Project: 1
Clay Sculpture
The End is a clay model of two walls of a library. This sculpture is meant to serve as a book end for a bookshelf, which is one of the visuals inside the library giving it the theme of inception. The little man standing at the window is seen looking out and if the book end was on a book shelf it would make it seem as if the little man is looking at a bigger selection of books rather than the ones in the library he's in giving it a theme of wonder and mystery.
Critical Investigation Research:
My Balcony, 13.5 ft x 6 ft x 9 ft, Painted ceramic and wood, 1999
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Adolph Rosenblatt is a local artist from Milwaukee and well-known for his large-scale sculptures of people in lively and recognizable environments. His art shows depictions of documented life around Milwaukee of people living their ordinary lives drinking coffee, watching a movie, talking and reading. He paints these sculptures which are primarily made out of clay other than bronze and wax, using bright and vibrant hues.
Originally from Connecticut, Rosenblatt graduated from Yale and lived in New York City for awhile. Rosenblatt was said to have painted his art pieces so thick the paintings became 3-dimensional. He decided he'll begin creating sculptures rather than paintings of people around the city. |
From New York City, Rosenblatt and his wife moved to Milwaukee in 1966 and continued to create sculptures of expressionist, 3-D genre painting like art. He was a part of Milwaukee for 50 years. He was also a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee history professor for 30 years until he passed away on February 16th, 2017.
Photos taken by me at the Union Art Gallery show "Adolph Rosenblatt: Life in Sculpture" on January 26th, 2018.
Rosenblatt, Suzanne. "Adolph Rosenblatt." http://rosenblattgallery.com. Suzanne Rosenblatt, 1996
http://rosenblattgallery.com/adolph/index.shtml
Mueller, Matt. "New Rosenblatt exhibit pays tribute to the enthusiastic expert on the everyday." OnMilwaukee. https://onmilwaukee.com/ent/articles/new-rosenblatt-exhibit.html
Rosenblatt, Suzanne. "Adolph Rosenblatt." http://rosenblattgallery.com. Suzanne Rosenblatt, 1996
http://rosenblattgallery.com/adolph/index.shtml
Mueller, Matt. "New Rosenblatt exhibit pays tribute to the enthusiastic expert on the everyday." OnMilwaukee. https://onmilwaukee.com/ent/articles/new-rosenblatt-exhibit.html
Inspiration:
Similarities: Using Adolph Rosenblatt as my inspiration, I didn't plan to use his style in 3-dimensional art, but his themes and ideas. His theme reminded me of 'Genre Painting' which is one of my most favorite themes in art. "Genre Painting" is described as paintings that depict every day life. I planned to have a sculpture that had something to do with people in their ordinary lives along with a building or objects to help enhance that feeling as like in Rosenblatt's pieces. I also liked how there were multiple people in one art piece, I planned on having two figures in the clay piece I would create, but it turns out that didn't happen when I completed the project.
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Differences: My style would differ from Rosenblatt's with texture; I planned on making my structures and buildings smooth and life-like the the texture they are in real life. I also planned on giving my figures correct dimensions and proportions to people in real life unlike Rosenblatt's figures which are slightly disproportionate with their larger more expressionistic heads. Adolph Rosenblatt's main medium is creating sculptures in clay, which I also used for this project. Clay is a medium I have proficient knowledge in, so I assumed this project would be enjoyable.
Planning:
The first idea I had was having a tiny room, a library or a classroom, with two people in it going along with their daily routine. I wanted this art piece to also serve as a book end for real books, making it an ironic art piece that a tiny library would be on a bookshelf. I started to draw objects that might be in a classroom / library like a heater vent, bookshelf which would give this art piece inception: a bookshelf on a bookshelf, a window sill and finally the people in it. I wanted one person to be at the window staring out or up at what would be a bigger book and another person crouched on the floor reading a tinier book. I planned to paint this sculpture once it had dried.
My second idea was not going to be in clay, but rather a block print or an illustration on Bristol paper using pencil and ink. I had the idea of depicting people's dependency on technology, smart phones and music through a girl whose upper head had been replaced with a smartphone that lay there as if it were in a concave bowl while the earbuds plugged into her phone fall down as if it were her pony tail. She is also reaching into her head in a pondering way representing memory loss due to the dependency on phones to capture life's memories and retain important or trivial information. |
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Process:
Creating the foundation:
Experimenting: To start off, I had a block of natural clay that was so dry it was unable to mold into anything. I was not sure if I could restore it or not. To make it usable again, I placed it in a big container full of water to moisten it and started to shave the moistened sides using a v-shaped carving tool I originally used for my first block print. I wet the shavings of the hard, dry clay using a sponge which luckily came back to life and became more fluid and easy to manipulate rather than solid. It worked! Having enough clay to work with, I pounded it against the table into a cube shape to take any air bubbles in it out of it. |
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After creating the cube, I carved using a slanted knife tool the outline of the walls and flooring of the little room and continued carving away from one corner of the cube to form the empty room.
