Project #41 Eduardo Paolozzi, Assemblage Sculpture
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi was a Scottish artist of Italian decent. He studied in Edinburgh and London and later moved to Paris where he was acquainted with Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, George Braque and Fernand Leger. The works of Giacometti and other Surrealists influenced his assemblage sculptures.
His later work was part of the Pop Art movement. You can see the connection between his early sculptures and his collages below. We will look more at his sculptures and silkscreens in another project.
These bronze assemblage sculptures were made with clay and found objects, molded and cast in bronze using the lost wax technique. Our sculptures will be made with plaster or self-drying clay and found objects.
Notice that Paolozzi paid attention to every detail of the sculptures, putting design and texture into the legs of his creatures and even the bases they stand on.
To make a sculpture similar to Paolozzi's follow the directions below. This project makes good use of repurposed items.
First make your base so that your leg or legs will be ready to put the form on. You can use plastic to go containers and dowels or wooden chopsticks. See Project #39 for images of the plaster mixing and stand making process. While the plaster is setting up, make your sculptural form.
For the form use plastic shopping bags, produce netting and masking tape. Mash the bags together to get the shape that you want, apply masking tape, add more bags and tape if needed. Optional: cover the form with produce netting. It is a good way to reuse produce netting and the plaster sticks to it very well.
After making your form, attach it to base by taping it or making holes in the bottom of it so that it connects to the stand.
Have your found objects ready: small plastic toys, nails, screws, buttons, paperclips, organic objects that will not wilt like acorns, hard seeds or twigs.
Mix a small amount of plaster and spoon over the form, cover the entire form and all of the tape. When the plaster starts to thicken, about 10 - 15 mins, gently press the objects you have chosen into it. You can also wait until the plaster has dried completely and glue them on, this will create a slightly different look.
Paint your finished form.
Alternative technique:
If you want your form to be heavier, more substantial use self - drying clay instead of paper or plastic bags.
Using a sphere or slabs of self-drying clay as the starting point press collected found objects into the clay all around the form. Then press dowels or sticks or wooden chopsticks into the bottom of the sculpture to create an figure on legs. Air-Dry-Clay by Crayola works very well.
When the clay hardens paint the entire object with khaki, grey or bronze metallic paint to mimic the patina of Paolozzi's sculptures. Or paint with any color you like to create something with a different aesthetic.
Below is a middle school students sculpture in progress and finished. This sculpture was made using plaster.
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