Touch Response

GIVER, TOUCH

The sections I chose for this project from the book, A Natural History of the Senses, by Diane Ackerman, from the chapter,  Touch,  were,  "Speaking of Touch" and "The Skin Has Eyes". The "something" I created in response to those two sections was this pen and ink drawing,  I am naming,  "Giver, Touch"

I chose these two sections because right away in "Speaking of Touch" Ackerman starts off saying, "Language is steeped in metaphors of touch."
I love metaphors. I am a poet and an ekphrastic poet,  at that. (A poet who draws her words from text to create images.) Here, I am doing the opposite of what I normally do, and its too fun!

Ackerman says, "...our hands remain faithful to the world", being the last sense to go, and I pictured our world, and the "touchstones" she mentions in a riverbed, with a pregnant woman touching her infant through her belly. She lies in tune with the flowing water outside her body and within her womb.
The stones have hands too,  as they touch their own worlds surround her.

"We are forever taking the measure of ourselves in unconscious ways. . . " Ackerman said.  So why can't we project that to all the earth's entities measuring for them too?
And, she says, "...and life has depth and contour, it makes sense of the world and our-self in three-dimensional. Without the intricate feel for life there would be no artists, and no surgeons, who dive through the body with their fingers"

 And, fingers,  I drew, and hands and the feet of our heart. I drew eyes that can sense in just being, opened or closed. I drew my man, with his touch of security and pleasure. I included the all our senses of touch and how those other senses metaphorically knit with each other to create our world. We are leading ourselves to follow the pathways of feeling. Pointing out ways to cross over the waters, when lying in them no longer soothes or suffices.
 I think I'm working a poem out of this project!

 Diane Ackerman's book is amazing!
 I could draw every section!


Thank you SO much for all your inspiring projects, Laura! You ROCK! :)

Body Sculpture Happenings

Final Project for 3-D Design

Kimmy's Protest Boots-"THUGGS"

Using one or more of the materials listed we had to design a 3-D sculpture worn on the body that had some sort of a "happening" occur.
I chose to use: 

Cardboard

Paper

Fabric

Tape 

thread

Oak wood (for the soles of my "Thuggs")

I created a pair of "Protest Boots" that includes all the things I protest about in life, with the biggest protest being against terrorism, namely ISIS. I had pictures of 9-11, Vietnam, Racism, all wars in general, words like, "Atomic", and "Lonely", "Killing, "Hate", "Aging", slogans, like, "Not Cool", anti-government, child molesters, etc., all cut out from magazines and made into a collage. I used the collage to become a part of the fabric to make the boot.

I initially carved the soles out of pressboard, backwards,  and had to redo them. Don't make that mistake! It has to be a mirror image in order to stamp legibly. 

This was my first attempt

at carving into the press board.
I went into our Art Dept. wood shop and
learned how to use a few saws and
the sander. It was so fun!

It was when I got this point into my carving,
I realized I had to create the mirror

image, and begin again.                   

To begin again. . . 

                      

With the Oak, I had to break

down and buy a Dremmel to
carve it. Oak is a very tough wood
and time was of the essence.
I found it very meditating,
 actually                          

Patterns for my boots,
 all cut.             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

I then searched for my "proteststhrough different magazines pictures, 

and words, cutting and assembling
them into a big collage, then I glued
it all down onto a paper backing.

Once it dried, I cut the finished
collage to size, to fit
inside 4"x 6", clear plastic envelopes.
(I did this so the protests could be switched out easily,
You never know what I'll be protesting tomorrow)

I taped the collage envelopes

back together in their original order
and then, placed it in between layers
of doubled-up, clear vinyl fabric.

I cut out my pattern pieces from my vinyl collage fabric, 

and added a white wooly fabric to the inside
for my boot lining. I assembled all those pieces

together, sewing them with transparent thread to,
and clear tape to form the actual boots. 

I then glued and stapled the finished boot onto my

carved wooden soles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Almost Done! Just have to add my laces!
They are SO warm and comfy

"STAMP OUT ISIS" Kimmy's Protest Boots Finished Product

PLEASE, click on the link below to see my video of this "Happening"

THUGGS gotta go!

http://youtu.be/tiawpFtkZBE