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For project three, it was difficult to decide which artist to go with because it was hard for me to understand the grasp of the theme "organic mechanic". I milled over it for a few days to no avail. The problem lied in how I would incorporate a mechanic aspect to something organic, but I realized I was thinking too in depth on it. Mechanics could come from the general "gear/wrench" model, but it could also come from geometric shapes, or even adding things that do not necessarily belong in an organic continuum. This is kind of where David Altmejd fit in for me upon that understanding. Born in 1974 in Montréal, Canada, Altmejd attended the Université du Québec à Montréal for his undergraduate degree and finished a Masters at Columbia University. With his particular works covering themes for abstraction to the whole piece, he finds the process of "making" and blurring internal and external more meaningful than having a concrete idea to start off with. This could possibly be a reason for while a number of his pieces are powerful, yet remain Untitled. The artwork was interesting to note because of the various abstractions he created with intense distortion and and found objects. It was borderline grotesque, but it made me want to explore more about each piece he chose to add. With that being said, my favorites of his work consisted of "Fan of Soul", "Eye" and "The Eye". Fan of Soul caught my eye because of how it was an additive process —a process I might use in my piece— and the raised surface looked neat and textured. The "Eye", was hard to look at because it reminded me of a zombie, but I still liked the internal quartz arrangement made the the center hole mesmerizing. And finally, "The Eye" was may favorite because of how it utilized the mirrors to create a sense of light being redirected. Why might this artist have been included for Project Organic Mechanic? I think it was for his his use of bodily forms and the abstraction he does with it. More often than not, organic things may have some sort of pattern to them whether it be growth, striations, or actual visual patterns. He creates pieces that originally have a pattern, but he then distorts them to give a "supernatural-esque" look to them. I equate a transformation of things as a type of mechanism —no pun intended— that pushes organic figures to something more inorganic or mechanical. If he was participating in this project, I think he would opt for molding his own pieces and only have various parts casted in aluminum. His work is made up of a large amount of mixed media so I think he would work with anything he could find in the studio. I feel as though he would have a rough time coming up with designs as we have to in the beginning of our projects because of the way he works, but he may come up with something around clay heads, glass (and plexiglass), and/or geometric containers with hanging installations. I would be very curious to see what he would come up with. Sources:
http://www.davidaltmejd.com/ http://www.xavierhufkens.com/artists/david-altmejd http://www.andrearosengallery.com/artists/david-altmejd/images#andquotuntitled-8-bodybuildersandquot-2013 http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/david_altmejd.htm https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/david-altmejd-heads-short/ Interestingly enough, I came across her work while I was completing my Nature Inspired piece. I say that the circumstance was interesting because of how similar my theme was to her execution of the many pieces she produced in the 2010's. My professor recommended that I check out some more of her work when she received her Sculpture magazine for the month of March. Alice Ayecock's work was on the cover and I was just shocked because of how flawless the sculpture was and how it was how I envisioned my work to hopefully turn out! There was no sight of uneven weight distribution (which was what I was struggling with the most) and the flow between the numerous swirls was seamless. I looked at more pieces that were featured in the spread and I took to the internet to find out more. The work on the cover of the sculpture magazine was made with aluminum so I figured that might have been a reason of how she could offset the weight easier than with sheet metal. Aluminum is the most common material she has used since the start of the 2010's, but before that, wood and concrete were her most used. Her website arranges her works by the decades so I thought it would be fun to see how much she has evolved while selecting a favorite from each!
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