Meets: Monday & Wednesday 09:00 AM – 12:00 AM
Location: Fabrication Lab, Venturi Art Building
Instructor: Kasia Ozga
Email: kozga@oberlin.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Office Location: Ward Art Building, Office 111
This course is an introduction to the materials, methods, and concepts of wood sculpture. We will explore wood on a technical level, while simultaneously reflecting on the various historical, social, and economic values associated with this material as well as its’ use by sculptors and contemporary artists over time.
The course will have both a practical and a theoretical component. Students will develop woodworking skills on a variety of levels, while learning about artists that combine traditional skills and digital techniques to produce contemporary art. We will engage with wood as a means to understand larger formal issues in three-dimensional art, as an artisanal practice (weaving wicker, inlay, carving, chainsaw sculpture), as a material for both mobile artworks (woodworking, cabinet-making, joinery), and for permanent and semi-permanent large-scale construction (framing, carpentry techniques).
We will learn about the physical qualities of different kinds of wood and wood products (plywood, MDF, particleboard, bamboo) while simultaneously reflecting on the environmental impact of existing forest management and procurement practices. All technical, practice-based assignments are supplemented by art historical content delivered through lectures, readings, videos and field trips. In addition, the class will visit at least one exhibition during the course of the semester (i.e., a Saturday trip to a gallery show, open studios event or to a museum with a relevant temporary exhibition).
This course is appropriate for students who wish to gain basic sculpture knowledge while focusing their technical development on a particular medium. Each week, we will introduce a new aspect of wooden sculpture. Demonstrations and instruction in wood cutting and assembly, simple joinery techniques, finishing, carving, etc. will be provided. Students will work individually and collectively to assemble their artwork.
During class, I will lecture on the logistics of creating temporary and permanent wooden sculptures with various materials, while emphasizing the meanings conveyed by different choices involving form and content. Student projects will combine technical skill development with theoretical themes related to wood as a material (including issues of scale, durability, carbon sequestration, land stewardship, harvesting and milling). Students will have daily individual consultations with the professor at each stage of project implementation.
Discussions will center on the relationship between, intention, interpretation, and creative decisions related to subject matter and materials. Together, we will explore how contemporary artists mobilize materials, craft, form, space, site, presentation, and context in sculpture. Students are encouraged to continue their research beyond what is required for class.
Sculptures can alternately exploit physical resources and provide paths for sustainable, life-affirming interactions with the natural world. My goal is to inspire students to create art objects that engage the viewer in dialogue involving technical and conceptual issues. To this end, we will spend some focused time in class discussing and critiquing students’ work in a dynamic, constructive atmosphere.
Learning Goals:
Students will learn to use decision-making processes and applied skills to develop their ideas into works of art. Student will gain:
- Basic understanding of what constitutes a sculpture. Comprehension of elements of an artwork in three dimensions including focal point, texture, scale, repetition, pattern, space, symmetry, rhythm, etc.
- Technical skills in wood including measuring, cutting, gluing and joining.
- Awareness of how to maintain personal and shop safety and use confidently wood cutting machines (hand tools, portable and stationary machines), fasteners, and adhesives. Knowledge to choose the optimal tools for each cut and where to ask for help.
- Ability to reflect on where “wood” comes from and how wood is processed into a variety of materials that we use on a daily basis by recognizing framing materials (dimensional lumber, sheet wood plywood panels), wood categories (softwood / hardwood/ engineered wood, etc.), and relevant terminology. Use of research skills to identify what contemporary trees and wood products reveal about the societies in which they are produced.
- Ability to use appropriate types and shapes of wood to produce sculptures with different formal and symbolic outcomes. Capacity to explain relationships between the forms produced and the concepts informing an artwork.
- Understanding of how wood can interact with other sculptural materials as an armature or supporting element to produce a finished piece with various materials.
- Discussion skills on how to respectfully and critically discuss one’s work and that of others in relation to various works studied.
