Title: Box Human
Medium: Cardboard Size: 97x14 cm Date: April 2016 Exhibition Text: Inspired by Pop Art artist George Segal's, Woman with Sunglasses, a cardboard human is made. This is to evoke thought about the seemingly humanoid cardboard structure. The straight line and harsh corners give the element of industrialism whereas the human resemblances suggest a more natural perspective. Flowers are added to the work in order to erase the boundary which separates nature from industry. The hole represents the origin of the industrial aspects in everyday life.
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Planning: This is one of the rare times I actually knew from the get-go what I was going to do! As the project of organic vs. inorganic was being explained to me, I started thinking about what I would use and do. From an exposure to a painting on cardboard which is hung in the hallway near the art class, cardboard seemed a very appealing material for me to work with. Later on I used the idea of these box-humans which I have seen on the internet over the past few years. The idea of this project was very refreshing and something which I sort of center my work around. There is a binary opposition with industry and nature. In order to explore this I decided to make a sculpture out of cardboard of a cardboard human. Already the sense that it is a human figure made out of these straight lines implicates the structure of a building and makes the viewer think of a cityscape. I sketched out my little person to get a sense of what I would be doing. I knew I had to connect the cardboard somehow and in order to accomplish this I thought of chicken wire or even long brads so the cardboard human would have movable arms and legs. The artist I chose for inspiration was George Segal. George Segal works in plaster bandages and casts to create life size human figures. As part of the pop art movement, the work is industrial in a sense but the sculptures of humans make the work organic unless one associates industry with humans. He keeps detail to a minimum which gives the work the illusion of being an apparition. This is conveyed in my work as well with the absence of detail.
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Process: After some amount of research, I found that the best way to connect cardboard pieces together was through wood glue. I was grateful for this as this would make my creation come to life without the obvious jutting of chicken wire or morphed cardboard around the edges due to the intertwining with the chicken wire. I obtained a lot of similar cardboard boxes from my local grocery store. The similarity in dimensions of the boxes aided in making the rectangular prisms. Using a box cutter, the box was cut and then separated into groups. I knew to make the arms I would need 4 congruent facets. For the legs and head I would like 2 pairs of congruent facets. The body was constructed first as I only needed to attach one side to it. Liberally applying wood glue, the pieces must be held together for a minute before properly sticking. Due to this property, the project was time consuming but later on I found that some pieces could dry while I worked on another aspect of the humanoid.
Experience: A fairly straightforward experience was derived from this project. I definitely grew more comfortable with the cardboard as I spent more time with it. Cardboard is extremely versatile but the disadvantage of it is one cannot make curves with it due to its inflexibility. This was not an issue in this project but if I work in cardboard more often, I may run into this challenge. Sometimes as the glue would be in the process of drying, the cardboard being attached would lean towards one side. Cardboard can be seen as a beginning to working with plaster as it requires patience and a sense of the three-dimensional end project you will receive.
Critique: George Segal's work was not entirely captured in the piece "Cardboard Human". However aspects such as minimal detail and found object were used. This very much looks like a result from the pop art movement which is what I was going for. At this moment, I can say that I had partial success with the piece. I should make better attachments and my dimensions can always be better. The humanoid turned out taller than expected. In the future I would also try not to use a binding agents but maybe tacks and brads so the humanoid can have function and mobility. This piece is meant to be seen with nature in the background and due to time constraints the photography does not allow this.
Word Count: 785