Matter of time : the transitivity of the verbs in sculpture making.

Abstract

Inspired by Richard Serra’s manipulation of lead, Matter of Time is an ongoing study on such transitive verbs as - “to absorb, to drip, to leak, to spill.” - together with nouns pointing out the liquid component of my sculpture. The focus lies in the chosen materials, epoxy resin and soil as the main ingredients to illustrate the process of these actions.

The main strategy of the sculpture is: First, a set of instructions related to a physical action such as “pouring epoxy resin into a pot of soil”, “dripping epoxy resin through a sheet of plastic, full of holes”, “toppling a cup of epoxy resin”. At this stage, the final form of the sculpture is not in my mind yet. Over time, the chemical reaction of the epoxy resin (mixed with hardener) reaches a state of equilibrium and the end-results are used to reconstruct the making process, allowing the sculpture to appear to be “absorbing, dripping, leaking, and spilling” in the frozen moment. So one may ask if s/he is looking at the actual process or a representation of the process.

The objective of my final year project is to make a body of sculptural works and drawings to exert the process of the material transformation. The process of making the sculpture itself is the sculpture. This project also allows me to develop the sensibility to texture and form. This report also documents the making process of the final sculpture that will be exhibited in the graduation show.