by Prof. Miller

Organic: #softnotsoft

This project challenges the following course outcomes:

  • Apply Art Elements and Principles to the design of three-dimensional forms.
  • Create three-dimensional works that incorporate texture, color, light and negative
  • space as a vital part of the form.
  • Demonstrate ability to transpose from two-dimensional design concept to three dimensional form.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of additive, subtractive, and constructive methods
  • used to create three-dimensional works

Assignment guidelines:

  • Focusing on numerous materials, create a 3D form, or series of forms, that focuses on organic shapes.
  • Consider experimenting with contrasts : soft vs not soft, flat vs not flat, color vs. lack of color, etc.

Wild About Wire + Textiles

Possible Forms:

  • Vessel
  • Mobile – see Alexander Calder
  • Abstract hanging form
  • Textile / Weaving
  • Site specific / installation

Possible Materials:

  • Soft: Yarn, String, Twine, Fabric, Paper, Clay
  • Not soft: Wire of any kind – floral, picture frame wire, chicken wire, bendable forms to create armatures.

Artists to research:

My recent work

Alexander Calder

Eva Hesse

Judy Pfaff

Ruth Asawa

Sarah Sze

Sally Blake

Janet Echelman – check out her TED Talk here : “Taking Imagination Seriously”

Specifically on Instagram:

Toshiko MacAdam and here

Erik Speer

Courtney Mattison @courtneycoral

Petah Coyne

Soyna Gomes

Kelly Sheppard Murray @kellysheppardmurray_art

Amy Gross – local Palm Beach artist

  • Artist: Judy Pfaff Loretta Howard Gallery, NYC

The Society for Four Arts has a beautiful exhibit up right now – “A Beautiful Mess: Weavers and Knotters:

Some of the artists in this exhibit are:

Windy Chien

Kira Dominguez Hultgren

Jacqueline Surdell

Student examples:

by Prof. Miller

Paper Sculpture Edition

See above for former student examples

This project challenges the following course outcomes:

  • Apply Art Elements and Principles to the design of three-dimensional forms.
  • Create three-dimensional works that incorporate texture, color, light and negative
  • space as a vital part of the form.
  • Demonstrate ability to transpose from two-dimensional design concept to three dimensional form.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of additive, subtractive, and constructive methods
  • used to create three-dimensional works

Assignment guidelines:

Using paper only, build, add, subtract and construct a form. This form should be representational and small in scale. Minimum 3″ all around, maximum 12″ all around.

Paper only – cardstock, drawing paper, newsprint, watercolor paper, paper of any kind.

Make an edition of 10

Principles of Design to consider:

Unity and Variety; Scale and Proportion and Repetition and Rhythm

Visual Elements to consider:

Shape, Form, Texture, Color

Artists to Look at:

Jen Stark

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/paper-sculpture

These are crazy!

My Modern Met

Watch this video on “the Ice Book” one of the most stunning paper works I have ever seen by Kristin and Davy McGuire.

Great resources here as well

by Prof. Miller

Boxes of Wonder

This project challenges the following course outcomes:

  • Apply Art Elements and Principles to the design of three-dimensional forms.
  • Create three-dimensional works that incorporate texture, color, light and negative
  • space as a vital part of the form.
  • Create three-dimensional works using a variety of media and techniques.
  • Demonstrate ability to transpose from two-dimensional design concept to threedimensional form.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of additive, subtractive, and constructive methods
  • used to create three-dimensional works.

Assignment guidelines:

Using a small enclosure (box, shadowbox frame, wine crate, wood box, found object such as a suitcase, book, etc build a narrative, Explore concepts of storytelling such as wonder, surrealism, identity, fantasy.

Any and all materials welcomed! Draw on photographs, paint on objects, clay, anything.

Approx size: minimum: 12″ x 12″ x 2″ maximum: 24″ x 24″ x 12″

Questions to answer:

How do artists use objects tell stories? Can yours tell a story without using words?

What is your visual vocabulary?

What is an assemblage?

Some sites to look at for inspiration:

The Object Ethnography Project –

Significant Objects

Artists to Look at for Inspiration

Joseph Cornell is the big influence from Art History – but you could look at others too such as :

Another video on the magic of Joseph Cornell

  • Untitled (Cockatoo with Watch Faces), c. 1949 Box construction with inoperative music box 16 1/4 x 17 x 4 7/16 inches (41.3 x 43.2 x 11.3 cm) The Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection Photograph by Michael Tropea, Chicago © The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York

See this link for two great videos on the power of Cornell’s magic

History of Cabinet’s of Curiosity or Wunderkammer

RISD’s NatureLAB

Robert Rauschenburg – coined the term “combine”

Marcel Duchamp and his “Readymades”

Lenore Tawney

Brian Dettmer

Possible field trip to Resource Depot!

by Prof. Miller

3D Artist Presentation

Assignment:

On your assigned date – you will give a 10-15 minute powerpoint presentation to the class on a 3D artist from the below list.

Please design a PowerPoint presentation of 10-20 images of their work, aesthetic and methods. One brief slide on the artists background is enough – focus on their work, methods, materials, style, etc.

Please cite each image with the following information: “Title” Medium. Date. Size

Please put one slide at the end to cite where you got the information.

You may include one 5-10 min video in your presentation.

Artist Selections:

Nature/Installation

Fabric/ Paper

Pop / Contemporary

Contemporary – based on traditional

Large Scale or Small Scale

Minimalism

Contemporary /Mixed Materials

by Prof. Miller

Principles of Design

For project 1: Cardboard Creations, we are focusing on the following :

Principles of Design to consider:

Unity and Variety; Scale and Proportion and Repetition and Rhythm

Visual Elements to consider:

Shape, Form, Texture

What can you DO with just one material? How many different forms of texture can you bring about?

3D artists to look at :

Unity and Variety : Annette Messager, Louise Nevelson, Tara Donovan

SHAPE: Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder

TEXTURE: Anselm Kiefer, Alberto Giacometti

This is amazing – life sized cardboard figures

Good compilation

Fun steampunk aesthetic

Phenomenal installation art with cardboard

Stop motion video

An American Tribute to the British People 1960-4 Louise Nevelson 1899-1988 Presented by the artist 1965 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T00796

Louise Nevelson

by Prof. Miller

Cardboard Creations

Tobias Putrih

This project challenges the following course outcomes:

  • Apply Art Elements and Principles to the design of three-dimensional forms.
  • Create three-dimensional works that incorporate texture, color, light and negative
  • space as a vital part of the form.
  • Demonstrate ability to transpose from two-dimensional design concept to threedimensional form.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of additive, subtractive, and constructive methods
  • used to create three-dimensional works.

Assignment guidelines:

Using cardboard only, build, add, subtract and construct a form. This form can be non-representational, representational or abstract. It must have minimum dimensions of 3′ x 2′ x 6″. Can be larger.

Principles of Design to consider:

Unity and Variety; Scale and Proportion and Repetition and Rhythm

Visual Elements to consider:

Shape, Form, Texture

We will not be adding color to this project as we will explore color specifically in other projects.

What can you DO with only the original color of the cardboard?

See this article on the power of the Monochromatic work of Louise Nevelson

Tara Donovan is also a huge inspiration of this assignment. Check out her work below and here

My kids discovering Tara Donovan’s work summer 2021 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “That’s SO many cups!”