User:Nsilver/Statement

Hi Roel,
here is my updated statement and homework assignments, all of it is completely rewritten. My process is also rewritten but only partly up to date. I still have photos that are not on here yet and certain projects need to be finished of (e.g. baking of the pots assembling my tiewrap structure) all stuff I will do before Thursday, this is it for now. Hope it is ok. This time I actually had a process and materials to write about, which made writing a lot easier :)

see you.

FIRST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

So far I have worked with 3D prints, printing ceramics, turning ceramics, spaghetti, electronics and tie-wraps. The mostly used material is plastic for the 3d prints, tie-wraps and the hot glue used to combine both the spaghetti and tie-wraps. Most of my plastic prints are pretty abstract. Just testing the limitations and capabilities of the machine. The ceramics printing and turning is all pots, I consciously choose this form because both were new for me and there is enough to learn from just this. There is a million different ways to shape a pot. The spaghetti is mostly interesting because it is easy to explore form. There is fast results and are nice to use as structural building blocks. The tie wrap construction is inspired by a piece made out of bamboo called Breathing Sphere by Maria Blaisse. The electronics has little to do with fusing and bonding but is important for this project and interests me greatly.

The 3D printing is interesting for me because I can now easily materialise what I model in the computer, which is something I do a lot. However the actual process of printing is pretty boring and when it messes up sometimes quite frustrating. The same counts for printing pots. Turning pots on the other hand is in terms of materialising ideas a lot harder. It feels more like the materials shapes itself through my hands. Here the process is much more interesting and also quite meditative, because it is so repetitive. The spaghetti I like because it reminds me of kapla the wooden building blocks from kindergarten. Building in a structural way is very satisfying. The spaghetti makes it easy to materialise such structural ideas. The tie wraps are mostly interesting for me because of the ability to bend and thus move. Here it is more about the movement and less about the structure, it is the total opposite of the spaghetti. I also like the process of making it work more than building with tie wraps, I prefer building with spaghetti. It is neater and more aesthetically pleasing.

The content of my work for this quarter is mostly to explore new things. Everything I have been doing (besides modelling) was new for me. The ceramics turning was the most pleasant surprise. I was not looking forward to this but when I got down to do it it was super satisfying and really fun to do unlike what I expected. I am not that good at it yet, but I will definitely continue this. I am expanding my practise with new materials and exploring new techniques. In animation I more and more start to prefer making something physically and taking a picture of it over making it digitally, because it has a certain feel that it is actually real. That it exist outside of the pixelated world. This course helped me expand my skills to do that.

SECOND HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

I believe most of what I have done relates to the recent DIY culture. The electronics I soldered, the 3D printing with both plastic and clay are all a definite part of this cultural movement. The spaghetti structures were inspired by my girlfriend, she and her friends joined a competition which is about making a spaghetti bridge that can hold the most weight (she studies architecture). I took this technique, but just ignored the exercise and started making to explore form. This is a pretty known thing to do among architects I guess the spaghetti pieces relate to architecture. The tie wrap structure falls under installations in fine arts, as does the piece that inspired it. The clay turning is the oldest and most traditional technique I have explored, which was also very noticeable during the process because it really involves your hands and the material. As Patricio said to me very nicely: the material is your best teacher (one of the simplest and wisest lessons I have learned during this course). I also believe the pot turning is the most personal. You literally leave you fingerprints on the work, when it comes to exploring your individuality this really shapes according to your hands and the patience you have to shape the clay. Something that if learned by doing this is to do one thing at a time. Usually I am all over the place doing multiple things at once trying to divide my attention. When I did this during turning my pots kept breaking. Having patience and really watch what you do helped me make better pots. This seems something that automatically comes with traditional ways of working, but in a digital environment it is much more tempting to multi task. Which leads to never focussing 100% on one thing and most likely not achieving the full potential.

All the crafts and materials I have explored can contribute to my practice. It has just opened new doorways. In animation I usually prefer making physical backgrounds to then photograph these and use them in my movies. All the things I have explored can help me create backgrounds/environments and objects for use in animations. I have always been interested in the relation between analogue and digital within animation and this interest only got fed by this course. This relation was also very present with the pots where I found the traditional way more satisfactory then the digital way. Even though the digital way also has his pros.

WHY I MAKE

I choose animation because I wanted the ability to bring my images to life, animation coming from anima the latin word for soul and life. I choose digital craft because I wanted to expand my set of skills and broaden my available toolbox. Why I make is a question that I found very hard to answer last time I wrote this. Still I find it difficult but I do think I have a better understanding. There is a certain satisfaction in making and seeing something come into existence by your doing gives that fulfillment. The process of crafting is the process of shaping ideas. Seeing ideas become real and chance according to the way they are crafted is something that drives me forward. Also there is something unique to each piece. I am not a great drawer, but no one will ever draw like me and that makes every drawing special. As is described by John Ruskin and William Morris individualism is important in craftsmanship. Without this you are just a cog in the machine that has little creative input. As a craftsman I want to disassemble the machine see how it works, turn each cog on its own, see what they do, reassemble it in many different ways and find what is most suitable and satisfactory for me.

So the three most important things for me in craft are: experimentation, the process and creating something unique.