- Training in learning from setbacks in the creative process and supporting creative problem-solving as a project changes over time from conception through production and reception.
Expectations:
Students are required to use studio time both during and outside of class in order to improve their technical abilities. Expect to spend a significant amount of time outside of class preparing armatures and practicing techniques (3-6 hours/week).
Finished works should address conceptual considerations and apply the skills demonstrated in class.
Students must come to class on time prepared to work on assignments and utilize scheduled studio time in an efficient manner during studio classes. Assignments will be completed on assigned dates. The level and quality of participation in both class discussion and critiques impacts the final grade.
Any readings, presentations, or written assignments are to be completed on assigned dates. Attendance is stressed as the class is composed of demonstrations and studio practice. 3 late appearances count as an absence, 3 absences result in a reduced letter grade. Cell phones must be turned off before class begins, unless they are being actively used for research/ art production.
Evaluations:
Your studio projects will be assessed and critiqued through Individual meetings while work is being executed, through group critiques with professors, teaching assistants, fellow peers, and invited artists, and through a final critique where you will present work that responds to initial feedback. Grades reflect understanding and creative responses to problems and assignments as demonstrated by student work. Criteria for grading and percentages are as follows:
Sculptures (innovation, craft, concept, technical proficiency, documentation) 50%
Technical Exercises: 20%
Writing and speaking (includes critique and group discussion) 10%
Formal presentation and exhibition 10%
Class participation and attendance 10%
Students will create 3 individual projects and one collective project. Each project grade is based on the following:
- Project Completion – Students must be able to set their own criteria and envision a project that is realistic within each project’s allotted time frame and material restrictions.
- Participation in Critiques and Class Discussions –You should be prepared to discuss the decisions you made in regards to your work and to offer constructive feedback to your peers.
- Willingness to Take Risks and Challenge Yourself – Each student should be committed to learning new techniques and ideas, and apply them in creative and experimental ways.
Attendance Policy
Excessive (more than three) unexcused absences will result in a final grade reduction for late work- for example, from “B” to “C”. It is required that students be present at every critique (late work will be lowered by one grade level).
A Level: you are working above and beyond the requirements of the assignment and producing strong work that raises many questions. You are clear and attentive to your own developing artistic practice and are challenging your skills and your thinking. You are an important and thoughtful voice in discussions and generous with your peers. You are in class on time with no unexcused absences. If you have to be absent or late to a class you have notified me well in advance.
B Level: you are working hard and producing good work that could benefit from a little more time/effort/attention to develop fully. You are challenging your thinking and your skills and are a thoughtful presence in critiques. You arrive on time to class and have no more than 2 unexcused absences.
C Level: you are doing what is required with a good attitude. You don’t have more than 2 unexcused absences and you aren’t late all of the time.
D Level: you are not doing what is required or not doing it satisfactorily (late work, not being prepared for critiques, studio visits or workshops, etc.). Your attitude is indifferent and you have more than 2 unexcused absences.
F Level: you are not doing what is required of the class and are not adhering the department’s policies. You have multiple absences or late attendance. You are indifferent and non-participatory.
Materials:
Students are issued a $65 term bill that covers most materials for this studio art class. Tools, cardboard, some wood and other supplies will be provided but you will need to purchase some materials throughout the semester. You will be required to do preliminary sketches of most projects so please bring a sketchbook or have paper available.
Storage of Work:
Storage options are limited and students will not be allowed to house projects outside of designated and assigned areas. Please see me if you require special arrangements for a limited period of time.
Safety and Clean Facilities Policy:
Safety is a primary concern. Every assignment will include a related safety demonstration on how to work with tools and materials. It is very important to attend these demonstrations.
The studio is shared by several classes and it is normal for things to need occasional repair. If you feel something isn’t working properly, if something breaks, or you need extra instruction before using a tool or machine, that’s OK. Please see me, the Fabrication Lab Supervisor or TA and we can get things repaired, refreshed, and running again.
