Bils final

Monolith
The goal of this piece was to conceptually reimagine the cicada trees from my youth.
Standing at 6+ feet tall and monolithic in structure it is imposing and authoritative. Conversely, with the use of humble materials (reclaimed wood and leaves) the sculpture is also approachable. It is the ideal authority figure, dominating yet reassuring, like the trees that watched over my while I played as a kid.

Space Boy
This piece was an exploration into a tight relationship between light, darkness, reflective material, method and image. The primary goal was to create a unique visual experience through the manipulation and tuning of these factors. I hypothesized that by projecting an image onto a semi reflective surface of the same size and shape so that the borders lined up, the hidden visual cues would cause the viewer to have difficulty understanding the phenomenon. In proper conditions the criteria was met.

Wooden Objects
Pulling affirmation from the Makers Movement, I explored the relationships my philosophy as an avid DIYer, my current practice as a cook and the perceptions of objects that are craft made over mass produced. First there was the cutting board, which is universally used and does not command much thought about the maker.  Then the knife cover, which while still useful began to bridge over to form over function. At the finale there is the knife, which holds virtually no function and is solely to ponder the maker.

Hadad-final

     I am making a mass amounts of small sculptures out of archival paper. The idea is to raise recognition of paper culture. Also written language, it's transmission/dissemination and interpretation. I began this process using the cotton paper for blank books. In the process I realized how unidentifiable our society has become with books.

1.

Throughout my research I have come across missing/ lost archives. As a response I couldnt help but imagine all the history silenced by the ocean waters. Ive shredded a mass amount of  long 30 inch sheets and placed into a water tank. The blue light highlights the top shedding light on the constant search of what was lost. 

2. 

 My project began with the use blank archival paper. I began my experimentation with slip casting. Throughout my research I came across cuneiform tablets. These tablets were usually left unfired for reuse. Alternatively, I put more then half (about 100 2.5x10”) of the slip casted sheets in the kiln which ended made the material turn to ash and take form of the page. The result was shocking. I opened the kiln 24 hours later and 2 months of slip casting a hundred sheets was all broken and crumbled on the shelves. There it was I had to reconsider what I was doing. I couldn’t waste another minute on a failed approach to a successful sculpture. I always wonder why my work always had to be so fragile! Unfortunately, the moment I try to pick up the sheets in the kiln they shattered to pieces and left dust from the paper in between the slip was left behind. So, like the reuse of the tablets I have slip casted a couple hundred more sheets, leaving them unfired. I then experimented with new archival sheets of paper, emerging them in boiling wax. I have decided to display all these many sheets of paper on wooden dowels hung by clear string. The installation is displayed as a form of archive. Book/Substrate becomes language as opposed to holding language

3.Along with the dowel installation I made this piece directly discussing the use of wax throughout history. Wax was used as a sealant to keep moisture out. It was also used as recyclable tablet since whatever was carved on wax model can be simply smudged off and reused. Palimpsest.

Serna Zapata-Final

FOUND TRASH

In life, change is certain. Today in age, with the ever-growing development of technology, humans have adapted to live in a constant 'upgrade'. Consumerism dictates that we buy a new this and a new that forcing us to rid of the 'old', unwanted possessions to make room for the upgrade. These material possessions (objects) which once held value, are now discarded, forgotten. throwaway culture

The action of wrapping these objects (removes the individual character and importance of the object) conceals the aesthetics, which in term allude to the forgetting/discarding of the object; allow the unified form of the objects to develop. 

(Though presented as photographs, the work consists of a much everything that happens in the process. It is process-oriented) 

Observation My process is to drive around town in search of eye-catching trash and/or broken, forgotten objects. 

Interpretation I then proceed to examine the environment in which the trash is found and begin to ask questions such as, where did the trash come from? who threw it away? why was it discarded? etc.

Response It is these questions that influence my next step, which is to unify the objects by wrapping them with black shrink wrap.

(Its the context and the intended destination of these objects that defines them as trash. the day before they were not trash) Conscious to the fact that these objects are, after all trash, documentation is all that remains, alike the objects, a vague memory of what used to be.

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3 sillas, is an arrangement of 3 balanced chairs. By wrapping the chairs individually, the formal qualities of the chairs begin to transform into diagonal lines and planes of black. (Individual elements loose their character and this allows for a contextual shift because the viewer's relationship to the original is loosened- it's not a chair anymore, it's an unknown composition that we are forced to look at in a more formal sense. Maybe that's the whole idea- that you are asking those passing by to stop and consider)

                         

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Advertise here, depicts a crashed bus stop. The remaining crime scene tape gives evidence of an accident. Upon exploring the scene, I wrap the bus stop as though healing a wound with a bandage. The actual foot of the structure is broken making the structure crumble. (again, you are pulling the objects from one context into another by obscuring it's surface and form)

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'2 camas' portrays an entanglement of two mattresses . In these photographs, the geometrical conversation becomes more evident; as the overall form of the object is minimal. Vertical lines align across the composition and subtle diagonals intersect them.

Within the object, the entanglement starts a conversation between the 2 mattresses, with soft folds of the shrink wrap acting as bed sheets that have been disturbed by human intervention. The heavy bulge on the bottom left of the object suggests a bodily presence alluding to this conversation. (It's also standing on it's own and on it's edge- this is another shift in context.)

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Cajones, is a toggle between dressers. There is a juxtaposition present of the rigid, box-like structure of the objects and the lines created by the shrink wrap that run through the dressers. It appears that the dressers are pulling on one another by means of the wrap.

In closer observation of the background, the tree and the house serve as the audience to this event. (something shifted here, a breakthrough, a realization- something about shifting context and form)

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Home. This wrapping, depicts a firm structure, such as the house behind it. The wrapped objects, in the manner in which they are arranged, become architectural in a way, alluding to the sense of home. 

The latter two photographs are taken from a different perspective, making the object seem massive in relation to its surrounding. 

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Red, black and blue, was created through a different approach. Upon interaction with the found trash, I felt the need to arrange the objects individually. The first photograph looks like a family portrait with the colored columns framing the family members. Even the tree painted in white becomes a member itself.

Again, different angles show the personalities of the individual objects and their relation to one another.

This is a site-specific series, and thus the objects are left on-site.

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Experimentations

These are small works. Explorations of the material. 

              

              

Hadad process

Stephanie Hadad

The Archive

    I am making a mass amounts of small sculptures out of archival paper. The idea is to raise recognition of paper culture. I began this process using the cotton paper for blank books. In the process I realized how unidentifiable our society has become with books. Libraries are becoming scarce and book stores are going out of business. Before we know it, a museum archive will be the only place available to shuffle through books. Bookmaking is as old as time. Papyros which is Ancient Greek for paper was made using papyrus plant used by Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. A more advanced invention derived from the Chinese culture using tags and others plants to archive official documents.

     My project began with the use blank archival paper. I began my experimentation with slip casting. Throughout my research I came across cuneiform tablets. These tablets were usually left unfired for reuse. Alternatively, I put more then half (about 100 2.5x10”) of the slip casted sheets in the kiln which ended made the material turn to ash and take form of the page. Unfortunately, most of the fired sheets shattered to pieces and left dust behind. Like the reuse of the tablets I have slip casted a couple hundred more sheets, leaving them unfired. I then experimented with new archival sheets of paper, emerging them in boiling wax. I have decided to display all these many sheets of paper on wooden dowels hung by clear string. The installation is displayed as a form of archive.

            

           

1. 

Cajones

sketches and experiments

saya sketch

Monolith sketch

Projection sketch

Self Portrait projeted against silver paint