Spring 2020 Ceramics (All Levels) During Pandemic!
Art 215 (Ceramics I) Assignment: Figurative
Idol * Totem * Statue * Mask * Doll * Effigy * Fetish * Action Figure
Since the beginning of time humans have created objects that are abstractions of the human/animal form. There are many reasons why these objects were created – some were toys for children, while others served as objects of worship. Some ancient artifacts were created for reasons that are still unknown.
Artists often create their own mythologies and systems of meaning. For this assignment, you will create a figurative object/objects that have special meaning for you. For example, you could create your spirit guide, or alter-ego, or artistic muse. Whatever you choose, it should be creative and thoughtful.
There is a second part of this assignment, should you choose this project: you must write about your object(s). What you write could be factual or fictitious, that is up to you. But I want you to provide some context for the creation of this work, and this is also a thinly veiled attempt to get you to start thinking about writing an artist statement. How much should you write? The appropriate amount.
This project will be graded in three parts: ‘Green’ review, finished/fired review, and written portion.
*At this point in the semester all of the students were working from home. This assignment was altered to accommodate working from home – students could choose to work with clay (and either not fire their work, or deliver it to school to be fired at a later date), or use alternative materials (cardboard, poster board, found objects, etc.).
The students are encouraged to document/photograph their work throughout the stages of construction, to help me assess their progress.
The student submitted the following poem with this assignment:
“Meet my new quarantine friend, potato man.
Surprisingly, we do everything together.
When it is nice out, we will go for a tan
And when it is rainy out, we do a lot of cooking in a pan.
Even though quarantine has not been too long, we
have done a lot in this span.
I gave him two feet so he took his first steps and
Even ran.
After all that exercise we did together, we both needed a fan.
Oh, potato head, what a great man.
When this is all over, I hope to travel and get on a
Roll.
Go on adventures and see magnificent sights.
Potato head and I will for sure go through a toll.
We can go to Spain tougher and see a giant bull.
He will meet my family for holidays,
And hopefully will not receive any coal.
We have big plans ahead of us.
So, at the end we will probably be in a huge lull.