Material

MATERIAL and FOUND OBJECT

IntroductionMaterial Carries Meaning

Marc Quinn. Self. 1966. Self-portrait. Frozen blood, vitrine,and refrigeration unit. The artist poses in background.

Selecting the right materials for your purpose is critical and demands that you accumulate knowledge through research, experiment, and experience.

Material carries meaning and contains content. How would the self-portrait differ if made of painted plastic instead of frozen blood?

Truth to materials is a modernist tenet suggesting that materials should be used in ways that take advantage of their intrinsic properties and do not appear to be another material.

WorkabilityEase of Use

Most materials fall into one of these groups:• Wood, fiber, and paper-based

products• Metals• Earth-based materials such as

clay, stone, concrete, plaster, and glass

• Plastics and foams• Dyes and pigments

Some factors in choosing materials, particularly for beginners include: • Ease of forming• Cost• Availability

WorkabilityEase of Use

Health Hazards in Design and the Arts

If not handled properly, art materials are dangerous

• Spraying and sanding requires a respirator

• Safety glasses and proper ventilation are often required for a variety of processes

• Many materials should be kept off your skin.

• Eating or smoking should not happen too close to your studio space.

MaterialBamboo

Although bamboo has been used for centuries, it is being used as much as ever because it is:• Renewable• Versatile• Grows in abundance in warm climates globally

It is used for small products and large-scale projects using traditional techniques, as wellas more groundbreaking contemporary purposes.

Bamboo tea whisk. Japan. Calfee Design. Bamboo bicycle.Bamboo scaffolding for bridge construction. China.

New MaterialsTechnological DevelopmentThe evolution of material for sculpture, products, and structures has a long and interesting history.

Some of the more promising new technologies include:• Aerogel - the lightest known solid is

incomparably strong and insulatory.

• Carbon Fiber – threadlike with a very high strength-to-weight ratio

• Synthetic Skin – a number of skin substitutes for medical purposes.

• Others – composites, laminates, new polymers, nanotechnology, biotechnology, fiber optics, super-hard materials and specialized adhesives.

Aerogel supporting a brick. A 2.5-kg brick is supported on top of apiece of aerogel weighing only 2 grams.

SustainabilityReuse and Green Design

Sustainable or green materials refer to products • Made from reclaimed materials• That can be renewed or regrown as fast as they are consumed• That have a local source• Made from recycled material, or are recyclable.• “Folk Art” often follows these ideas Green Design in architecture and interiors focuses on creating energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable spaces.

Cook + Fox Architects. LiveWorkHome. Eco-friendly house.El Anatsui. Dusasa I. 2007. Aluminum liquor bottle caps and copperwire, 20’ x 30'. Venice Biennale.

“What’s in your product? What’s next after its use? What resources does it take to make? Start answering these key questions and get on the path towards reaching 21st century definitions of quality and value.” c2ccertified.org

Cradle to Cradle DesignDesign which takes into consideration the environmental benefit or harm of• materials and how they are sourced• manufacturing methods including energy use and transport• what will happen to the product when its useful life is over --- can it be recycled or re-purposed?

Bridging Art and LifeArt and Everyday Experience

In relational aesthetics or “relational art” the artist is viewed as a catalyst of social experiences.

Less than a hundred years ago livestock were part of daily life; today they are invisible. The Virtual Pasture was an artwork installed on the campus of The Ohio State University.

The introduction of sheep to a university campus is more than surreal juxtaposition; it is a proposal for a balanced life.

Felix Gonzales-Torres Viewers are invited to partake of candy in heap on gallery floor.

RELATIONAL ART

A very different kind of hybrid object exists in the realm of contemporary electronic products—it involves combining functions that previously existed as separate products.

This hybrid tendency in electronic product design is referred to as convergence.

Hybrid FormBlurring Boundaries

Apple iPhone.

One of the most recent manifestations of the found object is Damien Hirst’s thirteen-foot tiger shark in a tank containing formaldehyde, here installed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Concerning context and the found object, Roberta Smith wrote in the New York Times, “… at the Met, of course, it still shocks. If you passed it at the American Museum of Natural History across Central Park, you might not look twice.”

The Found ObjectThe ReadymadeIn the early 1900s Marcel Duchamp claimed various objects to be works of art. This simple act has dramatically impacted the art world for a century.

Damien Hirst. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. Installed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. 1991.

The combination of two or more found objects is often referred to as an altered or assisted Readymade.

What is responsible for a work such as Picasso’s Bull’s Head assemblage?

It is neither skill nor hard work. It is an intellect that makes creative connections, discovering new meaning in that which has been discarded and overlooked.

Pablo Picasso. Bull’s Head. Assemblage, bicycle seat and handlebars.1' 1 1⁄2” x 1’ x 7 1⁄2".

The Found ObjectThe Altered Readymade and the Bricolage

A bricoleur is someone who tinkers or putters about. Bricolage is generally used to describe a constructed object that is made with only materials at hand, regardless of their origin or purpose. The bricoleur is clever, proficient at combining preexisting things in new ways.

Joseph Cornell. Medici Slot Machine. 1942. Construction.1' 3 1⁄2” x 1’ x 4 3⁄8”..


Joseph Cornell’s studio, Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY.

Many designers and D.I.Y. practitioners are repurposing existing objects and utilizing found and discarded wood and metals instead of using new resources.

The interest in ordinary and discarded objects is growing, primarily because of the idea of reuse, an aspect of green design.

Clare and Harry Richardson. Committee Design. Surprise(lamp). 2010.


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