The Studio Art Department requires students to maintain a safe working environment for themselves, their fellow classmates, as well as for others using art facilities. Students only have access to the Fabrication Lab when the professor or Technician are present. You are encouraged to work in room 063 outside of your class meeting times.
Unless otherwise mentioned come to class prepared to work.
With a myriad of different production techniques there are equally numerous ways of doing unintentional injury to yourself and others around you. The following should always be followed:
- Wear work clothes and closed toed shoes.
- No loose hair.
- No loose jewelry.
- Wear gloves when appropriate.
- Wear eye protection and ear protection when appropriate.
- Clean up after yourself.
- Lift heavy objects carefully and with assistance.
- No toxic solvents (except in designated areas)! * Dispose of used oily rags in appropriate containers
- No food in the woodshop/ fabrication lab
- Do not distract/ talk to anyone when they are in the middle of using power tools.
If you’re not sure about a procedure or equipment, ask someone.
Content Warning:
Some artworks discussed might contain subjects that aggravate past or present trauma. Be respectful of your peers during in-class discussions and please care for yourself as necessary. It is impossible to forecast all content that might be difficult for students to encounter. Use your best judgement, and contact me as needed.
Areas of Study:
Artisanal techniques (weaving wicker, inlay, carving, pyrogravure wood burning, chainsaw sculpture)
Woodworking
Framing, carpentry techniques (armature construction, outdoor installations)
Project development, production, and documentation
Skill Sets:
- Safety procedures & the correct handling of tools and materials in relation to desired forms
- Understanding armatures: the relationship between the internal structure and the external shape of the sculpture.
- Basic woodworking techniques: lamination, planing, joinery, sawing, carving, drilling, gluing wood, sanding, finishing wooden sculptures
- Using hand tools (drills, impact drivers, jigsaws, sanders, chisels) and standing tools including chop saw/compound miter saw, band saw, table saw, circular saw, router, jointer, thickness planer, disc sander, drill press
- Project idea development and fabrication (brainstorming, concept sketch/ work proposal, model-making, construction, assembly, disassembly)
- The basics of sculpture: the link between an idea and its representation, the importance of aesthetic values, gesture, time, the end product.
Selected Artists:
Students will see visual presentations on contemporary artists that use wood in sculpture. Students may be asked to create short presentations on the work of the following artists:
Rebecca Horn, Stephan Balkehol, Dewar & Gicquel, Giuseppe Penone, Tadashi Kawamata, Oliveira Baitogogo, Boris Raux, Isidro Blanco, Ai Wei Wei, Sarah Sze, Pablo Reinoso, Martin Puryear, Rachel Beach, Mangle (María Paula Alvarez and Diego Fernando Alvarez), Julian Watts, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Ricky Swallow, Phoebe Washburn, Kcho, Gyongy Laky, Charles Ray, Marc Dion, Eduardo Chillida, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Deacon, Tony Cragg, Jackie Winsor, Raphaël Zarka, David Nash, Jerzy Kenar, Joseph Dermody, Studio Vayehi, Nicole Hodsdon (Ciseal), Emmanuelle Ducrocq, Patrick Dougherty, Keisuke Tanaka, Haroshi.
Individual projects:
Each student will create projects every 3-4 weeks involving wood working techniques. Mid-term critiques and final critiques will involve sharing and reflecting on a series of finished assignments.
Students are encouraged to consult individually with the instructor regarding project ideas during class. Finished pieces may be temporary or permanent, individual works or a series of small sculptures. Students will be expected to document their work during the phases of project development.
References:
There is no textbook for the class, however on some weeks, I may require students to read articles in preparation for in class discussions. I can also recommend books to students on artists and areas of sculpture that would provide useful departures, on a case-by-case basis, during individual critiques.
A selection of relevant books is available on reserve for students at the art library.
In advance of certain class sessions, students will be asked to complete short readings about relevant topics (exhibition reviews, papers in academic journals, artist interviews) that will be discussed in a collective manner.
Texts may include:
Rosalyn Krauss, Passages in Modern Sculpture
Tolstoy, What is Art?
