Cycle

Rochester Institute of Technology

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Theses

Thesis/Dissertation Collections

10-22-1997

Cycle

Suzanne Kaplan

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ROCHESTER INSTITUTE

OF

TECHNOLOGY

A

thesis submitted to the

Faculty

of

The

College

of

Imaging

Arts

and

Sciences

In

the

Candidacy

for

the

Degree

of

MASTER

OF

FINE ARTS

CYCLE

by

APPROVALS

Adviser: Richard H)2Jh

Date:

!.La

7

Associate Advi er:

~Ju~d~d~W~i~ll~i'ams~~

.:....(_JZ_w_!...J.)~_

Date :

/1~

5"

-"'j::t-Department Chairper

on:~R~o~be~rt~S~c~h~IllJ~·~tz...-

_

Date:

11- .;-

-?t

I

, hereby deny permission to the Wallace

Memorial Library of

RIT

to reproduce my the is in whole or in part. I reque t to be

contacted each time a reque t for reproduction i made. I can be reached at the following

address:

104 Parmenter Road

Hud on, MA 01749

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I havehasagreatdealofsupportfrom

friends,

teachersandprofessors. Iowe a

specialthanks to_my

family

andSteven

Kaplan,

whohave helpedand supportedthisthesis

endeavor. Ifeel

lucky

tohave been introducedto theoutdoors andlife'schallenges ata

youngage. _{The many}experiences and encountersI've hadthrough theyearshave helped

meto

develop

asan artist.

TABLE

OF CONTENTS

APPROVALS II

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS IV

LIST OF PLATES V

INTRODUCTION V

ARTISTS AND INFLUENCES 1

THE WORK 4

Cycle 4

CircleofLife 4

Existence 8

Spiritual Rebirth 10

CONCLUSION 12

WORKS CITED 14

LIST

OF PLATES

Plate 1: CYCLE. Installation view 5

Plate2: Detail CYCLE: Circleof Life 6

Plate 3: Detail CYCLE: Existence 9

INTRODUCTION

Igrew_{up in} a smalltown in New HampshireandIremember_myparents would

lead my sisters and me onnaturewalks_{up Mt. Monadnock}andinourbackwoods. We

hiked inalltypesof weather andin alltheseasons.

They

taughtmetoobserve_nature;and

still_{today, I love walking inthe woods, climbing}mountains and_observingnature's

beauty. Inthelast fewyearswhenIwalkin_{the woods,}Iseethings thatarenot natural:

life isprecarious: nature and people seemtobe inconflict. Humanexistence can_{thrive, but}

wehavetounderstand howwe canfoster betteruse of ourworld andits beauty.

My

work

grows froma passionto

live,

to sustain alltypesof

life,

to_portrayandtocelebratethe

beauty

and powerof ournatural world. Insome_{way I hope my} work_may,

by

_reminding

others of nature's

beauty,

help

preservethat

beauty

to other generations.

ARTISTS

AND

INFLUENCES

Overthecourseof_my

life,

I_{have been visually}aware of_{many different}typesof

artists and artworks. Ofthe_many

artists'

workI have seen, therearethreeartiststhatI

wouldliketomake mention ofbecausetheirideasand processes seemtocomeclosestto

theworkI have been

developing

thepastfewyears. Allthree seemto_portrayand celebrate

theimportant_{bond among}nature,humankindandbeauty.

Andy Goldsworthy

isan outdoorinstallationartist. Hisart_{focuses primarily}on

nature. Hiscreationsarebuiltoutsidefromthings foundwithinthearea and oftentimes

they

last onlyashort period oftime. He brings hisartworkto thepublic

by

taking

photographsand_presentingthelarge formatphotosingalleries andbooks. What Ifind

mostcaptivatingisthemanywaysheexpresses his ideas usingnature;extractingnatural

most_{direct way}of_expressinghis spiritualconnection. Hestated:

Working

with nature means_workingon nature's terms. Icannot_stoptherain

falling

or a stream running. If Idid itwould nolonger be rainingandthestream

would

dry

up.

Movement,

_change,

light,

growth and

decay

arethelife-bloodof nature, theenergiesthatI

try

to

tap

through_mywork. Iwanttoget underthe surface. When Iwork witha

leaf,

rock, stick, it isnotjustthatmaterialin

itself,

it

is an_{opening into}theprocesses oflifewithinand aroundit. When I leave

it,

these

processes continue. At itsmost successful_my 'touch' looks intotheheartof

nature: mostdaysIdon'teven get close. Thesethingsareallpart ofthe transient processthatIcannot understand unless _mytouchisalsotransient _onlysoisthe cycleunbroken,theprocesscomplete. Icannot explaintheimportancetome of

being

part of aplace, its seasons and changes. . . .(Freidman and

Goldsworthy

1993,

160)

Goldsworthy

'swork speakstome. He hasrespectfor hissurroundings, thepast andthe

futureandit is innature where

Goldsworthy

_{is spiritually}connectedand createshiswork.

