Project #3

"Modern lyric reliquary and visual metaphor"

Visual References:
o Images of Shelter > David Furman, Charles Simonds, William Wyman, Jens Morrison, Mel Rubin, Gifford Myers.
o Architectonic > Richard Burkett, Yih Wen Quo, Cliff Garten, Joseph Cornell, Peter Lonzo, Jack Nichelson, Rimas VisGirda, Ron Kovatch. Also Mika Negishi- Laidlaw, Steven Montgomery, Geoffrey Mongraine.
o Also look at shrines, furniture and architecture.
o Slides will be shown in class.

Video ‑ “Sacred Space; Art, Architecture, and the Role of the State”, 1998, Films for the Humanities and Sciences. (The Architecture section of this video is appropriate and may be shown in class if time allows it).

Overview:

A reliquary is a receptacle for display of sacred relics. A relic is an object of religious veneration; especially an object from a culture gone. This special object is now kept for its association with the past.

The reliquary is made in an effort to honor, to worship, to remember, to make special and/or to cherish. The reliquaries form and function relate directly to the object and context (time and place) in which it was created.

A metaphor occurs when one thing is conceived as representing another. A visual example of this type of symbolic meaning or association is: an owl representing knowledge, or a snake, the idea of temptation.

The Assignment:

You are to research and select modern song lyrics which have meaning for you. The song’s lyrics will be the so called “relic” in this project. They will be the idea for which you build a reliquary. Your visual design, tone and its form and content will be driven by the content, tone and meaning expressed by the lyrics. Your sculpture is being made to honor, to worship, to make special, to cherish. You will not be restating the lyrics through illustration or narration, but will be using symbols metaphorically to communicate mood. You will be presenting the musical selection that the lyrics derive from during the discussion of your maquette and at the critique of this project.

Form:

Your reliquary will relate in form type to architecture or furniture. Visual examples of furniture, architecture and reliquaries will be shown in class. However, individual research is required and I suggest you do searches to find images more closely related to your idea after the image presentation. You are to create an object that functions in the round and deals with an interior as well as an exterior form. The 3D form you make cannot be a simple vessel. It must represent the idea of display as well as containment and protection. Lyrics are not physical. How do you contain an idea created by word and sound in a defined space; a reliquary?

Construction Method:

The building techniques you choose should be appropriate to the form you wish to create. Construction techniques can include slab and/or coil building, bisque molds, and tile veneer. The application of these techniques to constructing large planar forms will be demonstrated in class. You are required to make a simple one piece mold of an architectural detail to be used in this sculpture. The size requirement for this project is to scale the reliquary at 2 feet in at least one direction.

You will be graded on:

Craft - control of form, edge treatment and refinement, surface quality and appropriate continuity

Design of Form - unity, proportion, resolution, dimensionality, activity in space

Concept - depth and research of idea, appropriate solution to assignment, metaphorical and not illustrative solution

Design of 2D – success of color, surface, and any 2D use of imagery

Plaster mold – craftsmanship and use within sculpture

Degree of Difficulty vs. Success – how challenging was your project and how well did you do with its execution