house. Each item representing an apostle and how they died. for the upside down cross I just cut t out of a rosary that I had laying around this represented Peter who had been crucified but opted to have the cross upside down because he felt he wasn't worthy to die like Jesus. The wooden 'X' ,that I cut out of a regular cross, was how Andrew died and his own Crucifixion which was in an 'X' type of cross. Matthew was staked or impaled to the earth by spears and then beheaded. For the Apostle Nathaniel, most agree that he was basically flayed to death by whip. Thomas was stabbed with a spear and died from the wound. Philip was impaled by iron hooks in his ankles and hung upside down to die. Church historians believe that James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded by King Herod. Jude was crucified. Matthias was stoned and then clubbed to death. John was the only Apostle to die a peaceful death , he died of old age. James the less was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death. Simon was crucified. Now I have to paint my piece which for the base color was a dark shade of gold which is the color that I took from another one of Defazio's work that was about religion, then later I would go back to paint the other details that needed to be painted over like the heart, fire, sun and skulls |
Experimentation
After finding out that I had bought the wrong type of clay for my piece I still opted to finish it but instead of making it a primarily an additive sculpture I just made it a subtraction. So little by little I added to the mass on the outside of my pot which and when I them had a large enough lump I would carve out the excess.
One thing I wanted to do was, with wire make a ring to represent Philip. I made the ring by wrapping the wire lightly around my ring finger and then later have it coil around itself but when I made the ring I decided not to use it because I couldn't make it have the look or texture I wanted.
One thing I wanted to do was, with wire make a ring to represent Philip. I made the ring by wrapping the wire lightly around my ring finger and then later have it coil around itself but when I made the ring I decided not to use it because I couldn't make it have the look or texture I wanted.
Reflection
In my piece I try to put as many symbols under a single theme, as I could into it like Defazio would in his work. I feel like I didn't succeed in that part of imitating Defazio, In his work his symbols and imagery were all cramped with very little empty space in between as for my work it was all mostly evened out mainly because I use mostly my hands when it came to adding the detail but it was difficult to add the detail in the tight spaces between my imagery and symbols. If I had only used my found/store bought items for the symbols then I wouldn't have this problem but I couldn't find the right objects to represent the apostles.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The effect that my inspiration had with my piece was my attempt to emulate the chaotic planning of Defazio and the cramped forms in my piece
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In my inspiration Defazios goal was to tell the people through the use of his imagery in his piece "Ronald Reagan Urn" about Ronald Reagan's terrible job as a president.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
One generalization I made about the people, ideas, and culture that lived during the time of the apostles was that they were brutally violent against people whose religion was different from theirs.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My central theme of my research is how almost everyone who dedicates their lives to god die in brutal ways.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During the 1980's Aids, drugs, and the economic standings were shaky
The effect that my inspiration had with my piece was my attempt to emulate the chaotic planning of Defazio and the cramped forms in my piece
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
In my inspiration Defazios goal was to tell the people through the use of his imagery in his piece "Ronald Reagan Urn" about Ronald Reagan's terrible job as a president.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
One generalization I made about the people, ideas, and culture that lived during the time of the apostles was that they were brutally violent against people whose religion was different from theirs.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
My central theme of my research is how almost everyone who dedicates their lives to god die in brutal ways.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During the 1980's Aids, drugs, and the economic standings were shaky
Bibliography
“John DeFazio.” John DeFazio, john-defazio.squarespace.com/.
“Genesis 1 - New International Version (NIV).” The International Bible Society, www.biblica.com/bible/.
“Who Were the Twelve Disciples?” BBC, BBC, 30 Nov. 2012, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/18395824.
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“Genesis 1 - New International Version (NIV).” The International Bible Society, www.biblica.com/bible/.
“Who Were the Twelve Disciples?” BBC, BBC, 30 Nov. 2012, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/18395824.
.