Hisworkisnot_{only full}ofsubstancebutalso_{visually appealing}to_mysenses.

Steven Destaebler is a ceramic sculptorwhoseartworkcanbe generally described

asfigurative. Hisworkcaught_myattention at a ceramic conferencein 1987. Hiswork

captivated me withbothscale andcontent. Itwas someofthe_{largest clay}workI hadever

seenandtheimagescreateawonderfulmarriagebetween human beingsandtheirearth.

Hemakeslargepillarsandwithin each pillarisafigure. The figuresseemto_{be emerging}

fromthepillarsinoneview andthenappeartobe

breaking

downand_{melting back into}the

landscapeofthepillarinanother view.

DeStaebler'sfiguresare_randomlymetamorphic,as_randomlymetamorphic as clay.

Itis hardtodeterminewhetherhis figuresare stillintheprocessof

being

formed,

ormalformed,orformedpiecemeal-_{differentparts atdifferent}rates-_orinthe

processof

disintegrating

into formless fragments.

They

are_absolutely ambiguous

incharacter,

inhabiting

noone condition stably. Foralltheresidualheroicaura

they

muster,his figural bodiesare

incoherent,

almostto thepointofmonstrousness

(Kuspit

1988,

27).

Thegiant_{clay figures}ofDeStaeblerareconstructedfromsmaller componentswhichgives

himthefreedomto_{build up}the

form,

emphasize orde-emphasize certain parts ofthe

human body. The largepillars seem ancient andthefiguressomewhatfamiliar. WhatI

likemost abouthis workisthateventhough the finishedobjects are massive and_weighty,

thesubject ofthehumanfigure andhis

"ancient"

theme_certainlymade afashionable

imprintonme asisapparent_{in my}thesiswork.

Alberto Giacomettiisa sculptor who worked

figuratively

withbronzeand other

materials. His figurativeworkismoretraditionaland_certainlyrecognizable. _{The thin,}

elongated,almost weightlessfigures of roughtexturearehistrademark. Heworked

primarily inwax_{eventually casting in bronze}andhisworkcanbeseeninmuseums all over

theworld. What I likeabouthisworkis thatitseems atfirstglance asthoughthe figures

weremade

instantaneously,

_capturinggestureinquick studies. Upon further

investigation,

it becomesmore apparentthat the work waslaboredover;eachfacetamonumentaldecision

and each curve atremendousdilemma. Giacometti'

sfrustrationand

difficulty

_workingwas

well

known,

andhe wrote aboutitoften,"A largefigureseemedtomefalseand a small

one_{equallyunbearable",}heonce _said, "andthenoften

they

becomeso

tiny

thatwith one

touchof_{my knife}

they

disappear into

dust"

(Giacometti

1965,

28). As Iworkedtoward

mythesis show, Ifelt burdenedtounderstand what Iwas

doing

andwhy. Forms and

ideasthatcame_easilytome were putonholdand scrutinized. Decision making was

difficult. Ifoundsome solaceinthata greatartistwhose workIenjoyed

looking

at

struggledtoo.

And,

eventhoughhe

labored,

theworkseems simple and_accurate,with a

strongsense ofstructure.

Despitethe_{many influences}of welladmiredartists, theworkIhavealwaysbeen

drawntoinvolves imagesofwomen,ideasof spirit andissuesoflife inall

living

things.

Weas apeople andplanet areconnected.

Historically,

_manyoftheseideas have been

represented

by

female figuresand notions offertility. The VenusofWillendorfc.

25,000-20,000BC is justoneexample ofthe_many

fertility

figurines found inculturesall overthe

world (Janson

1977,

26). Throughoutthe thousandsoflanguages and

dialect,

Africanart

tellsstoriesofcreationandmythology. "Artshowsmanin stagesofhis _existence,

birth,

lifeanddeath. Africanmotherhood showsthe_mysteryandpower of

life,

portrayed

frankly

andthe

fertility

ofbothmanand earthhas beenalmost universal and cultureshave been

forming

such figures_{from clay for}centuries.

Using

_{clay for my}art seemed_onlynatural

asIwas_strugglingtodepictthe sameideasthathave beensought afterthroughout time.

THE

WORK

Cycle

Imadethreeseparateformsthatcombine as oneinstallationsculpturefor mythesis

show.The title,

Cycle,

representsallthree

images;

however,

forthesake ofdiscussion I

willaddresseach_{separately (see}plate 1). Theoverallthemeoftheworksuggestsideasof

birth,

nurturing,

life,

deathand spiritual rebirth.

