Structure-Skin – atimidmule.org

Structure and Skin

In this project, you will explore the relationships and tensions between inside and outside, structure and skin, and hidden and visible. Many objects in the world are composed of internal systems that support them and external surfaces that shape how we perceive them. Sometimes the exterior reveals what lies beneath; other times it conceals it entirely. This project asks you to investigate that relationship through sculptural form.

Using materials of your choice, you will construct a form that incorporates a clear structural strategy. This internal structure should provide support and define the underlying organization of the piece. Once the structure is established, you will clad or cover it with a second material that functions as a surface, coating, or skin.

You may choose to fully conceal the interior structure, allowing the outer surface to define the form of the sculpture. Alternatively, you may design the piece so that the structure becomes visible through openings, gaps, translucency, or as the viewer moves around the work. Consider how the relationship between the hidden and the visible guides the viewer’s experience of the sculpture.

The work may be abstract, non-representational, or representational, depending on your interests. Regardless of the direction you choose, think carefully about how the internal structure and external skin interact and how that interaction shapes the viewer’s understanding of the piece.

The size of the sculpture should be determined by your concept and material choices, but it should be large enough to clearly articulate both the structure and the skin.

Possible structural materials include wood, steel, PVC or other composite structural elements, found frameworks, branches or other natural materials, bamboo, or similar systems that provide internal support.

Possible skin materials include plaster, cement, paper, papier-mâché, or composite surfaces such as fabric combined with glues, resins, or other materials that create a coating or membrane over the structure.

As you develop your work, consider how the structure and the skin work together, or against each other, to shape the final form and meaning of the sculpture.

As you develop your work, remember our focus this semester on what the work is doing. Keep in mind Serra’s Verb List and think about the actions implied by your choices of structure and surface. Rather than relying only on subject matter or pose to communicate an idea, consider how the sculpture itself can convey meaning through its construction.

For example, if you are building a figurative sculpture, instead of illustrating a mood through the pose of the figure, think about how that mood could emerge from the structure of the form and the way the skin is composed. A rigid framework wrapped tightly in a fragile skin might communicate tension or restraint. A calm, smooth exterior might conceal a chaotic internal structure.

You might also ask whether the ideas you want to express could become more evocative without representation. Consider how relationships between structure and surface—concealment and revelation, order and disorder, tension and release—can communicate meaning on their own.

Here are some examples of structures and skins to get you going.

Terms to keep in mind:

Density

organization

rigidity

distribution

texture

opaqueness

translucency

entropy

Examples:

Antony Gormly