Art 1010-Found Object Art Project

Bottle-nose Dolphin
Season Horstmeier
July 8, 2014

Asanartist,Ihavealwaysbeenacreativeperson.Arthasintriguedmeforyears,and
causedmetotrynewthingsandexplorenewstyles.Ihavetakennumerousartclasses,
rangingfromdrawingtoceramicstocalligraphy.However,sculptureisnotastyleIhave
exploredasfullyastheothers.Thisassignmentprovedtobeachallenging,yetrewarding
experience.

ThesculptureIcreatedforthisassignmentistitledBottlenoseDolphinandwascreated
usingfoundobjects.Ifirstbeganbydrawingoutaplananddetermininghowthestructure
wouldbebuilt.Idrewthebasicshapewithroughdimensionsandacrudeskeletonofthe
structure.IdidnotputapainstakingeffortintoplanningthesculpturebecauseIknewI
wouldhavetochangethedimensionsaccordingtotheobjectsIfound.ThesecondstepI
tookwasfindingobjectsIcouldusetocreateaninterestingpiece.Irummagedthroughthe
garageandhouseuntilIhadaboxfullofcommonandafewunusualitems.Inastrokeof
luck,IhappeneduponaPVCpipethatwasexactlythelengthIneededittobe.

Ibeganmysculpturebycreatingaskeleton.IusedthePVCpipeasthebaseofthe
structureandthentookwirehangersandbentthemintoshapeusingpliers.Hotgluewas
usedasmyprimarysourcetobindobjectstothebase.Iconstructedtheskeletonwitha
longcurvedhangeronthetop,bottom,andsides.ThenIusedcircularcrosssectionsto
definethecurvatureofthedolphin.Iaddedstrengthandstabilitytothestructurebyusing
shortpiecesofhangertocreatetriangularsupports.AfterIconstructedtheskeleton,I
covereditinpiecesofameshwindowscreen.AfterIcompletedtheskeletonandmesh,
theshapeofthedolphinwasdefinedandthestructurewasstrong.

Afterthestructurewascomplete,itwastimetoincorporatemyfoundobjects.Iuseda
twolitersodabottleasthesnout.Ipainteditblack,butleftthecapitsoriginalcolorsoI
couldexemplifythetitleofBottlenoseDolphin.Aplasticwaterbottle,whichIalso
paintedblack,wasusedasthelowersnout.Cupsandfoodcontainerswereusednearthe
tail.Therestofmyobjectswereattacheddirectlytothemesh.Ismashedsomedrink
glassesandmirrorsthenusedtheshardsasavisualimpactformypiece.Ialsoused
thumbtacks,pennies,sodatops,avarietyofcircularhardwarepieces,andpiecesofa
doorlocktocovermysculpture.Alloftheseelementshavecertainthingsincommonthey
areallcircularandreflective.Eventhoughadolphinisamammalanddoesnothave
scales,ithasafishlikequality.Iwantedtoaccentuatethefishlikequalitybyusingthe
circularandreflectivepiecestorepresentscales.Forthedorsalfinofthedolphin,Iglued
spoonstogethertolooklikehalfapyramid,andstuckitinthetopthroughthemesh.The
twoflippersonthesidearesimplyhalfofawirehanger.Theshapeofthehangeralready
mimickedtheshapeoftheflippers,soitwasaperfectfit.Thetail,orflukes,ofthedolphin
wasalsocreatedusingahanger.Nocuttingwasrequired,itjusthadtobebondedtothe
PVCpipe.

Ifacedmanychallengeswhilecreatingthissculpture.Myartworkmostlydealswitha2D
surface,sobuildingin3Dwashardformetocomprehend.Whiledrawingonaflatsurface
youonlyrepresentonesideofanobject,ormaybeasmallpartoftwoorthreesides.When
buildingthestructureIhadtolookateveryside,frommultipleangles.Ihadtokeepall
sidesofthedolphinproportionalandsymmetrical,whichcausedmanyfailedattemptsat
buildingtherightshape.Anotherchallengeformewasintheactualconstructionofthe
structure.Ihadtobendandcutwirehangers,whichwasdifficultformeevenwithstrong
tools.Also,theonlybondingagentIhadwashotglue,whichdidnotprovetobethebest
techniqueforthewholeproject.Thehotglueworkedgreatforbondingobjectstothemesh,
butwasarduousforbondingthestructure.Ihadtosmotheralmosteveryjointinacopious
amountofglue,inordertocreateastrongbond.ThemostsignificantchallengeIfacedwas
inbuildingastand.Itwouldhavebeenbeneficialformetobuildastandandconnectit
directlytotheskeleton,butthatdidnotoccurtome,andIdidnotbuildituntilafterIputon
thethemirrorandglassshards.Formyfirstattempt,Ibuiltthestandoutofanoldsand
bucket,withastraightpieceofhangerprotrudingfromthetop.Itriedtocutasmallholein
thebottomofthemesh,insertthehanger,andgluethebottomofthepailtothemesh.This
failedbecausethedolphinwastooheavyandimmediatelyfellover.Tocorrectthis,Igota
smallpieceofwoodandcutaholeinthemiddle.Ithenputthehangerthroughtheholeand
addedtriangularsupports.Icutabigholeinthebottomofthedolphin,andexposedthe
skeletonunderneath.IhotgluedthehangerdirectlytothePVCpipe,andaddedmore
triangularsupportsfromthepipetothewood.Oncethegluewasdry,thedolphinwasable
tostandwithoutfallingoverhowever,muchtomydespair,thedolphinwastiltedheavilyto
therightside.Irealizedthatthebottomwastoocurved,andnotflatenough.Icorrectedthis
byaddingsupportsundertherightsideofthedolphin,andpullingtheleftsideofthemesh
tothebase.ThistimeIusedepoxy,amuchstrongergluethanhotglue,tobindthepieces
tothewoodbase.Bydoingthis,Iwasabletomakethesculpturestandstraightand
upright.

Thisprojectprovedtobeachallengeforme,andcausedmetothinkofthingsinwaysI
hadntbefore.Itforcesyoutotakeanewperspectiveontheworldaroundyou.Itinvokeda
senseofcreativityandproblemsolving,unlikeanyIvefacedbefore.Iexperiencedahuge
amountoffrustration,buthadagratifyingsenseofaccomplishmentwhenitwascompleted.