Can Project: Fish

This project was particularly challenging for me, mainly because i re-evaluated my idea so often.  I initially had tried to work with the cans pretty abstractly, twirling and curling the metal, but nothing seemed fluid or natural. I then decided to cut vertical openings along cans, intending to weave the metal i had cut out back into the can horizontally. Once again, my idea fell short of what I had visualized, so instead I crushed down the tops and bottoms of the cans to create whimsical lantern-like shapes. I then scalloped the edges of  the leftover scrap strips, joined two together to create a "light", and suspended them with wire in the center of the lantern shapes. It was around this point that I began appreciating cans as a material: at first I was frustrated by their jagged edges and inflexible tops, and I was confused how some soda brands manufactured stiffer cans than others,  but I began to realize that the thin metal was actually extremely versatile because of their color and lightness. I was very guided by color in this project - much of my decision making was based on which of the pleasingly tacky, bright metallic colors could be contrasted to make the biggest "pop!". Then, three nights before the project was due and I was beginning to construct the wire apparatus that would allow them to hang like lanterns over an open space, I re-evaluated my idea once again. I had cut a can in half and fringed it, almost like a hula skirt. This scrap piece had been floating around my other finished pieces, but I realized by attaching it to the ends of my lanterns, I could create whimsical, boxy little fish.



I was so happy with what I ended up with, regardless of how difficult it was to attach the pieces, that I spent a night converting all my lanterns to fish, complete with little glowing "hearts" in their center. I hung them in no particular order from a hoop of wire, so they would float in a way reminiscent of a school of lackadaisical fish.




I decided to hang my fish in a shower stall, to give people an amusing suprise when they opened the curtain in their towels. I left my door open to the hall while it was up, and heard several "did you see the fish?!" and "Oh my gosh whose is that? I love them".  The response was what I expected from a project so colorful and pleasantly unexpected. 

For the soda can project, I tested out a few different ideas but nothing seemed to work out the way I wanted to. I decided on a mobile theme and went from there. Using wire, I created two layers of rings and then a spiral of wire hanging at the bottom. I used cans in every aspect of the project. I used the scraps of labels to wrap around the rings and I used the bottoms and tops of the cans to hang from the spiral and also the first ring. Hanging from the second layer are cans cut in various ways.  I used wire to create the body of the mobile- the two rings, the spiral-and to connect the whole thing together. Because it was raining when I was going to hang it, I decided to hang it in the doorway at the end of my hall in my dorm. As the day went on I saw a few people wandering over to check it out. One person asked if I had created it and said that it was "Very cool." My RA said I should leave it up for decoration but I might bring it outside possibly.

Hanging Lantern

For the Soda Can project, I created a hanging lantern from whole soda cans with a "flame" inside of whole and cut (curled) cans. I was also interested in the musical properties of the cans, so the "flame" is constructed like a set of hanging chimes. Wind blowing through the lantern creates noise.

When I got my project to my dorm to hang it, I discovered it had broken in transit. I had to fix two broken sides where the wire had snapped. Here is what is looked like when broken:


After wiring the parts back together, I tried hanging the piece, but discovered that it no longer hung the way I had originally planned! The sides were slumped and couldn't be made into right angles.


I managed to get it to hang correctly by adding additional wires to the top. Last of all I added the final interior piece. Although it isn't exactly what I had envisioned, the overall effect is close. The scale seems right for its location and the colors work well.


My artwork hangs between two residential buildings in Edens Quad on West Campus, and is visible from all the approaching paths to the dorm. While I had originally planned for it to hang parallel to the walkway, I discovered that I could not get it to hang straight that way and had to turn it 45 degrees. This turned out to have a better effect after all because it now faces the viewer as he/she approaches from all but one of the paths.


Comments I received while hanging the piece and from friends who viewed it:
"There are easier ways to recycle..."
"Is housekeeping going to take that down?"
"What the hell is that?"
"It's awesome! Can I eat it?"
"That's my soda can, on the top!"


One of my friends decided to climb inside to look around. The rest just walked around it to observe it from different angles. I hope other viewers will notice the use of different colored cans, the "flame" inside the lantern, hear the sounds of the chimes, and take the time to walk around and view it from different directions.

A Map Of Cuba

For my map project, I wanted it to symbolize something more than just a map. I chose to do a map of Cuba and the countries that surround it. I have always grown up with a Cuban lifestyle and speaking the Spanish Language, so I have a strong connection with my family and the country. This is why I chose for it to stick out more than any other countries that surround it, including the United States (represented by the tip of Florida at the top of the map), because Cuba has been the most influential country to my upbringing and because it is also insulated  and isolated in comparison to many other countries around the world. I also wanted to incorporate how and why Cuba became what it is today, and that I figured had mostly to do with the people who controlled and ran Cuba throughout the decades. From the left side of the island to the right shows a timeline of he most important people that came and affected the country in one way or another. It starts with the foundation and the discovery of Cuba with Christopher Columbus, and ends with Raul Castro who recently took reign over the country after his brother, Fidel. The people who ruled in Cuba dramatically chose the lifestyle and how the country should be seen in terms of every aspect from all other countries. The fact that Cuba is still very old-fashioned and not completely changed with modern times shows a lot of what a person in power can do for a country. Finally, the last detail that I tried to incorporate into the map is how old Cuba is, and how much history it holds as a country. This is why I chose to make a collage and use old newspaper as the background as well as gold speckles. I think this brings out an antique feeling and reminds the viewer how much Cuba has been through and how much is still yet to come for the ever-growing country. 

Antique Map of Manhattan

When deciding what I wanted to do for my map project, I had a ton of different ideas, but one that I liked in particular was a map of New York.  I am from Connecticut, and while I don't actually live in New York, it still means a lot to me since I go there all the time.  I love the intersecting streets and the grid like system they create, especially Broadway, that disrupts this entire system of neat and orderly street by being diagonal.  Originally, I had wanted to emphasize Broadway, but I realized that I wasn't sure exactly what I would do and what message I would send so I decided not to.  This map at the right is my original version of the map, before I distressed the paper.  Drawing all the streets was probably the most time consuming part of the process, since there are so many and I wanted it to look neat. 

This is my final version of the map.  After drawing all the streets, I realized that I wanted to add something more to the project, so I decided to antique it.  First, I used oil pastels do add a golden brown aged look around the outside.  While this added another dimension to the piece, I didn't feel it was enough, and with advice from my art teacher, I decided to stain it with tea.  The tea staining was an interesting process because I had to find a large basin, steep multiple tea bags in the water, then place the paper in.  I crinkled this paper a little bit to give it cracks and a more used feel, but what I did not realize was how fragile the drawing paper became when wet.  I had to very carefully remove the paper from the water because it ripped very easily.  Some rips did appear, but in the end I am happy with this because it give the map an even older feel.

Map of Hitler's Mind

I knew from the beginning that I did not want to create a typical map, such as a road map or country map. After some thought, I decided it might be interesting to map a person's mind. Adolf Hitler had come up in one of my other classes, so I decided he would be an interesting subject, considering that when most people think of evil, the first name to come to mind is usually Hitler's. I wanted to explore the reasons Hitler might have become the person he was and then translate those reasons onto paper. However, this proved to be a more difficult task than I had hoped or expected. It is not clear exactly what events were the sources of Hitler's twisted and disturbed self. I did make a few revisions from my original, which seemed too historical and did not do enough to display Hitler's perverted nature. I tried to make the brain oddly shaped and added dark spots to make it seem somewhat deformed. I also enlarged the gas mask in the left hand corner of the swastika, set the Treaty of Versailles on fire (what I believe Hitler probably wanted to do to the treaty), and drew a pile of dead bodies lumped carelessly one on top of another. I think the rest of the items are fairly self explanatory. Hitler had an unusually and excessively close relationship with his mother, which is the reason his mother's face is at the center of his brain. His father was extremely abusive and constantly beat Hitler, once almost leaving him to die. Hitler's relationship with his father is represented by the scene in the right hand corner of the brain - one figure is on his knees pleading for mercy as the second figure is about to strike him. The paint palette and drawing represent Hitler's childhood dream of becoming an artist, a dream that he was never able to make a reality. The book of the Franco-Prussian War lies in the brain stem because Hitler's German nationalism is believed to have stemmed from a book on the Franco-Prussian War that Hitler read as a youth. The German flag and Iron Cross display that German nationalism. Hitler believed himself to be Germany's savior. The swastika, gas mask, and Star of David illustrate Hitler's extreme racism and desire for racial purity through the extermination of all types of people of whom he disapproved. The group of words on the left side of the brain are all events and groups that were relevant to Hitler, especially in his rise to power. Finally, the gun and cyanide capsule represent Hitler's suicide.

Darby, Montana

My goal while making this map was to illustrate my feelings towards my home town, Darby.  I tried to capture the simple and western atmosphere of the place I grew up.    Each of the images I chose to use in the center have personal meaning to me.  For example, the truck in the middle is the truck that our Town Mayor/ Head Custodian at school drives (odd combination, I know), the mountain on the left is one I climbed last summer (3,500 ft climb in 5 miles, not exactly a brisk walk), and the picture of the dog in front of the barn on the left is at my friends ranch.  It was a very personal project for me and I really like the feeling I get from it.

When making the map I wanted the focus to be on the center.  So the entire meat of the map is located in the center.  Also, I somewhat got rid of the edges by blacking them out using a pastel.  Originally the map did not have the different towns on it but without them I thought it felt unfinished.  The towns also gave the map a more personal touch and makes it so a larger audience can relate to it.