James E. Young, The Counter-Monument
Phaidon Press, Vitamin 3D: New Perspectives in Sculpture and Installation
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Romeyn Beck Hough, American Woods
Example Assignments:
Each piece produced will be developed in several stages. Students will first sketch out and elaborate ideas that will be reviewed during individual consultations with the professor. They will then physically elaborate their ideas into rough sculptures-in-progress that will be shared for feedback in small groups. Final pieces will be exhibited together and critiqued in class or in a department exhibition space.
Students will be evaluated on the quality of their work during each stage of project development and on their constructive contributions to their peers’ proposals and finished artworks.
A sculpture for everyone else
Sculpture is traditionally a human endeavor. Here, inspired by artists such as Marc Dion, Lynne Hull, Patricia Johanson, Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, and Agnes Denes, create an artwork or model for a (large-scale, public) sculpture that provides “ecosystemic services” / functionality for non-humans (insects, birds, plants, etc.). Reflect on our existing interactions with non-human species and how your sculpture can serve these populations.
Think about wooden architecture, ecological niches, environmental art, ecofeminism, habitat destruction/transformation, human-altered landscapes, endangered species, environmental protection, etc. as you do your research.
Random Processes
Take a piece of wood out of the scrap bin and transform it into a sculpture by adding and removing additional wood. Appreciate the “random” (found, unintentional) form you begin with as a jumping-off point for a larger exploration of intention and exploration with wood.
OR
Make 100 of something out of wood. Turn those things into a sculpture.
Feel free to use various cutting, gluing, carving, and finishing processes (including kerf cutting and wood bending) and to included non-wood materials (though wood should be the main material of your artwork)
Wood and/in society
Wood has a historical dimension and can evoke/reframe/comment on historical events. In this assignment, either literally use wood that was present for a historical event to react to that event (or new lumber / to comment on current forest management practices, etc.) or recreate forms that evoke and comment on a historical event.
At the Oberlin, we will also work with trees with a particular relationship to history, to make art. Students can work in pairs to design a wooden sculpture that engages with an individual tree’s reason for being or with the use history of a specific type of wood or wood products (you can also work individually). In sites such as the Morgan Street reservoir, you may study the circumstances of the trees’ planting, natural regeneration, and trajectories as driftwood and how these fit into larger patterns of land use and conservation. What can our trees tell us about human history and what can our sculptures reveal about our trees?
Think about how different forms and species of wood have been used over time, in everything from furniture, to toys, to religious objects, to carpentry, to food service, etc. and how you can use wood to reimagine/ comment on/ draw attention to historical events.
This project is inspired by the Witness Tree Project w/ National Park Service, a joint theory + furniture design seminar by Daniel Cavicchi at RISD in which fallen trees that have witnessed historical events, trends, and people in American History are used to make critically engaged furniture.
Project Assignments / Schedule:
The class meets 2 days/week. Each class session lasts for 3 hours and requires 3-6 hours of work outside of class.
Project 1: 09/07, 09/12, 09/14, 09/19,
Fabrication Lab Technical demo: 09/21
Library Week: 09/26 + 09/28
Project 2: 10/03, 10/05, 10/10, 10/12, 10/24, 10/26,
Project 3: 10/31, 11/02, 11/07, 11/09, 11/14, 11/16,
Project 4: 11/21, 11/23, 11/28, 11/30, 12/05, 12/07,
Final Class: 12/12
Project 1: Pick-Up-Sticks Maquette + Participatory Installation: Produce a collective artwork that involves carpentry techniques.
Week 1: Class introduction, discussion, balsa demos & skill-sharing, artist lecture
Week 2: Technical exercise 1 due 09/14 : balsa wood maquettes exploring different kinds of potential temporary artworks that you could produce in wood.
Week 3: Sculpture 1: On-site installations with 2×4’s due in class 09/19, artwork documentation discussion
Fabrication Lab safety discussion. Hand tools & portable tools demo in the sculpture room on 09/21, Technical exercise 2 in class: Use clamps, hand tools, and stationary tools to transform a 2×4 into a sculpture.
