Look Inside Sculpture

The assignment for this project was to create a sculpture which has an outside and an unexpected inside. I created a sculpture of an explosive broken open with a landscape inside.

To create this sculpture I first cut the top off of a water bottle and cut the bottle in half. I then made a nose cone and tail fins out of paper and cardboard and painted the whole thing black. Next I made the landscape platform by cutting out foam board and painting it black with green in the middle and a blue river running through. I then created the pieces of nature for the landscape including a beaver, a wood duck, trees, rocks, sand, and water. I made these things out of sculpey (with aluminum foil base structures for the trees) except the water which I textured using hot glue over the blue paint. At this point I wanted to fill the two halves of the explosive so I used crumpled aluminum foil and painted it green and blue to show the landscape "pouring" out of the shell. Texture and space were two important elements of design in this piece. I think textures like the water and the sand are intriguing and add depth to the piece. Space was important in that I wanted the platform to be abstractly shaped and the space for the landscape is important to show that it comes from within the explosive. I think movement is the most important principle of design incorporated; I wanted the landscape to feel alive and in motion. As far as composition, I think this project lends itself to framing—the shell of the explosive frames the landscape I created. One way that this project evolved was that when I put hot glue of on the water bottle to glue it to the platform the water bottle started melting. I was able to save the half and use it in the project and I just put a layer of thick tape on the contact point of the other half where the glue would go.

I made this piece to symbolize a paradox. The explosive is black and represents the harmful and destructive devices that bombs are. However, from inside the broken shell of the bomb is a thriving landscape which is a direct contradiction to the explosive, making it unexpected. This project relates to my own personal fascination with nature but also my dislike of the human incentive to cause destruction. I combined these very different ideas to create this piece. I think this piece could be stronger if the trees looked more realistic—although they are sufficient to get the message across, the foliage is quite crude. The most challenging part of this project was making the trees. I had to make the structure out of aluminum foil, cover it in sculpey and then add leaves. This process was time consuming and the final outcome did not reach my hopes and expectations. I am most proud of the idea itself, but also the beaver and wood duck; I think they both look fairly realistic. This piece illustrates my strength as an artist in my ability to create miniatures and to work with the idea of concept contradiction. It shows my weakness in lack of realism in structures such as the trees.