Sketches,

constructiondrawingsand

plans,andsome prefabricated components weremadebeforetheinstallation

date,

butprior

to_{that, I had}neverbeforeseen_anyoftheformscompleted. Eachofthe

forms,

large in

scale,consistedof components made withfired clayand an unfiredadobemixture. Oneof

theforms includedcast glassand metalimages

Circle of Life

The formsubtitled,Circleof

Life,

isadomeof adobe_{approximately five feet in}

diametertoppedwithlarge bowl like forms (seeplate2). Eachofthebowls

lay

_partially

atop one another_completingaunified circle. Forme, theadobebaserepresentstheearth

andthebowl like formssymbolize

breasts,

themost_{purely nurturing}anatomicalportion of

thebody. The formscan alsobeseen_simplyas

bowls,

thatwhich manfeeds

himself,

andlife itself.

The

image,

Circleof

Life,

was constructed

by

_{making first}anarmatureofplywood

and chicken wire coveredin adobe. I decidedtouse adobeforthebases ofall_myforms

becauseofitsuniversal application(it isusedas a

building

materialin manypartsofthe

world)andthatismadefrom onlynatural materials and requires no"moderntechnology"

(i.e.fossil

fuels,

_electricity)toserveitspurpose.

Similarly,

adobe seemedtome an_easy

waytorepresenttheearth.

Theadobe mixture consistedof: 25%

dirt,

25% _sand,25%red art_{clay (terracotta),}

25%straw andwaterasneeded. Althoughadobe

typically

contains somecement,Ichose

toeliminateit from mymixture sothatall ofwhatIusedintheshow couldberecycled

later. Ipurchasedthestrawfromalocal

farmer,

dug

thedirtfromafriendsgardenand

used sanddonated fromalocalsand pit. Although Iwouldhavepreferredtomixtheadobe

by

hand,

timemadethatoptionseem_unlikelyso, Iusedthe schools'

industrialsizedough

mixer and made 200poundbatches. Tocoverthearmatures ofallthreeforms intheshow,

I hadtomixoveronetonof adobe. _{The moving}of allthematerials required numerous

trips_{in my little Subaru}wagonandlotsoflifting.

The breast formswere madefromrolledout slabsformed into alargeplasterbowl.

Whenthe_claywashardenoughtoberemovedfromthe

form,

Ithenmanipulated_them,

alteringthe textureand_addingthenipple. One importantaspectfortheentire sculptural

installationwastohavedifferentcoloredforms inanattempttosymbolizethe

diversity

and

rangeofdifferentcultures. Inordertoachievethisgoal,Iusedtwo_{different clay bodies}

anda number of chemical solutions sprayedontothesurfaces. Imixed_{spray bottles}ofred

ironoxideandwaterinvarious concentrations andappliedthesolutionwhentheforms

werebone dry. Allofthe_claycomponents werefired justonce_{saving time, kiln}use and

energy.

Inordertoachievethedarkest browncomponents,Iused aterracotta_claymixture:

poundsfinegrog. Thecombinationof particle sizes created a

fairly

_{dense clay}which

seemedto workwellfor myapplication. Ifiredthis_claytocone

1,

_{approximately2100}

degrees Fahrenheit. The second_clay

body

Iused wasdeveloped

by

RITgraduate

Chin-Yuan Chang. Themixtureis: 25poundsball_clay, 25poundsfire_clay,25poundsredart

clay, 25poundskyaniteand20pounds medium grog. This_claywithstands outdoor

temperaturefluctuationswell and served_mypurposes _verywell. Ifiredthis_claytocone 1

aswell and

by

_addingtheredironoxide_solutions,Iachieved a compatible palettefrom

whichto work.

Existence

Thesecond

form,

subtitled

Existence,

isanother component constructed piece(see

plate3). Thereare_{approximately}eighthundred

(800)

feetmade_{from fired clay}composed ina spiral. Thespiralformspans aboutfiveand ahalf feet (5

1/2')

in

diameter,

starts_very

lowto the

base,

rises_upcloseto twofeet

(2')

inthemiddle and recedesback lowtothe

base intheinside ofthe form. Thespiral sits_atopan adobebasesevenfeet

(7')

in diameter

about

twenty

inches

(20")

high. This formrepresents ideasoflife. The feetwereusedto

symbolizetheactof

traveling

or

journeying

throughahuman life. The feetstart asif

they

are_{coming from}theearth_{representing birth}orthefirst fewsteps;then,

rising

toitspeak as

wedo in lifeand

finally

backtothe earth,where wereturn.

Theadobebasewas constructedthesame_wayasfortheCircleofLifeandthefeet

were madefroma plaster moldcastof_myownfoot. Themold was made ofjustthe

bottomof_{my foot}soIcouldpress_{clay into} anopen

faced,

onepart mold. Ienvisioned

this imagesothatthebottomofthefeetwouldbe "face

up"

butthe_{way I}pressedthe_clay

leftunexpectedlyunique and

interesting

fingermarks ontheopposite side. Ithoughtabout

1) o

I

a

I

u

heels.