- Library + Fabrication Lab Week: 09/26 + 09/28 *Professor Ozga will be absent this week but you are required to attend class sessions.
- On 9/26 split up into 2 groups.
- In the Art Library meet with Barbara Prior to research for Sculpture Project 2 (A sculpture for everyone else)
- In the fabrication lab, continue to get woodshop training in stationary power tools from Alex Hanson. Following stationary tool training, complete Technical exercise 2 focusing on practical skill acquisition. Make a box with a lid for a specific object or collection of objects. Demonstrate joinery techniques (Square-Ended Basic Butt Joint, Mitered Butt Joint, Box joints, Rabbet joints etc.). Emphasis on craftsmanship and economy of means.
Sculpture 2: A sculpture for everyone else
Week 1: Discussion, brainstorm + technical tests
Week 2: Production
Week 3: Fall break
Week 4: Installations + Critiques. Artwork due 10/26
Sculpture 3: Random Processes
Week 1: Plywood Lamination Demos, veneers, sanding, mechanical fasteners
Week 2: Production
Week 3: Critique (in exhibition space?)
Sculpture 4: Wood and/in society
Week 1: Carving Demo / Begin to glue up wood for carving 11/21. Homework: research forms and produce a drawing and/or maquette of your finished piece. CNC demo on 11/23.
Week 2: Begin to create a sculpture that features one of the craft-based practices introduced in class (wood bending/lamination, Kerf cutting, Japanese lattice, carving, cnc, basketry) or create a sculpture that combines wood with another material (textile, plaster, cement, etc.)
Use techniques and forms that evoke specific historical/social subject matter
Consider integrating found wood (furniture, etc.) into your finished piece.
Showcase joinery and carving techniques (emphasis on craftsmanship and economy of means)
Week 3: Final pieces due on 12/12
Research Resources
Library Search Tools: Main Library and Clarence Ward Art Library
Articles & Artists Consulted during Class (with the whole group and individual students):
Week 1:
Bruce Hoadley, Understanding Wood
Artists: Johann Le Guillerm, Pedro Marzorati, Scenocosme, Olga Kisseleva
Week 2:
Eric McConnell, Ohio’s Forest Economy, OSU
Oliver J. Curtis, Nominal Versus Actual: A History of the 2×4, Harvard Design Magazine, No. 45 / Into the Woods
Timberblogger: Balsa Wood, 07/17/2020
Thomas Campanella, Ash Trees Are Vanishing, New York Times, 12/12/2022
Logjams in History: The Case of Grand Rapids, Logging History in Minnesota, History of Maine- Logging
Artists: El Paro, Olivier Thomas, Vincent Ganivet, Haroshi, Thomas Neumaier, Anna+Michael Rofka, Henrique Oliveira, Sylvain Ristori, Charles Ray, Reinhard Reitzenstein
Week 3:
Caitlin Stall-Paquet, Clearing Out: BC’s Logging Industry Sets Its Sights on the US: Facing ecological and political uncertainty at home, some of the province’s largest lumber producers are looking south. The Walrus. 07/06/2022.
Artists: Mireille Fulpius,
Film: Richard Desjardins et Robert Monderie, L’erreur boréale (1999)
Matti Virtanen, Riika Kaihovaara, Timber for Ikea, Documentary, 2009: Streaming Video
Week 4:
Examples of woodworking joints for the box technical exercise: example 1, example 2.
