Exhibition Text: Card hat is a hat that is made out of cards and includes some objects that resemble Nascar. Nascar was a big part of my childhood and I thought that I could resemble this using mixed media. There were a lot of people in my family that liked Nascar and got me into it. I have since fallen out of it but I have kept all the things that I collected and used some of them for the hat. I was inspired by Christian Boltanski and his work with clothing to make the card hat. I used his Reserve Canada piece to do this. I also used the help of John Petrey and his dress made of cards.
Planning
Inspiration
Christian Boltanski is a French sculptor, photographer, painter and filmmaker, most well known for his photography installations and contemporary French Conceptual style. Boltanski began creating art in the late 1950s, but didn't rise to prominence until almost a decade later through a few short, avante-garde films and some published notebooks in which he referenced his childhood. In 1986, Boltanski began creating mixed media/materials installations with light as essential concept. Tin boxes, altar-like construction of framed and manipulated photographs, photographs of Jewish schoolchildren taken in Vienna in 1931, used as a forceful reminder of mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, all those elements and materials used in his work are used in order to represent deep contemplation regarding reconstruction of past. While creating Reserve Boltanski filled rooms and corridors with worn clothing items as a way of inciting profound sensation of human tragedy at concentration camps. As in his previous works, objects serve as relentless reminders of human experience and suffering. His piece, Monument, uses six photographs of Jewish students in 1939 and lights to resemble Yahrzeit candles to honor and remember the dead. "My work is about the fact of dying, but it's not about the Holocaust itself.” Additionally, his enormous installation titled "No Man's Land" at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, is a great example of how his constructions and installations trace the lives of the lost and forgotten.Christian Boltanski has participated in over 150 art exhibitions throughout the world. Among others, he had solo exhibitions at the New Museum, the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Magasin 3 in Stockholm, the La Maison Rouge gallery, Institut Mathildenhöhe, the Kewenig Galerie, The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme and many others. From 1 July to 25 September 2011, museum Es Baluard exhibited "Signatures", the installation Christian Boltanski conceived specifically for Es Baluard and which is focused on the memory of the workers who in the 17th Century built the museum's walls.In 2002, Boltanski made the installation "Totentanz II", a Shadow Installation with copper figures, for the underground Centre for International Light Art in Unna, Germany. Best known for his photographic installations, the artist explores life, death, and memory in his practice, often focusing on the Holocaust as he blurs the boundaries between truth and fiction. “You can tell the truth more truthfully than with the truth itself,” he once quipped. For his seminal work La traversée de la vie (2015), Boltanski used the same photographs as he had in 1971 for Album des photos de la Famille D.—the images were enlarged and printed on fabric and illuminated by hangings light bulbs, inviting the viewer to walk through them. John Petrey is a sculptor that has his own artists statement. Since 1981, he has been creating art that stirs the emotions of the viewer. His work consists of an expression of his soul. Images of nature, art and new technology inspire him. He is intrigued at things that catch his eye and random things that erupt in his mind inspire him. HIs art can be lighthearted and whimsical or deeply symbolic.
