This project is inspired by the phenomenal work of Vija Celmins and her MoMA exhibition, To
Fix the Image in Memory, in which she created exact replicas of eleven found stones:
https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/1/90
Unlike Vija Celmins, who had the stones cast in bronze, you will recreate natural objects digitally using the online version of Sketchup.
For this assignment detail REALLY matters, so the closer you observe the object and take time
to reproduce it the more powerful the end result will be. Like Celmins, hold on to the original
and document the project by photographing your virtual piece with the object that inspired
it.
There is a long history of artists using trompe l’oeil in sculpture. Trompe l’oeil means “fool the eye.”
Trompe l’oeil comes into the world playing two parts. On the one hand, it is an art so faithful to the real that it seeks to duplicate lived experience. In this role, it represents the triumph of realism, the consummate mimetic enterprise. But trompe l’oeil is also duplicitous and faithless, an illusion produced by skillful artistry, mocking our grasp of the visual world, offering painted images that we mistakenly apprehend as reali- ties. In this capacity, trompe l’oeil teaches us that the world of appearances is fraught with epistemological traps and illusions. It is, there- fore, both the most realist of artistic projects and the most ironic of antirealisms.
Seductive Reflexivity: Ruskin’s Dreaded Trompe l’oeil: Caroline Levine
You will be choosing an object you have physically available to recreate digitally. Select this object carefully. It needs to be complex, but not so complex that it becomes impossible to work with. It should not be a copyrighted character or figurine. There are enough recreations of anime, video game and pop culture stuff out there already, try to pick something unexpected or an object that has personal meaning!. Remember, like selecting materials, selecting the object is a big part of the artwork, and your grade!
Week 1- Read and add a minimum of 3 annotations to the article on Vija Celmans. Watch introductory videos on Sketchup. Make Account on Trimble.com. Pick object to translate.
Week 2- In class- Reading Discussion. Introduction to Sketchup. Look at objects you selected as a group. Begin Modeling.
Week 3- Textures, Finishing and how to shoot AR images. Finish modeling.
Week 4- Critique, post images on class Miro board.
Article annotation instruction