Again,

Iusedthedifferentcolored_{clay bodies continuing}the themeofworld

cultures.

Spiritual Rebirth

Thethirdformoftheinstallationsubtitled, Spiritual

Rebirth,

isthelargestofthe

group (seeplate4). Theoveralldimensionsare 12 feet

long by

6 feetwide

by

10feet high.

Itmimicstheformof a ziggurat andis decoratedwith_{many different}symbols. The base

isthreerectangles layeredon

top

of each_other, each one smallerthan theonebelow. All

ofthebaseiscoveredinadobe. On

top

ofthebase is a combination of57 clayand glass

blocksassembledtocompletethecrescendo effect of a ziggurat and cappedwitha cast

pewterfemalefigure. The formwas chosentosuggesttheideasassociatedwithdeathand

thespiritual worldandthe symbolswithinglass seemto

imply

moreuniversalthemesof

man,earthand cyclesof nature. Intheglassthereareimages of

feet,

_spirals,breasts and

eggs. Iseethis as amonumenttothecoexistence ofMother Earthand mankind.

Thetechniquesusedinthisformemployedall of_my

learning

experiences. The

adobebasewas themost complicated structure ofthe threebases. Thearmaturewasbuilt

of plywood components outsidethe_galleryand movedin inpieces. Althoughitcouldhave

been sheathedinchicken wire asthe others,Iused wood_strappingsimilartolathand

plastertypeconstruction. Almostalloftheitems were gatheredfromthe school's

dumpsterasIwantedtouse recycled materials.

The clay blockswere madefromawooden moldsuchthatIpressedslabsintothe

form toproducefivesides of a cube andthenattachedthe

top

priorto_emptyingtheform.

Theprocess worked well enough sothattheblockswere uniformfor stackingand couldbe

made rather quickly. Theglassblocksprovedtobethemostdifficulttechnicalhurdle.

Advicefromglasspractitionerssuggestedthat_surroundingcopperinsideofglasswould

13

3 :s

a

u

u

Q

leadtosevere

fracturing

_dueto thedifferentrates at whichthematerials expand and

contract.

Realizing

the_possibilityof

failure,

Iproceededexperimentally. Thus

far,

all of

thecast glassblocksare_{completely intactwithout signs of}

crazingorfracture.

They

were

made

by

_pouringmolten glassintoa sandmold,

laying

the 16gaugecoppercut-outintothe

glass and

filling

themold with more glass. Iallowedthe_castingtocool aboutfifteen

minutes andthenplacedtheblock intoa glass _annealingoventocool overnight. When I

could removethe

blocks,

I cutthem tofitthestandardblocksize andused siliconeto

adherethemintothezigguratform.

Thecast metalfigureon

top

ofthesculpture was madeinatraditionallostwaxtype

of_castingprocess. Iformedthefigureout of_wax,engineeredthe sprusystemand

fabricateda one pieceplaster mold. Ichosetomakethemetalfigureout ofpewterbecause

itmelts at alowtemperature

(approximately

580 degrees

Fahrenheit)

andRTTdidnothave

thefacilitiestocastsuch alarge_{figure requiring higher}temperature materials. Iwas

extremely

lucky

thatthecastingworkedfirsttimearound, andIwas ableto clean_upthe

castingand_applya copper patinainashort period oftime. Iattachedthefigure

by drilling

and

threading

ahole intothe_castingand

bolting

throughahole inthe

top

block.

CONCLUSION

Once Icompletedthe

installation,

Igottosee allof_myworktogetherforthefirst

time. Circleof

Life,

ExistenceandSpiritual Rebirthfunctionedas a whole. The Cycle

seemed complete andthevisualexperienceappeared coherent. Theworkincorporated in

making Cyclewasboth_challengingandrewarding.HowIarrived attheformspresentedin

the_{gallery is}somewhatofa_mysteryeven now. Ithought

deeply

aboutthatwhichis

importanttome and with enough supportfrom mythesisadvisors and

friends,

felt

confidentinsuchaninstallationtypeofexperiment.Giventhe opportunity, Iwouldn't

change athing. Theseparateformsbroughttogetherforthefirsttimeinone area seemedto

express all oftheideasIhad hoped

they

would: theconnections_amongnature,

humankind,

andbeauty.

Thephysical work requiredtocompletethesculpture wasdemanding. The

techniquesIused succeededbecauseofwhatI learnedandthatseemstomeawonderful

accomplishment.

Incorporating

_clay, metal and glass gave methe

feeling

that_my studies paid off. Ithinkof_mythesiswork as atrueculmination of_myexperiencesinart_and, as

importantly,

a chancetoexpress_{my love}of natureandits

importance,

power,andbeauty!

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