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Shelter
Shelter
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Shelter
In this self designed project, I explored the idea of a shelter, mostly centered around some sort of surface stretched over a frame. This was completed in my senior year of high school at The Putney School Below follow my notes for the exhibition:This
series is inspired by the idea of shelter. I would say these are sculptures, and not shelters, because
they are not functional. They are
forms exploring the materials, functions, and feelings of shelter in an
abstract way.
Stretched/Frame
Series:
Shelter
is, by definition, protection from the elements or danger, especially from
storms. The umbrella is a pure
shelter, and my first sculpture was a wood and wire umbrella. As a child, I remember creating a
“house” with my younger sister by arranging gigantic open umbrellas on the
lawn. We would sit underneath our
umbrellas and have an instant feeling that we had a place of our own, hidden
and protected from the outside world,
Tents
are made on similar principles as those of an umbrella: a fabric stretched over
a metal frame. In the
“stretched/frame Series,” I explored different structural possibilities with
various materials stretched or woven over the frame.
Making
a rigid structure was the greatest challenge. I owe it to Rodrigo for devising an effective means for
assembling frames: drilling holes
on the points where the aluminum rods intersect, then sticking short pieces of
steal wire through the holes and twisting and pinching the wire to hold the
intersecting rods tightly against one another. For the “Plaster Dome” and “Five-Pointed Star shelter,” I
held the inner intersections of the 3 and 5 interlocking rods in place by
putting a small loop of bike tire inner tube over those intersections. Also developed by Rodrigo, this
technique allowed me to adjust the frame, “tightening” or “loosening” it as was
necessary to get the ends of each rod to meet up, and depending on my own
aesthetic choices.
Cocoon
Series
<<<<<<<
Approaching
the idea of shelters created by animals, or “natural” shelters, I found that
the cocoon embodied well a key distinction between humans and animals: the
element of choice vs the element of instinct. While an intelligently designed structure will be
well-suited to its environment, Humans can choose to build their
shelters in any place, at any time, in any way that they want. Animals must build their
shelters in a certain place, at a certain time, in a certain way that is
specific to the animal’s species.
By being placed in found scrap metal, the “cocoon” sculptures adapt to
their outside environments, rather than being independent of their environment.
Found
Metal Series
>>>>>>
These
were very quick, gestural sculptures made from scrap metal. The idea was to express, with the
simplest forms and only one piece of metal, a sense of shelter. For a school report, I remember reading
about the “tin can houses” in the slums in Morroco – homes that, in
desperation, have been made of scrap metal and junk. These sculptures may be seen as a reference to those kinds
of shelters, rough, made from found materials, nothing more than walls and a
roof overhead.
Spiraling
Shelter
This
was my last sculpture. The idea
was to take the stretched/frame series to its minimal, most abstract form: a
single rod for a frame, and the barrier created by the stretched canvas reduced
to a transparent screen. I first
created a small aluminum model, and then moved to a much larger piece of steel. It took many small adjustments on the
rolling machine to get the rod to its desired form.
Future
Explorations: Bomb Shelters
One
aspect of shelter that I did not get to explore is shelter not from natural,
but from anthropogenic threats.
Bomb shelters and terrorist attack shelters bring up the question: Are shelters symbols of security and
comfort, or do they evoke war and fear? It seems to me that the design of bomb
shelters would be a pure expression of shelter, all ornamentation and other superfluous
elements stripped away, leaving a form suited to its essential function of
protection, and nothing more. The
nuclear fallout shelters of the cold war, their design and their psychological
effect, are some things that I would be interested in exploring
sculpturally.
series is inspired by the idea of shelter. I would say these are sculptures, and not shelters, because
they are not functional. They are
forms exploring the materials, functions, and feelings of shelter in an
abstract way.
Stretched/Frame
Series:
Shelter
is, by definition, protection from the elements or danger, especially from
storms. The umbrella is a pure
shelter, and my first sculpture was a wood and wire umbrella. As a child, I remember creating a
“house” with my younger sister by arranging gigantic open umbrellas on the
lawn. We would sit underneath our
umbrellas and have an instant feeling that we had a place of our own, hidden
and protected from the outside world,
Tents
are made on similar principles as those of an umbrella: a fabric stretched over
a metal frame. In the
“stretched/frame Series,” I explored different structural possibilities with
various materials stretched or woven over the frame.
Making
a rigid structure was the greatest challenge. I owe it to Rodrigo for devising an effective means for
assembling frames: drilling holes
on the points where the aluminum rods intersect, then sticking short pieces of
steal wire through the holes and twisting and pinching the wire to hold the
intersecting rods tightly against one another. For the “Plaster Dome” and “Five-Pointed Star shelter,” I
held the inner intersections of the 3 and 5 interlocking rods in place by
putting a small loop of bike tire inner tube over those intersections. Also developed by Rodrigo, this
technique allowed me to adjust the frame, “tightening” or “loosening” it as was
necessary to get the ends of each rod to meet up, and depending on my own
aesthetic choices.
Cocoon
Series
<<<<<<<
Approaching
the idea of shelters created by animals, or “natural” shelters, I found that
the cocoon embodied well a key distinction between humans and animals: the
element of choice vs the element of instinct. While an intelligently designed structure will be
well-suited to its environment, Humans can choose to build their
shelters in any place, at any time, in any way that they want. Animals must build their
shelters in a certain place, at a certain time, in a certain way that is
specific to the animal’s species.
By being placed in found scrap metal, the “cocoon” sculptures adapt to
their outside environments, rather than being independent of their environment.
Found
Metal Series
>>>>>>
These
were very quick, gestural sculptures made from scrap metal. The idea was to express, with the
simplest forms and only one piece of metal, a sense of shelter. For a school report, I remember reading
about the “tin can houses” in the slums in Morroco – homes that, in
desperation, have been made of scrap metal and junk. These sculptures may be seen as a reference to those kinds
of shelters, rough, made from found materials, nothing more than walls and a
roof overhead.
Spiraling
Shelter
This
was my last sculpture. The idea
was to take the stretched/frame series to its minimal, most abstract form: a
single rod for a frame, and the barrier created by the stretched canvas reduced
to a transparent screen. I first
created a small aluminum model, and then moved to a much larger piece of steel. It took many small adjustments on the
rolling machine to get the rod to its desired form.
Future
Explorations: Bomb Shelters
One
aspect of shelter that I did not get to explore is shelter not from natural,
but from anthropogenic threats.
Bomb shelters and terrorist attack shelters bring up the question: Are shelters symbols of security and
comfort, or do they evoke war and fear? It seems to me that the design of bomb
shelters would be a pure expression of shelter, all ornamentation and other superfluous
elements stripped away, leaving a form suited to its essential function of
protection, and nothing more. The
nuclear fallout shelters of the cold war, their design and their psychological
effect, are some things that I would be interested in exploring
sculpturally.
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