When I had done that, I used a moist sponge to smooth out the walls and the flooring, flipping the sculpture to make it easier to do so. This is where my style differs from Rosenblatt's; his texture was very rugged and choppy while I wanted mine to be smooth. |
When all surfaces were smoothed out, I carved two windows as best as I could since the clay was very wet to the point it was hard to shape anything without altering the shape of something else. I also shaved some of the clay off the wall without the windows giving it a feeling of a disintegrating wall or a transition into the smaller world where this library resides. I also did this so the sculpture would be smaller and easier to fit on bookshelves.
The walls and the bookshelf:
From there, I created the bookshelf for the library; I began slapping a little ball of clay against the table to make it flat and after every slap I would adjust and correct the shape until a rectangle was formed. Experimenting: Then, I carved three rectangles for the shelves which were very hard to create. I carved rather than molding the shelves because I figured from experience the shelves would be very hard to keep in place and just by carving three rectangles they would be more stable. I used tools that were shaped like scoops to get the clay out of the shelves and used the back of the block print tools to make the shelves even, but this caused the shelves to drag and mishap. I redid the book shelf altogether. I also started to create one of the people who would be in the library. |
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In order to make the bricks even, I tried drawing lines with the slanted carving tool into the walls. I first made sure all bricks were even and looked the same on the outside walls by carving the lines around to the other side while constantly eyeballing and feeling the sides. I did not want to cut straight through however because I knew the clay would be harder to keep together. Then, I began making vertical cuts in a pattern.
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Experimenting: When I had finished creating the pattern, I began to make the bricks look more 3-dimensional. I did this by taking my same slanted carving tool and cutting it through the lines I made, I would lift it up slightly and in a quick movement drag it towards the middle of the brick I was carving. It made the edges more rounded and the bricks looking more realistic. The only difficulty was the clay beginning to build up in the brick cracks.
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Experimenting: I made indents in the flooring the same way I did the bricks only longer like floor boards but I decided to scratch that since I planned to paint the floorboards in. Also, one of the corners of the room fell off and the separation of the windows would not go back on, so I discarded it and made one giant window.
When creating texture for the bricks, I tried using sandpaper to make stone looking bricks. I pressed the sandpaper into the clay without dragging or moving it. |
The little man and finishing touches:
Creating the people for this project was the hardest and most patient part of this project. I started with a small rectangle of clay that was about 2 inches tall that I would break down into the head and body. I did this by carving little by little creating a sphere for the head and carving back outwards to create shoulders and arms. I made 3 different people before finally keeping the last one. Experimenting: Before creating my last person, I drew out what he was going to look like and a more efficient way of making him. I thought of using the windowsill to create his shape since that would be the place he'd be standing at. I made a square protruding from the upper rectangle of my next person which would be the arms of the little person. This made making him way easier. I also stylized him making him look more proportionate to Rosenblatt's sculptures, bigger head and wider bodies for him to be easier to make and less of a chance of him falling apart. |
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Reflection:
"The End" took a lot of patience and cleaning up to create, but it was definitely a good experience for me. In the past, I have created a person out of clay, but not as tiny as the little man I created for "The End". I also have created a tiny structure before with the same brick design I did for this project, so I already had some prior knowledge as to how to make the bricks look realistic, but it's hard for me to finish a project on my own once I started. To see this clay sculpture unified is an accomplishment.
I am planning to come back to this work and paint it once it has dried completely since that was my original intention and would make it look more like a Rosenblatt style art piece.
I am planning to come back to this work and paint it once it has dried completely since that was my original intention and would make it look more like a Rosenblatt style art piece.
ACT Questions:
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
I was inspired by the themes of Adolph Rosenblatt's artwork which had a direct impact on how I was going to place the objects and people of my art piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research viewed Adolph Rosenblatt as an inspiring and friendly person who emitted positivity through his work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Local artists are revered within a community.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme in Rosenblatt's works was enjoying life and documenting moments in everyday life with stylized art.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
People can be fascinated and enjoy life through simple everyday activities. Seeing this in art can be even more fascinating and enjoyable seeing a reflection of yourself and what you do as a painting or a sculpture.
I was inspired by the themes of Adolph Rosenblatt's artwork which had a direct impact on how I was going to place the objects and people of my art piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of my research viewed Adolph Rosenblatt as an inspiring and friendly person who emitted positivity through his work.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Local artists are revered within a community.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme in Rosenblatt's works was enjoying life and documenting moments in everyday life with stylized art.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
People can be fascinated and enjoy life through simple everyday activities. Seeing this in art can be even more fascinating and enjoyable seeing a reflection of yourself and what you do as a painting or a sculpture.