Indus-treeMetal and Styrofoam
30 cm x 25 cm February 2016 My grandparents grew up in Burma (Myanmar) who were small farmers that planted healthy greens, raised cows and chickens, and bought organic food from others. But when one comes here, they will find that the majority of the food is processed, grown with chemicals, and is just very different then what one would find during my grandparents time. My metal apple tree is an abstract piece meant to show how our everyday food is becoming less natural. |
Meaning
The majority of our food in the United States are genetically modified, chemically-grown, or processed. It makes our food last longer, grow bigger, grow faster, and more, but this isn't always the best. There are a lot of chemicals in these foods and they are a threat to our health. A long time ago, our food was fresh and natural. It was a great time. But as time goes on and technology advances, we find ways to do things more efficiently and this causes our food to become more fake. That's why my apple tree is made with man-made items. The trunk, base, and "leaves" of the tree are made of wire, and the "apples" are balls of Styrofoam that are painted red.
InspirationThe main inspiration for my piece were Clive Maddison's wire tree sculptures. They are simply amazing, and have a large amount of craftsmanship. Maddison creates the sculptures with only wires, and a wood base to put them on. He twists and bends the wire to creates the rounded edges which are the leaves, and the ends are the roots. This particular one was based off an apple tree and it was made with 75 meters of wire and has about 3,000 loops. I saw that this was inspired by an apple tree and tried to make my sculpture similar to the shape of this. Some different things I did in my project was that I used two different kinds of wire and it is help up differently. Clive's sculptures are help up by the twists of the strands, where as I tied my using other wires. I also used a metal base, whereas Clive uses a wood base.
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ProcessThis project was one that took a lot of brainstorming because I really wanted something that would have a deep meaning and I feel like I was able to accomplish that.
First, I had to gather material. Most of the materials were in my garage. I used chicken wire, and thin wires. I bought the metal base from Home Depot and the Styrofoam balls from an art store. Next, I glued two cans together to be used as a frame. Then I tried to wrap the wires around it. It failed because the cans would indent whenever I tried to wrap them. So I wrapped the wires around a tennis ball, to create a spring-like shape that would be round and would represent a trunk.
Once I had enough of them I put them all around the cans. Then took the can out and put the spring onto the base. This is the trunk. Then, I got chicken wire, balled it up, and put it on top of the trunk. This would be the leaves. Using four wires, I tied them together. Hot glue worked, but only temporally, and it doesn't look good. I painted each part. The trunk brown, and the leaves green. Then using sandpaper, I shaped the Styrofoam balls into the shapes of apples. Lastly, I painted them red, and stuck them onto the tree. |
Reflection
This project seemed very simple, but it had a lot of meaning. I wish when I painted the leaves and trunks, it would be more noticeable. Most of the paint didn't show up, and I think I should of used spray paint instead. The trunk could of been secured down some more, and that probably would of made it stand up straight much better. However, I somewhat like how the tree is drooping over. It creates another type of feeling. If I were to do this project again, I would probably make something more advance and have a lot more craftsmanship.
Maddison, Clive. "CM029" Clive Maddison. Web. April-May 2016