Theme:
Play & Tinkering - to experiment with new or unexpected directions of our practice.
Method:
I will tinker with clay model sculpting in order to create something I like. I will investigate the rhetorics of self and of play as the imaginary, and the pleasure categories of creation, difficulty and fantasy.
Context:
Matt Hayton (Fawnlorn) - https://www.instagram.com/fawnlorn/?hl=en
My inspiration for attempting clay sculpting - an illustrator who dabbles in sculpting mini figurines with simple designs. I like the simplicity of the sculpture designs and believe that I could aspire towards achieving a similar result.
A Study in Play, Pleasure and Interaction Design - Brigid Costello & Ernest Edmonds
Costello & Edmonds compile thirteen pleasure categories which indicate the elements of play which may be present in a pleasurable activity. I believe that my exercise will entail the categories of; creation, producing a physical object I can showcase; difficulty, undertaking a new medium that I have minimal experience in; and fantasy, incorporating elements of various creatures and designs into my sculpture.
The Ambiguity of Play - Brian Sutton-Smith
Sutton-Smith categorises seven rhetorics that help to categories the ambiguous field of play theory. I believe that my exercise will explore the rhetorics of; the self, i.e. solitary activities that invoke fun, relaxation and metaphoric escape; and play as the imaginary, i.e. the improvisation of the imagination, creativity and innovation.
Response:
After creating the armature using tin foil, I wrapped it with clay and began adding additional features such as legs, a tail, mouth, teeth and wings. For the eyes, I used four black plastic beads so that they would stand out from the clay and could be cleaned afterwards. Maddy was an incredible help, giving me a quick rundown of sculpting practice, namely the key tools required and the techniques to create simple armatures and blend the clay together smoothly. My final sculpture was a small creature whose body resembles a whale, frog and bison, with four beady eyes and two large wings.
Reflection:
This exercise was a lot more relaxing than I thought it would be, as I thought the pleasure category of ‘difficulty’ in attempting a new task would frustrate me more than it did. I found that through moulding the sculpture, I was having to test out and tinker with my approach to creation through a dimension that I don’t normally work in, as I usually stick to 2D art. It was a lot of fun searching up references for what I wanted to create and coming up with my own ideas as a result.
The rhetoric of self was definitely an element of the exercise, as time went by quickly during the exercise and I was able to relax and lose myself in the task and have fun with the process, while the rhetoric of play as the imaginary mostly occurred as I conceived the idea of what my creature would look like after finding reference imagery. I have plenty more ideas I would love to explore through clay sculpting as an increase in difficulty more dramatically and pushed my imagination further, but this was a successful foray into the art of sculpture.
