Final Project – Choosing Your Material

Give Yourself Enough Time to Decide

• The Final Project allows you to choose any material, which can be overwhelming, but it’s important to give this choice lots of thought…

• Some materials might be difficult to work with if you’re unfamiliar with them, but don’t let that scare you from trying something new!

• If your final project has a certain theme, subject, or message, how can your choice of material be used to make that theme, subject, or message even stronger and more clear to your viewers?

Seeing Old Objects as Something New

• We’re surrounded by so many objects everyday, how can we see something common in a different light? As something new?

Optical Illusions – Changing Perspectives

• This optical illusion shows us that even though this animal looks like a rabbit at first, if we look at it from a different angle, it can also be a duck. Give yourself enough time to look at different materials and their many possibilities, because different ideas might pop up over time as you allow yourself to see things from different perspectives.

Optical Illusions – Continued

Junk Sculptures

• We have come a long way from when fine art had to be made from oil paints and polished marble. • We live in a time with A LOT

of artistic freedom, and objects that were once considered too “unrefined” are now free for the choosing! This does not have to be an expensive project at all.

Materials Can Add an Extra Layer of Meaning

Artworks (and ogres) are like onions.. They can have layers of meaning. Some artists choose specific materials that add that extra layer of meaning to their art. The extra meaning can be personal (add sentimental value) or something that helps to get a message across to the viewer.

David Hammons – “Bliz-aard Ball Sale”

• This New York artist sold snowballs of different sizes on the streets during a snow storm. His message: Art should not be a materialistic business. It’s about the ideas and the creativity.

Do-Ho Suh – “Some/One”

• Do-Ho Suh created this robe sculpture out of unnamed dog tags. He had spent 2 years serving in the South Korean military and felt stifled and overwhelmed by the pressure to conform. This sculpture can be seen as a personal expression of that time in his life.

Allison Warden – “The Place of the Future-Ancient”

• Allison Warden created this polar bear out of plastic zip-ties. She is a well-known environmentalist who created several sculptures of endangered animals out of the types of materials that are killing them and polluting their environments.

Remember the Design Principles

• Principles of Design Graphic Organizer

Local Places to Find Cheap Materials

• Trash for Teaching – Gardena (a place to buy very cheap materials in bulk!)• Grateful Hearts – Los Alamitos• Goodwill - Cypress• Savers - Anaheim