Trails
Exhibition Text
Trails
March 2017
Mannequin head, cigarettes, light bulbs, syringes, razor blades and doll's arms.
13 cm x 13 cm x 28 cm
The Organic vs. Industrial "Trails" is an assemblage based upon my past memories - of where I came from and what I saw. It is inspired by Jack Howe and assemblage art. This piece will explores the topic of self-destruction and the vices in our society. I am the type of person that would take the safe route because I've seen the trails of people who made mistakes and their consequences. For this piece, rather than focusing on the effects that the environment in which I grew up in has on me, I let others step in my shoes and walk the path themselves.
Planning Sketches
To begin this Industrial vs. Organic project, I brainstorm concepts, symbolism and what to represent them with. I made two planning sketches based on the theme of my past memories; a consumed garden with evasive weeds and no flowers can blossom. I used objects such as razor blades, syringes, broken light bulbs, and cigarettes to provoke a sense of danger.
Inspiration
Taylor, Brian. "GALLERY 291 - ART AT THE DUMP - BELLJAR - ZEN CENTERTRIPLE BASE - CHROMA - FABRIC8 - LOWER HATERS(with assistance from DeWitt Cheng, Clare Coppel, RWM and Neal Strickberger)." Gallery 291, Art at the Dump, BellJar, Zen Center, Triple Base, Chroma, Fabric8, Lower Haters - San Francisco California Art Galleries Events: May 14, 2010. AirInDesign, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
For this Organic vs Industrial piece, it is inspired from assemblages of Jack Howe. He is a self-taught artist, who started his career as an antique collector after dropping out of high school. His home was destroyed by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. This tragedy inspired Howe to transform wreckage into art, to breath life into rubble. Every piece of his artwork tells a story inspired by society and his life journey. The materials Howe uses for his work are found objects from old war relics, antique photographs, tiny gun and airplanes to antique dolls. Each one of the object is a symbolism of its history and how Howe came to have it. Howe’s works revolve around the theme of decay/death. The inspiration for the project came from one of his assemblages called “Born on the Backseat”. This piece tells about a “story of a man who was conceived, born and died on the backseat of a Chevy. His vices are women, booze and poisons as he got in conflict with a dangerous group who came after him. During his last moment on earth, he prayed to god.” The piece features a doll on a bedspring with bottles and a steering wheel. Howe obtain found objects from flea market, and sometimes people would give him things. Howe’s assemblages inspired my project because of the storytelling behind his work. There is a history behind every single object being used in a assemblage. The medium used by Howe is intriguing as well. He uses thrown away objects, breath life into them and give them a story, a story that would live on forever. I plan to incorporate this inspiration into my artwork by making an assemblage with found industrial objects in an organic form with a story behind it.
ExperimentationBefore beginning the process, I experimented with the skin tone. After two mixes, I decided to use fair skin tone. With the cigarettes, I tried to insert the entire cigarette onto the head but it seemed to be too long and out of proportion. Therefore, I used a razor blade to cut them up in small pieces. To represent a black fuzzy hair texture, I burned the cigarettes up and put the flame out right away. To break the light bulbs, I used a wire cutter to smash onto the tip of the light bulb. This way creates unique broken light bulbs, therefore I had to try several times and choose the best. I also tested with slitting fabric by making random cuts into the fabric. I also experimented with burning Styrofoam to see how they would react to the torch. The fume was very toxic so I had to make sure that I don't breath in any of the fume.
CritiqueThere are several similarities between my piece and my inspiration from jack Howe. “Trails” and my inspiration from Jack Howe are both assemblage pieces, which share similar medium. Both the mannequin head in “Trails” and Jack Howe’s work have organic form such as dolls. Jack Howe and my piece both emphasize on telling the story using the assemblage. However, there are also some differences between my piece and Jack Howe’s work. Jack Howe is inspired by the idea of decay, which is very important to his pieces as they are usually relate to the topic of death. His works mostly focus on the conclusion of a story, while my piece focuses on the introduction of a story. My piece has more rough and sharp edges to create a sense of danger, while Jack Howe’s pieces are more like an altar that is respectfully telling a story of someone else. Overall, I’ve learned many things from my inspiration and opened my eyes to new perspectives on telling a story.
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ProcessFirst, I painted the mannequin head with a generic flesh tone. The head foam has many tiny holes, so I went back to paint a second layer to cover up the pores. Next, I cut a 30 cm x 10 cm strip of cloth from my black jogger pant. I turned this piece of cloth into a blindfold to cover the mannequin’s eyes. Using the razor blade, I slit the black blindfold to insert the light bulbs, which will be half broken. The razor blades will be gashed into the lips of the mannequin. To insert the syringes and cigarettes into the mannequin, I used a chopstick to puncture and create small circular holes to plug the syringes and cigarettes in. I used a razor blade to cut the cigarettes up in small portions. With these small portions, I burned them and killed the flame right away by tapping them onto a dish. For the earrings, I broke off the two arms from the doll, glued them onto a wire, and pierced the wire through the earlobes. I used the hot glue gun to cover the sharp edges of all the objects to prevent injuries. After all of the additive pieces are in place, I went back and painted another layer of skin tone to cover up exposing holes. Then, I took the piece outside to burn it using a torch. I decided to torch the right side of the head. I let the fire burn for a bit then immediately sprayed water onto it. Finally, the finished assemblage is then photographed.
ReflectionThroughout this Organic vs. Industrial project, I’ve tried and learned many new things. To begin this project, I had to purchase the materials from my planning sketch. The materials needed are: doll, syringes, light bulbs, cigarettes, cloth and a mannequin head. For most of the materials, they are provocative objects for a teenager like me to have. It was surreal to go into a store to buy a pack of cigarettes legally even though it was for artistic usage. These objects have sharp edges, therefore attention to details was important. I was proud of myself to be in contact with materials that are capable of destroying lives but I remained unaffected by them. Overall, I believe that I am successful at executing my planning sketch. If I were to do this project again, I would try out different symbols and maybe burn the entire mannequin up as a symbolism for destruction.
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Meaning
The Organic vs. Industrial piece “TITLE” is based upon my past memories, growing up in Vietnam. I like to compare my past memories to a garden, where it is overrun by invasive weeds and there are no flowers around. I remember growing up, my parents would warn me not to play barefoot outside because you’d never know where there’d be a contaminated syringe. From where I grew up, vices, such as drinking, drug usage, gambling, and smoking, take over the street. When I was about 10, there was a homeless guy who was always drunk. One day when my friends and I were playing in the neighborhood park, we found out that the homeless guy drowned in a six feet deep pond. I saw friends who were self-harming as rebellion to the environment. I saw fresh track marks on my cousin every time he comes to visit. I saw cigarette butts everywhere I go. I saw the police came into my aunt’s house with guns to arrest a card game. These are the trails that I witnessed, which all led to destruction. In the piece, the broken light bulbs represent my lack of knowledge growing in a overpopulated country with no plan for the future. The burning cigarettes sticking out of the head symbolize a toxic mind and memories of my past. The earrings with arms and razor blades on the lips symbolize self-destruction and give a sense of danger. The syringes sticking out of the mannequin’s neck give a sense of restraint. As a kid, my parents were protective of me from the environment. I did not have the freedom to run free to play and learn. However, I am grateful that I was able to witness the trails and their destructive destination so that I would not make the same route again.
ACT Connection
- My inspiration from Jack Howe had a great impact on my work. I followed the same art style like my inspiration and its medium. Jack Howe primarily uses his assemblages to tell a story about his life or about the owners of the objects. Similarly, I used my assemblage to tell a story about what I saw as a kid.
- The overall approach Jack Howe has is the emphasis on the decay and the aftermath of a story. Jack Howe produce assemblages like altars that are used to honor the deceased and their stories.
- While researching my inspiration, I’ve made a generalization that the belief of turning wreckage into art is important because of the earthquake tragedy that destroyed his house. Because most of his possessions are destroyed, it inspired Howe to breath life into the decay and tell a story.
- The central idea around my inspirational research is storytelling through assemblage. I wanted to create a piece that would show a piece of my past.
- I made an inference that most of the stories from the assemblages are Jack Howe’s very own personal stories, in which he changed the names to remove himself from the repeating the pain. His works are simply a reminder of our mortality.
Work Cited
- Taylor, Brian. "GALLERY 291 - ART AT THE DUMP - BELLJAR - ZEN CENTERTRIPLE BASE - CHROMA - FABRIC8 - LOWER HATERS(with assistance from DeWitt Cheng, Clare Coppel, RWM and Neal Strickberger)." Gallery 291, Art at the Dump, BellJar, Zen Center, Triple Base, Chroma, Fabric8, Lower Haters - San Francisco California Art Galleries Events: May 14, 2010. AirInDesign, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
- Sentinel, Kirby ScudderSanta Cruz. "Kirby Scudder: The stories behind the art of Jack Howe." Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz Sentinel, 26 June 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.