Inspiration
Christian Boltanski is a French sculptor, photographer, painter and filmmaker, most well known for his photography installations and contemporary French Conceptual style. Boltanski began creating art in the late 1950s, but didn't rise to prominence until almost a decade later through a few short, avante-garde films and some published notebooks in which he referenced his childhood. In 1986, Boltanski began creating mixed media/materials installations with light as essential concept. Tin boxes, altar-like construction of framed and manipulated photographs, photographs of Jewish schoolchildren taken in Vienna in 1931, used as a forceful reminder of mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, all those elements and materials used in his work are used in order to represent deep contemplation regarding reconstruction of past. While creating Reserve Boltanski filled rooms and corridors with worn clothing items as a way of inciting profound sensation of human tragedy at concentration camps. As in his previous works, objects serve as relentless reminders of human experience and suffering. His piece, Monument, uses six photographs of Jewish students in 1939 and lights to resemble Yahrzeit candles to honor and remember the dead. "My work is about the fact of dying, but it's not about the Holocaust itself.” Additionally, his enormous installation titled "No Man's Land" at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, is a great example of how his constructions and installations trace the lives of the lost and forgotten.Christian Boltanski has participated in over 150 art exhibitions throughout the world. Among others, he had solo exhibitions at the New Museum, the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Magasin 3 in Stockholm, the La Maison Rouge gallery, Institut Mathildenhöhe, the Kewenig Galerie, The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme and many others. From 1 July to 25 September 2011, museum Es Baluard exhibited "Signatures", the installation Christian Boltanski conceived specifically for Es Baluard and which is focused on the memory of the workers who in the 17th Century built the museum's walls.In 2002, Boltanski made the installation "Totentanz II", a Shadow Installation with copper figures, for the underground Centre for International Light Art in Unna, Germany. Best known for his photographic installations, the artist explores life, death, and memory in his practice, often focusing on the Holocaust as he blurs the boundaries between truth and fiction. “You can tell the truth more truthfully than with the truth itself,” he once quipped. For his seminal work La traversée de la vie (2015), Boltanski used the same photographs as he had in 1971 for Album des photos de la Famille D.—the images were enlarged and printed on fabric and illuminated by hangings light bulbs, inviting the viewer to walk through them. John Petrey is a sculptor that has his own artists statement. Since 1981, he has been creating art that stirs the emotions of the viewer. His work consists of an expression of his soul. Images of nature, art and new technology inspire him. He is intrigued at things that catch his eye and random things that erupt in his mind inspire him. HIs art can be lighthearted and whimsical or deeply symbolic.
Christian Boltanski. (2018, September 09). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Boltanski
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Subscriber login. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.blouinartinfo.com/artist/360118/artwork/1612687
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Playing Card Themed Clothing and Accessories. (2014, September 03). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/follyfancier/playing-card-themed-clothing-and-accessories/
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Planning Sketches
Experimentation
Experimentation
The sketches on the left show the steps that I had to do before the construction of the hat. They give an idea to look at when I am building the hat. The top drawing is the brim of the hat and how I was going to lay the cards around the circle I draw. The middle drawing is the 2 rows of 11 cards that I use to build up the hat. The bottom drawing is the top of the hat with the 4x3 set of cards and the circle that I had to cut out of it to fit the top of the hat.
The top drawing is a picture of the hat fully built without any of the accessories on the hat. This just gives me something to work off of and to make sure that the actual hat is on track. The middle drawing is the bottom of the hat with the cars on the brim of the hat. I wanted to see how it would look with miniature cars on the brim. The bottom drawing is the top of the hat. I wanted to add a car at the top and put it on top of a checkered flag. |
Process
First you want to find something that has a circular base that is about as big as your head to the hat will in the end fit your head. Then trace the circle onto a sheet of paper.
