Student work developed for the Extension of the Body option in Visual Language. The constructed, articulated tail extends from the body and changes position through physical movement, combining wearable sculpture, material experimentation, and kinetic form.
Kinetic body extension constructed as an articulated hand. Strings manipulated from inside the glove allow the extended fingers to contract and expand, connecting the student’s physical actions to the constructed form's movement. Text incorporated onto the arm adds another thematic layer, combining bodily extension, movement, construction, and written language. Though the execution of the text could have been better, thematically the text does enhance the work
Installation by a non-binary student exploring their relationship to the body through photographs, materials, and objects associated with bodily maintenance and transformation. The work connects personal experience and gender identity with the Extension of the Body assignment, treating the body as a site of change, identity, and ongoing physical care while extending these ideas into the arrangement of images and materials within the installation.
Extension of the Body — Assignment Criteria and Examples
Continuing with Themes in Interdisciplinary Work Using Non-Traditional Materials and Methods
Assignment Description
Students will develop a thematic work, or “surreal prosthesis,” that is physically worn on one limb or on the head. Expanding on the range of materials explored in the previous assignment, students will investigate and develop a work using a combination of hard and soft materials. Students are required to explore and research thematic content in relation to materials, textures, colour, line, shape, and composition, with an emphasis on strong formal investigation and resolution.
The intention is not to create a costume. Instead, the constructed form should recontextualize the body by changing, extending, restricting, exaggerating, or otherwise altering how the body is physically and visually experienced. Students are encouraged to consider relationships among the body, constructed objects, materials, movement, and physical actions. This approach can be considered in relation to contemporary artists working with objects and the body, including Jan Håkon Erichsen, Ben Zank, Erwin Wurm, and Sigurður Guðmundsson.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to develop each student’s individual imagination and skills in relation to thematic content and the body/figure. The project also asks students to synthesize the visual and material language of their chosen materials with themes and narratives within the context of contemporary art.
Subject Matter and Themes
The work should use materials and/or processes to convey fictional or real themes, metaphors, or narratives. The body may function as a site for political or social critique. Students should consider how thematic layers and forms of critique can be integrated into the development of the surreal prosthesis.
Required Process of Work
During the early stages of the project, it is important that ideas begin to materialize through some form of physical or visual presentation. Initial ideas may be basic or unresolved, but students should discuss their ideas, experiments, and potential difficulties with the instructor early in the process.
Students are required to present initial work in progress even when the project remains unfinished or contains unresolved problems. Work-in-progress documentation may include photographs, raw video, analogue or digital sketches, material experiments, and/or maquettes.
Students are encouraged to begin by experimenting with a variety of materials and allow conceptual and thematic possibilities to develop through the process. The initial idea may involve something that resembles part of a costume, but the project should eventually move beyond simply functioning as a “costume.”
Students should balance expanding their technical skills with selecting materials and processes that remain manageable. Consultation with the instructor regarding this balance is encouraged. For transportation and storage, projects should also consider portability, reasonable weight, and, where appropriate, expandable, foldable, inflatable, or modular construction.
Throughout the development of the work, students should allow for changes from their initial ideas. Editing, risk-taking, research, curiosity, experimentation, and innovation are important parts of the assignment process.
Final Objectives / Goals
The goal of the assignment is to move beyond straightforward themes, materials, and processes by synthesizing multiple layers of meaning with an innovative use of materials and formal design. Students should consider how the relationship between the body, materials, construction, visual language, and thematic content can develop throughout the project.
The completed work should move beyond simply functioning as a costume and demonstrate experimentation and investigation within a contemporary art context.
Evaluation of Work
Concepts / Layers of Themes — 30%
Development of thematic content, metaphor, narrative, critique, and/or poetic layers within the work.
Formal Visual Language / Technical Skill with Innovative Use of Materials — 60%
Development of materials, textures, colour, line, shape, composition, construction, and the relationship of the work to the body. This category also considers experimentation, technical development, and innovative use of materials.
Synthesis of Concepts with Formal / Visual Language — 10%
Integration of thematic and conceptual content with the formal, material, and visual language of the completed work.
Artist and Project References
The following examples provide possible starting points for considering bodily extensions, wearable constructions, unusual materials, sculpture, movement, and relationships between the body and constructed forms. Individual examples do not necessarily address all requirements of the assignment.
Fabian von Spreckelsen:
http://highlike.org/fabian-von-spreckelsen/
Pawel Fabjanski:
Simon Birch
Great ideas in using an assortment of everyday, industrial, or unusual materials as costume:
http://ohbythewayblog.blogspot.ca/2013/08/beauty-mixed-media-and-photography.html
Protester wearing a giant cardboard DIY surveillance camera on their head:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/jun/07/bilderberg-cctv-camera-best-protest-costume
“Basketry on the Body” by Damia Smith and other artists:
http://contemporarybasketry.blogspot.ca/2013/01/basketry-on-body.html
Rebecca Horn, “Pencil Mask”:
