Reflection/ Material, Form, and Content

What is your take on the work? What is it communicating? Why do you think you are responding this way? How do your own experiences effect your perception of the work? How do you feel about the work? What does the material have to do with it? What does the form have to do with it? Imagine the smell. Imagine the texture? Imagine walking around? How are these artist using form and material? What references do they make to common everyday elements/ideas...universal, elements/ideas...elements/ideas that are shared, almost subconscious to us all?





Martin Puryear-


My take on Puryear's work is that he uses very simple and basic materials, and turns them into very clean and aesthetic pieces. Even with his simple metal work pieces such as the various iron horse shoe shapes and circles, he uses the rawness of the material and doesn't do too much to that material to manipulate it. I think that it was sophisticated and it was trying to communicate a very profound message that the material is the main aspect of each piece and that he showcases that with little manipulation of the material. I think i feel this way because on the metal pieces as well as the wood work that it appeared very neat and was formed into organic and geometric shapes that didn't really seem like they would make sense but they fit very well together and come together as one cohesive piece. I also like how some pieces were very smooth and clean cut without rough edges, and all the pieces fit together nicely. On the other hand it was interesting that the metal pieces were rough and rigid just like the original material is. I think that many of the suspended pieces would be very interesting to walk around and see them "in the round". I like how this artist manipulates the form into something completely different and irrational and unexpected; it makes it very interesting and modern looking with the curvilinear forms. I think that the overall ideas i extract from this artists work is natural uses of the original material, and manipulating it in the sense of its physical form and not of the material itself.






Kendal Buster-


I think this artist has a very different approach to design, and my first take on these suspended structures was that i liked how there were many different pieces of them but they were all assembled together to create one piece. Also it was interesting that not one piece was the same, but they still all formed to create one cohesive piece. I think the material of these pieces is very light and it looks very well crafted, which makes it aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I also like how the material shows through and you can see the support structure underneath. I also think it was a good use of a lightweight material for the covering because it pairs with the idea of being weightless and suspended in the air and the structure reminds me of something that would be floating through the air. It also makes me feel as if I'm looking up at something in the ocean, such as a jellyfish or some kind of sea creature like that. I like how this structure is suspended because then you are able to walk around and under it and see really every element that went into creating it; it also gives it a unique appearance that would be taken away if it were placed on the ground. I think that the simplicity of these forms and how modern and clean they are pairs really nice to the idea of having them in the air.