Then you want to lay the ends of your playing cards on the circle following the sketch of the circle that you had made. Then I used Tacky Glue to glue the cards together so that they can stay in the circular formation. I used Tacky Glue because it is stronger in holding the cards together. Then you want to make 2 rows of 11 cards and glue the cards together. This will eventually become the part of the hat that rises. I again used Tacky Glue to glue the cards together. This was the cards could remain sturdy for a step that tales place later. Then you want to make a 4x3 shape out of cards. This will eventually be used to make the top of the hat. I again uses Tacky Glue to glue the cards together. With the 2 rows of playing cards, glue the tops of the cards together so that the rows are joined together. Then bend the rows of cards into a circle and glue the ends so they make a circle. Then going back to the 4x3 set of cards, measure the circle that your two rows of cards made. Then trace the size of the circle onto the playing cards. Then I cut out the circle so that the hat can have a top to it. I just used regular scissors to do this.You may need to adjust the size the the circle to make sure that there is no excess on the top of the hat. You don't want the circle to be over the edge of the circle the 2 rows of cards made. Then tape the top that you made to the top of the 2 rows of cards. Once you do this, tape the 2 rows of playing cards to the brim of the hat. Then I let it sit overnight for the glue to dry firmly. Then I took a flag from a Nascar set and ripped the flag part off of the pole. This is to symbolize when a car wins the race. I then used the Tacky Glue to glue the checkered flag to the top of the hat. I did this because I had an idea to add Nascar cars to the hat. This is because it goes with the theme of The Nascar playing cards. I then glued a Nascar onto the flag on the top of that hat. I also added little Styrofoam shapes onto the top of that hat because it kind of went with the theme of the playing cards and I wanted something to help cover the tape on the top of the hat. Then I used the Tacky Glue to glue miniature cars to the brim of the hat. This added to the Nascar car on the top of the hat. After the in process critique, I made some changes to my piece. I removed the foam from the top of my hat because since it is a card hat, it should be made out of all cards. I used a Gatorade bottle cap to cut out circles out of the cards to replace the foam at the top of the hat with cards. I placed the circles on the top of the hat to have the same feeling as the foam but this way it is made out of cards only. I did use the foam to put cards on the side of the hat. I glued 3 foam pieces together because my idea was to had the cards pop off of the side of the hat. This is a picture of me gluing the cards to the stack of 3 foam pieces to give them a 3D affect on the hat. This is the final piece after I made changes to the first piece. |
Reflection
Critique In the end, I am very happy with my final piece. I wanted to include things that I liked during my childhood such as Nascar and playing cards and I think that the hat did a good job of doing this. Now I did not make any of the things that I used. All of the objects in the piece were already made. If I could do this again, I would make the hole you put your head into bigger because my head doesn't fit into the hat. Which is sad because I would have like to have worn the hat because that is the purpose of a hat. |
ACT Questions
1)Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration had an effect on what I wanted to make my piece out of. Reserve Canada gave me the idea of doing a clothing item and the card dress gave me the idea to make a clothing item out of cards.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While creating Reserve Boltanski filled rooms and corridors with worn clothing items as a way of inciting profound sensation of human tragedy at concentration camps. John makes dresses out of random materials and makes a sculpture out of it.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made the generalization that people like to used many different items to make different things such ad clothing. It is also cool to see that people are using items to tell a story about either negative or positive things.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
The central theme of my inspiration research is to use items to convey a message. For me I used things from my childhood to show what my childhood was like.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
To some people, using a variety of different items make look like its just a pile of items. But in reality it has a message behind it,
1)Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration had an effect on what I wanted to make my piece out of. Reserve Canada gave me the idea of doing a clothing item and the card dress gave me the idea to make a clothing item out of cards.
2)What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
While creating Reserve Boltanski filled rooms and corridors with worn clothing items as a way of inciting profound sensation of human tragedy at concentration camps. John makes dresses out of random materials and makes a sculpture out of it.
3)What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made the generalization that people like to used many different items to make different things such ad clothing. It is also cool to see that people are using items to tell a story about either negative or positive things.
4)What was the central idea or theme around your inspiration research?
The central theme of my inspiration research is to use items to convey a message. For me I used things from my childhood to show what my childhood was like.
5)What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
To some people, using a variety of different items make look like its just a pile of items. But in reality it has a message behind it,
Bibliography
Subscriber login. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.blouinartinfo.com/artist/360118/artwork/1612687
Christian Boltanski. (2018, September 09). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Boltanski
Playing Card Themed Clothing and Accessories. (2014, September 03). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/follyfancier/playing-card-themed-clothing-and-accessories/
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.johnpetrey.com/content.html?page=1
Subscriber login. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.blouinartinfo.com/artist/360118/artwork/1612687
Christian Boltanski. (2018, September 09). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Boltanski
Playing Card Themed Clothing and Accessories. (2014, September 03). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/follyfancier/playing-card-themed-clothing-and-accessories/
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.johnpetrey.com/content.html?page=1