By the three month of study, I found out that visual culture is not like what I considered before that is very limited, it can cover many areas. I learned a lot in this visual culture class, specially the way of developing ideas.
Through this project I learned many technique about plaster, including molding and make complicated curve with wireframe. And it is very interesting when making the plaster piece because this material is very flexible and can turn into many complicated form with very easy steps.
In many culture people called the sound of sea shell is the sound of sea or sea wave. The sound is actually the sound of the air flow though the sea shells. It is not sea wave, but noise. My theme is identity and my topic for seminar is about the impact of word on our identity and behaviors. We seem to become more and more open to changes and difference, but other’s word is still influence us greatly. So I come up with this idea to make people consider more about their word and the possible impacts it will have on people.
At first, I was inspired by an article that talks converging theory. To simply explain what is convergence theories. First the researchers put many glass balls randomly on a big funnel shape plate and the balls will go different directions. The glass balls will collapse into each other and change its direction. After a few minutes, the glass balls will move towards the same direction, which is the direction of the majority, goes when they are first placed on the plate. According to the encyclopedia: “The idea that societies move toward a condition of similarity—that they converge in one or more respects—is a common feature of various theories of social change.”The study also found the evidence shows that the public opinion affected family and individual in many ways, like the shift of power, resource control, authority of different genders, and the lose or increase of authority of parents. Facilities, like newspaper, television shows, magazines, and sometime textbooks, use word as a tool to change public opinion. They use word to shape our values.
For the first few explorations, I created the following sculptures try to express my idea and I chose the head and heart one to further develop. Originally the heart and head is made out of paper that has text on it because I want to stress on the word part. And the blade and the head is connected with wool. I found that it is hard to make the word readable on the head because it is squished and fuzzy after sock in the water. So I changed into plaster.
For my final piece, I make most of them out of plaster and also use wool and wood to connect. The outside cage is represented the sea shell and all the head arranged face toward the middle. It is all white except the heart in the middle created great contract. The head don’t have very clear face character that make the mouth stand out. I use plaster to create texture to give it a spiky look.
By this I want remind people with consider more about their word and the possible impacts it will have on people.
It took me a lot of time to do the heads and for next time I want to find an easier way to make them. If possible, I will make this big so people can walk in it and design the curve of outside wall so it can simulate the sound of sea shell to make the sound when wind go through.
The making process is hard, I need to redo some part of my work, it is time consuming and I also hurt myself a few time. But I really like how it turned out. The end result is very close to my imagination and sketches.
