Pterodactyl

23 Thursday May 2013

Tags

art, exhibition, feathers, found, installation, sculpture

Today I am busy writing about extraordinary artist Kate MccGwire who I am featuring as one of the twenty-eight sculptors in my new book on mixed-media sculpture. MccGwire creates haunting curvaceous sculptures that are truly breath taking, and all are made with feathers, yes feathers. Visit her website to see how wonderful her work is – you will be astounded! http://www.katemccgwire.com

Evacuate

Site specific installation by Kate MccGwire at Tatton Park, Cheshire 2011

And so in line with all good researchers I looked at which artists had worked with this material before. (Regular readers of this blog will know I love feathers too, but tend to use the odd one sparingly in my work – almost too precious to use). Now I am a fan of German sculptor Rebecca Horn’s upside down piano since I saw it at Tate Modern many years ago – it really does make you question “is it safe to go underneath it?”

Anyway, her work with feathers turned into performance in the 1970 – 80s as a way of animating her sculptures. The work is strangely beguiling as she cocoons herself with wings and fans. But, the work that captured my ‘you don’t have to be crazy but it helps’ badge is the work shown here and to be really honest, I love it. How about you?

Away and Home Again

29 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by jacscottstudio in ART, ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT UCLAN, ARTWORKS BY JAC SCOTT, HIDDEN IMPACTS

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Tags

art, birds, exhibition, found, home, installation, rust, sculpture

home-and-away-nest-detail My new sculpture ‘Home and Away’ installed in PR1 Gallery, Preston.

Finally Bagged

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by jacscottstudio in ART, ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT UCLAN, CONSUMPTION

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art, consumption, found, installation, recycling, sculpture, up-cycle, waste

‘Picture This… Gold in Your Hands’

Green Week at UCLAN was busy – art students worked really hard through freezing conditions to complete their installation on my frame (see below). Students collected hundreds of used plastic carrier bags and employing different textile techniques created a design with an environmental message.

Bagged – ‘Picture this…’ part 2

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by jacscottstudio in ART, ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT UCLAN, ARTWORKS BY JAC SCOTT, CONSUMPTION, DRAWINGS and PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH, RESEARCH

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art, carbon, consumption, education, installation, photography, recycling, sustainability, waste

http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/carrier-bags-material-matters-0

The issue of plastic carrier bag use is not as simple as it may seem. Information on this link clearly explains the impact of all shopping bags and that carbon footprinting isn’t just about end use, but also the resources of making the products and the distance from the producer.

The students at uclan chose to use plastic bags to make their picture inside the frame (see post 11 February 2013) as it is widely accepted they are a sign of our consumerist society – plus they are suitable material to work with in this particular project.

Picture this

11 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by jacscottstudio in ART, ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT UCLAN, ARTWORKS BY JAC SCOTT, CONSUMPTION

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art, consumption, education, installation, recycling, sustainability, up-cycle, waste

Today I installed a commission for University of Central Lancashire Green Week, entitled ‘Picture this… gold in their hands’. The work is a temporary, interactive public sculpture that harnesses the grandeur of the traditional gilt frame to highlight our consumption of plastics. Over the course of the week students will create a picture within the frame made from discarded plastic bags.

I was approached by the Green Team at uclan to design a sculpture that the students could not only work with on their own, to showcase their skills, but also to draw attention to environmental issues they were interested in.

It will be interesting to see what they focus on.

Link

Do we need the tactile?

01 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by jacscottstudio in ARTWORKS BY JAC SCOTT, CONSUMPTION

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art, installation, research, sculpture

Do we need the tactile?

Just read an article about the growth of digital art and the potential death of the physical in Culture Lab.
I am currently wrestling with the notion of creating art, but not adding more things to our mountain of stuff. As a sculptor you can appreciate, hopefully, this is difficult, especially when I enjoy the sense of touch so deeply. Current thinking is to satisfy the innate need with either developing artistic responses only with existing materials or projecting imagery onto a few selected forms. The second idea aims to create multiple readings of the same piece but touching would be limited.

Your thoughts?