Mildred’s Lane artist residency created by artists J. Morgan Puett and Mark Dion (focus on environmentally engaged art practices)
Wood Lamination resources, Making shop-cut veneers from larger pieces of wood: how to, with a band saw, with a table saw
Sound Inventions (Sound Design) by Bart Hopkin
Julian Watts
The Kudzu Project
Week 7:
“Mousetrap” video, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, The Way Things Go
“Filling in” gaps in the environment
– with resin / giving value to found detritus through small metals craftsmanship: Motoko Furuhashi
– with Legos: Jan Vormann, Dispatchwork
– Kintsugi, The Japanese Art of Mending Broken Ceramics with Gold
Week 8:
Against the Grain Exhibition, MAD Museum, Exhibition Audio Tour Online
Examples of working with/transforming found furniture: Will Holman, The designer collective Faubourg 132 https://www.faubourg132.fr/works/recyclab-2/
Article on “Fast Furniture”: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/realestate/fast-furniture-clogged-landfills.html
Bending wood: Laminating, Kerfing (creating flexible) plywood, Kerfed shelves
Lattice: Making Japanese Lattice/ Kumiko Strips
Random processes: Generative art ( The Algorists , Random generators, Oblique Strategies, Hans Ulrich Obrist – DOIT)
Week 9:
Artists: Martin Puryear Video (at 2:24), Giuseppe Penone, Pablo Reinoso, Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel, Mangle, Ricky Swallow, Repurposing furniture shaving with Phoebe Washburn, Kcho (1, 2), Jackie Winsor, Joseph Dermody, Gabriel Tarmassi
Tips for gluing wood: Make your own wood filler, Tips on how to glue, use blue tape to prevent glue from getting on an area of the wood you want to protect or wipe off excess glue with a wet rag (rinse it after) or use a paint scraper to get off dried glue
Sanding/Staining/Finishing Oil/Shellac/Varnish Discussion, Shou Sugi Ban
Week 10:
Additional woodworking resources online:
– Lumberjocks forum
– A selection of Youtube channels: 3×3 Custom, the Newbie Woodworker, WoodWorkWeb
Artists: Los Carpinteros, Emmanuelle Ducrocq, Zofia Lipecka (Microespaces), Man Ray (Hangar Sculpture), Nucharin Wangphongsawasd, Oli Watt
Week 11:
Article to read:
Daniel Abramson, Make History, Not Memory, Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1999.
Eli Anapur, The History of Woodcarving in Art, Widewalls, 2017.
Online resources for finding a historical event to focus on: The Crash Course (U.S. History, World History 1 and 2), Khan Academy (U.S. History and World History), Edx.org history courses, Oberlin Local History (Research Services, Heritage Center Timeline and Historic Photos)
Artists engaging with History/histories: Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party, Yinka Shonibare’s Scramble for Africa, Fred Wilson’s Mining the Museum, Cornelia Parker, Faig Ahmed, Meret Oppenheim, Tim Noble and Sue Webster (shadow art), Ann Hamilton’s Indigo Blue (click on site for project description)
A partial list of wooden forms with historical associations for students use/ respond to in relation to specific historical events: wooden tools, guillotine, gavel, wooden stocks, ballot box, wooden swords, sports equipment (baseball bats, etc.), games/toys (blocks, pull toys, shape sorting, miniature animals, dioramas, mobiles), furniture, food serving dishes/utensils (cutting boards, rolling pins, bowls…), religious/liturgical/sacred items, jewelry/body adornment, ornaments (folk art such as Polish “ludowa ozdoby z bejcowanych kolorowych tasiemek”), globes, nautical/architectural models, architectural mouldings/deatils (balusters, etc.), basketry, musical instruments, awls/looms/sewing machines, signage
Week 12
Student Artwork selections
(Allen Museum): Queen Anne Side Chair in “Grandmother” Pattern, Fragment of a Sarcophagus, Howling Wolf (Southern Cheyenne, 1849-1927), Returning from a Raid in Old Mexico
Online: Maya Lin Mappings, Dorota Nieznalska, Andy Goldsworthy, Drawn Stone, Bankal Balkan Wandering Theater Troupe, Claes Oldenburg’s Bottle of Notes, Christian Boltanski, Portraits des élèves du CES des Lentillères en 1973 [Portrait of Lentillères High School Students in 1973]
Article: Alex Brown, Felled City Trees Could Grow a New Lumber Economy, Pew Trust