|
Victim of Society
|
InspirationAfrican cultureAfrican voodoo dolls are a part of an African religion known as Vodun, commonly practiced by the Ewe people as well as the the people of South Ghana as well as many other African tribes/groups. The religion revolves around the elements that govern the earth. For example: trees, stones, rocks, etc. It can be compared to Christianity in more ways than one with similar ways of worship as well as similar beliefs.
My idea is to create a voodoo doll for society where whatever is done to the doll will be what happens to society, in the case of my doll that I will create; it will be wrapped in aluminum cans to represent the industry that the people of our country live for. Ideas
I originally wanted to create a fertility figure, but then it dawned on me that a voodoo doll was more suitable for the meaning that I wanted to have behind my piece. A voodoo doll was more suitable for what I wanted because I wanted to unveil the effect that we as a human race have on society, instead of focusing on the things that society does to us for once.
ResearchI wanted to do some research about industry because it would help me gain a better understanding on how to place things or to making my piece period.
African tribe who 'raise' effigies of dead children as if they are alive
This article spoke to me because it embodies my piece and what i want it to stand for. In this tribe in Africa, people created voodoo dolls to embody children and when the dolls weren't taken care of, bad things happened to the entire tribe. For my piece, I wanted it to resemble the same thing.
MeaningWe are made up of society, industry, economy, etc., and I decided to display this through the use of a voodoo doll. However, it wouldn't be just any voodoo doll, she'd be covered with aluminum cans therefore showing that she is made up of the things that run America including society, industry, and economy. I put the use of advertisement as well as branding to my advantage, using these things to have great significance. What I wanted to portray through this sculpture piece was that we as people of society are the doll; what society does to us, returns to them, what we do to others, returns to us. It is a cycle that we continue because of the things that are done to us as people of society. We become corrupted with things that are fed to us by society and in turn, we turn those things unto other people. The voodoo aspect comes from those above us can hurt us, break us, and do anything they want to us. We allow these things to happen without question and then because we are hurt by what happens, we do the same thing to other people. And therefore the cycle continues; another way to describe this would be karma.
|
SketchingI created this sketch with the glare from the aluminum in mind. I used cross hatching in order to give off the glare that I figured would be there when I photographed the final piece. I used the black lines to mark where the aluminum pieces would be separated. Overall, the sketch that I came up with matched up pretty accurately with the final piece which made my entire planning process a success.
Materials
The doll was used as a base for the entire piece. I found it easier to wrap the doll in the aluminum rather than sculpting what I thought was a correctly proportioned human form. Granted, voodoo dolls don't have defined forms, I decided that I wanted mine to have a defined form in order to get my message across in a strong manner. I put holes in the aluminum by using a round tool and a hammer. I set the piece of aluminum on the wood, set the thin metal rounded tool on top, and used the hammer to allow the round tool to pierce through the aluminum, creating a hole. I used the wire to connect all of the pieces. I had to be extremely careful when tying the wire (when I connect two pieces) because the aluminum material was so thin that if I tied too tight, the whole would rip and I'd have to pierce another whole.
Creating the pieceFirst I had to measure the pieces according to the size of the doll that I had. I had already cut the aluminum cans into flat pieces, allowing myself to put the pieces of aluminum up against the doll and put lines where it needed to be cut. If the size still was not the exact way that I wanted, I would trace more lines where I needed to cut it even more. When I got the aluminum to the perfect size, I would label it (stating which part of the dolls body that it belonged to) and then pierce holes using a screwdriver like tool.
Once all of the pieces were cut, I used 22 gauge steel wire to tie the aluminum pieces together. I figured that that would be the best way to do it because I didn't want to use hot glue to adhere the aluminum to the plastic of the doll (which most likely would have melted). Using the wire was the most efficient way in my opinion, therefore that is what I used to create the doll. ReflectionOverall, this piece represented something more than just a piece of garbage. It stands for something much more than what meets the eye. The creation of this piece was a rather easy process, even though the tools and materials that I used were a bit dangerous. I wish that I would've worked with a different/more interesting material to create the doll with. But overall, I like the piece in its entirety and if I had the opportunity to change it, I wouldn't change a thing.
|