The
prevalent advice from (formerly KIAD) University College for the Creative Arts
Masters Degree course leader and tutors was and is to keep an "open-minded
approach to the project", to let it evolve - even to ensure it did/does
evolve!
Naturally my project has developped, changed, expanded,
contracted and expanded again during the course. The entries below reflect some
of the records kept of these myriad changes, though of course there were many
more - and more are yet to come!
Original Description of MFA
Project 6 October 2004
INITIAL IDEA FOR MASTER DEGREE PROJECT /
RESEARCH / EXHIBITION / THESIS Laury Dizengremel
Note: For a later and now more accurate description, see
Essay
One
Title: "The
Power of Fragments"
Proposed thesis topic / areas of research:
An exploration of the power of fragments especially sculpture / 3D
fragments and their impact upon the viewer. What message does a fragment bear:
how far can a sculpture or fragment thereof be broken down and still convey a
sense of the sculptural shape it originally belonged to? Message versus
no-message or communication versus no-communication (can a fragment of a
sculpture be devoid of significance and still be considered "sculpture" or
"art" when no message or communication is involved?); how fragments evoke the
whole; can fragments of sculpture be the ultimate understatement of sculptural
art?; how fragments can be used to create an entirely new (and possibly
irrelevant) whole; the practical, economical and environmental aspects of
creating new sculpture with sculpture fragments (recycling); the cultural
significances and importance of archaeological findings; the relationship
between sculpture fragments and architectural fragments; incorporating
sculpture fragments into architecture; how fragments illustrate the importance
of negative versus positive space.
Also - see the "Artist Statement" in
my portfolio. I'm very keen to work on giving sculpture portraiture a
contemporary feel - I see heads/busts as "fragments of a body, a likeness, a
personality."
Note: In terms of materials - I am very familiar with
clay and the entire clay to bronze process. I would like therefore to
concentrate on alternative materials and especially coloured concrete for any
artworks I create within the scope of my areas of research
Possible
artworks for project/exhibition: "Fragments of an Orange" - orange
segment "Fragments of an Inanimate Object" - boat fragment "Fragments
of a Torso" triptych of increasingly smaller fragments of a torso
"FRAGMENTS, Fragments, fragments" multimedia composition with repeat of a
3D fragment plus fragments of poetry plus fragments of music "Transcending
Gender" a multi-gender relief panel (intermingled men and women)
"Transformations" a multi-age relief panel (showing fragments of faces of
the same person at different ages) "People of the World" a multi-ethnic
relief "Faces" 3D column of face fragments (multi-age, multi-gender and
multi-ethnic) "Fragments of a Torso" triptych of increasingly smaller
fragments of a torso "In Pieces" make a sculpture, then break it and put it
back together again (monumental reconstruction of a broken sculpture)
See resume and portfolio for info on how I have developed this
knowledge and understanding of my subject. With regards the "fragments"
questions / concepts - these are far from new but I aim to explore the area in
a unique manner. How my interest relates to the work of others: An
Israeli woman sculptor I know works in direct metal very successfully in Tel
Aviv, on various room fragment sculptures (bed and rolled up mattress) and
other high-impact pieces such as a poignant torn collar relief (Jews tear their
collar off when a loved one dies).
I saw a fantastic tribute to those
who fell from the towers on 9/11 in Italy in a sculpture park two years ago - a
sculpture of a raft upon a lake with a bunch of scattered shirts on the surface
if the raft itself and one of them falling further off of it. What are shirts
but fragments of apparel?
The piece was highly charged with emotion and
you "got it" immediately, even though so understated. Artists too numerous to
mention have focused on words / fragments of text within their 2D and 3D works.
The entire design industry has been affected by the torn/ fragmented
"look" (ripped jeans, frayed clothing, cropped apparel).
Architecture
is rife with fragments.
Archaeologists often have only fragments with
which to work their theories of history.
Forensic science is all about
fragments.
The movie "Blow Up" concentrated on fragments of portions of
photographic evidence.
NOTE: For a further description of the
project, quite different to this very early one, see the introductory
paragraphs of Essay
One
Research Methodology Chart for
MFA Project October 2005
Action Plan 1 18 January
2005
Kent Institute of Art
& Design MFA (1st year) ACTION PLAN FOR "AWAY RESEARCH" for the
period 18 January 2005 1 Feb - 15 October 2005 Laury Dizengremel
Purpose of this plan: To provide a brief summary / outline of
the investigations, line(s) of approach, formats envisaged, travel plans, means
of contact I have decided to use/organized/or still need to set up in the
context of the "away - remote site" period of the MFA (1st year).
General area of investigation: As initially covered in
Research Methodology Chart (see above), further refined in
1st Essay.
