Thursday, June 24, 2010

Art 104: Enlarging a Common Object

What more is there to say?  Choose an ordinary, commonplace object, and enlarge 10-15x its original size. Meant to be and exploration of materials... half the trouble is the problem-solving exercise of how to construct your chosen object.




I chose a grapefruit!  It's hard to find a deeper meaning to another project that seems rather straight-forward.  But grapefruit are special.  They have always been present in my upbringing, thanks to this outstanding old citrus tree at the old farmhouse.  Nostalgia is all I can chalk this one up to:  picking the pale pink grapefruit from the tree with mom, eating them in the morning with dad.  Birds always trying to peck their way into the fruit, damaging the skin, never reaching the interior sweetness.  I always liked that the fruit were ugly, knowing that they would be rejected on a supermarket shelf.  Knowing that I was in on a great secret, a Tietje-ism that was quiet and special.


My primary materials were plaster wrap, fabric, and polyfill with a wire structure.  Among other things I think I was attracted to the geometry of the form, and the beautiful textures and colors.  My attachment to the sewing machine definitely helped with this project.  Alot of fun math involved in creating the pattern for the interior grapefruit structure.  The flesh of the grapefruit is a salmon-colored tulle with two different shades of opaque pink fabric below. 







Strangely, some of the most successful projects in the class were enlarged food.  It's just fun!  Renee couldn't stop giggling about the grapefruit.  An A+ project.  Even Matthew was game :).

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