Also, in brief: Looking at and photographing / recording any and all
elements required to achieve a non-racist, "portrayal of humankind" (featuring
heads selected from many different ethnic/geographical groups around the world)
which I will later use during the production phase of the MFA, to make
sculpture, but also installations, video, and remaining open to the use of
other media. Sub-lines of investigation: - earlier or other current attempts at
portraying humankind - portrayals/portraiture/2D and 3D compositions -
different sculpture media - installation concepts - photography display
techniques and media - video scripting and shooting techniques
"Formats" envisaged for use during research period: In each
location, amongst people of different ages and gender: 1. Using a rigorous
quasi "anthropological" approach, selecting a subject, agreeing with that
subject on a pose for his/her head, then taking digital photographs of his/her
head from the same eye-level height, same distance from the following angles: "
full front, " frontal quarter view from each side, " full profile from each
side, " rear three quarter view from each side, " plus one from below (up
nostrils angle) " and where possible one from above. 2. Taking a minimum of
20, and in some cases 22, accurate head measurements in centimetres, using
either plastic (if airlines will accept in hand luggage) or metal callipers and
a special measurement sheet 3. Taking "free feeling" photos of same subject
(before or after the preceding photos have been taken) 4. Taking an
additional photo of the same subject with either name or nationality written
across forehead (after the first two lot have been taken) - also a shot with
the world "person" or the word "body" or the words "I am so much more than a
body" (or adding those using photoshop later if
) 5. Asking the
subject questions (using interpreter where necessary) to fill completely fill
out my "Subject data sheet" so I have all the pertinent information I want to
gather (name in their own language, name phonetically transcribed into English,
age, gender, place of birth, nationality, plus their answers to the following
questions:
- How do you define "HUMAN KIND" ? (What is your definition
of HUMANKIND?) - Do you completely, partially agree or disagree with the
statement : "Humankind includes all the people of Earth, regardless of their
nationality, gender, skin colour, eye colour, religious or political beliefs?"
If yes, do you want to add anything to the statement? If no, why not? - Do
you feel a whole lot of faces placed together in a single composition showing
completely different ages and features could constitute a portrayal of
humankind? - If you decided to be an artist making a FIGURATIVE THREE
DIMENSIONAL or TWO DIMENSIONAL REPRESENTATION of HUMAN KIND, what do you
imagine your art piece might include or look like?
NOTE: Also - in the
context of the MFA INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE, I want to investigate in each
country the current scene for sculptors (private work, commission work, gallery
representation, career paths) - I plan to do this by contacting art schools and
professional sculptors in each country.
Travel plans: I would
like to "think big", "global", "truly international" and therefore cover as
much as is financially possible of humankind's playing ground (planet earth).
So in addition to the many places I am already going to be going to (in the
course of my continuing private and public commissions) I want to make an
"around the world" tour, making as many stop-overs as possible.
I am
currently putting together a budget taking into account all the expenses.
Things are made easier for me by the fact I've had a very international
upbringing and lived on different continents, plus have worked in several
international sculpture events, thus forging bonds with people and particularly
artists and more specifically sculptors all over the world.
Possible
tour stop-overs and remote sites:
1. Colombo and Galle, Sri Lanka
(will aid volunteer efforts for at least two weeks while working on the project
looking for specifically Indian/Sri Lankan natives - currently have two nephews
from Canada there who are volunteering) 2. Jakarta, Indonesia (may also be
involved in tsunami victim relief efforts while working on the project, there
is a large mix of people there ethnically including Malay, Chinese and native
Indonesians - have a sculptor friend there, Dolorosa Sinaga) 3. Chittagong,
Bangladesh (have a sculptor friend there, head of the sculpture department of
the Art University, Prof. Alak Roy) 4. Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu in China
(sculptors friends or other contacts in all these places) 5. Lhasa in Tibet
6. Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA (have already contacted people from a
small Cherokee tribe and have access to a large art studio there) 7. At
least one other site in USA to be decided (to visit completely different
tribes) 8. Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada (to do a public work
late September/early October for the city of Westbank, and to visit native
North American tribes) 9. Washington D.C. will do some library research and
Virginia USA (many people of African origin - both from Western and Eastern
Africa - also have a commission lined up there for a State Department official)
10. Darwin, Australia (have a contact within an aboriginal reservation
which can be visited only by invitation or special request and will see native
aborigines there) 11. Auckland, New Zealand (staying with a band of natives
from the Islands of Tokelau and Tuvalu) 12. Nairobi, Africa (my French
cousin is a designer working in sisal and lives there) 13. Athens, Greece
(will select Mediterranean types - have a very good Greek sculptor friend
there, Antonis Myrodias) 14. Santiago de Chili and Buenos Aires Argentina -
in search of native South American people (again, staying with sculptor friends
in both countries) 15. Varmdo, Sweden (for typical Nordic types) - have
three Swedish sculptor friends: Roland Persson, Veronica Brovall and Lars
Kleem) 16. Saint Saens, Normandy, France (will select Norman types there
and my father lives there and also my sculptor friend J.M. de Pas)
Other possible remote sites: Tegucicalpa, Honduras, central American
people plus maybe Taipei, Taiwan Easter Island (no contact as yet)
Contact details while gone / Reporting methods suggested:
....@.... (private e-mail address omitted here for the web...) will
be my contact e-mail while gone for RECEIPT of e-mails. I may also use for
SENDING images back the address sculptures@sculpture-design.com . I will keep in close
contact with my course leader (at the frequency Richard suggests), by e-mail.
Also occasionally by telephone (by prior arrangement over e-mail so as not to
waste international phone call costs!) Back to top Back to top
- Original Description of MFA
Project
- Research Methodology Chart for MFA
Project
- Action Plan 1 -
- Action Plan 2 -
- Final Description of MFA Project
- Essay One 10 January
2005
- Essay Two 7 March
2005
- Critical
Evaluation 1 8 April 2005
- Critical
Evaluation 2
- Critical
Evaluation 3
- PG Dips
- Research Paper for Viva
- Artist Statement for MFA Final Show Sept.
2006
- Sculpture
- Photography
- Video
- Installation
- Personal bibliography
- Travel links
- Artist and art websites
- Curriculum Vitae
- List of professional commissions executed,
works purchased and works exhibited during course period Sept. 2004 to Sept.
2006
- List of professional engagements (symposia,
lectures, etc.) during course period Sept. 2004 to Sept. 2006
E-mail:
sculptures@sculpture-design.com
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