Architecture Project -Tyler Odachowski

(Architectural time periods are Gothic, Egyptian, and Post-Modern)

Soap Turtle -Tyler Odachowski

(In Progress Photos)

(Final Carvings)

Soap Changes (Additive and Subtractive)

Step 1-  (Subtractive)

I Took the original turtle and broke it's legs.

Step 2- (Subtractive)

The turtle's body was boiled in water for exactly five minutes, then left to dry for one hour.

Step 3- (Subtractive)

I placed the turtle on its back so I could carve out it's shell.

Step 4- (Additive)

The turtle was coated in three layers of black paint.

(The paint was having a lot of trouble sticking to the soapy surface)

Step 5- (Additive)

I took an orange candle and held held a flame to the wax.  The wax slowly dripped into the hollowed out turtle shell until it was completely filled with candle wax.

Step 6- (Subtractive)

The turtle was cut into slices to reveal the layers of soap and candle wax.

Step 7- (Additive)

Once the turtle was cut into separate pieces, I reattached them using four pins.   

Step 8- (Additive)

A fifth pin was added to the nose of the turtle with two separate black strings threaded through it.  These strings were then tied around the sculpture.

Creating a Base 

To create the final base for the new sculpture, I took a large block of balsa wood and carved it with a Dremel.  After constant carving and sanding, I added a wider base by gluing and pinning an additional piece of balsa wood.  I used black and orange paint to mimic some of the colors seen on the sculpture.  By gradually mixing the paints together, I was able to make a marble like finish to coincide with the marble look of the dried wax. I then took four pins and attached them to both sides of the upper platform (where the sculpture is placed).  Black thread was added from these pins to the base of the platform to continue the angles made by the thread on the sculpture.  

1-    The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale.

Leonardo Da Vinci Vitruvian Man

Leonardo discovered that a man’s body is in direct geometric proportion.  When his arms are extended, he can make both a perfect circle and square.  Due to this, human proportion is used as a basic measurement.

2-    The capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience.  

Certain objects allow you to have different experiences.  I surf a lot and people that do not have a surfboard cannot experience the authentic feeling of riding a wave.  This coincides with all objects such as a skateboard, etc. 

3-    The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature that which can be enveloped by the body.

When I visited London, I went to a thrift shop and found a vintage camera that still worked.  I bought film for it and took pictures of all the places I went throughout England.  Every time I see this camera on my shelf, it constantly reminds me of my travels.  The pictures I took with represent the public, 3D, and the monumental into the miniature.

4-    To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy.

I chose carved coconuts as an example because it is very exotic and can only be found in odd places.  It’s not very common to see carved coconuts that portray faces.  One would usually see this vacationing to some foreign country.  I own one of these from when I went to Mexico and every time I see it, it reminds me of my trip both as a specimen and as a trophy of my travels. 

5-    Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss.

       We cannot reminisce about something we loved in the past if we never lost it in    the first place.  I chose a picture in which a multitude of hanging pictures are depicted.  Each one represents a personal association in the past that causes us to recollect it in the present.

Yoko Ono presented herself on stage as she invited people to approach her and cut off her clothing.  She displayed herself as a piece of art and remained almost motionless while everyone cut off her garments.  I believe that the reason behind this act was to show the viewer's relationship to artwork and how the viewer perceives a woman's body.  Females have always been portrayed in artwork, and in my opinion is considered a very common sight.  For the majority of the video, a multitude of people cut off small portions of Yoko Ono's clothing.  They mostly stayed away from her private areas, and instead revealed commonly seen parts of the body such as her arms and legs.  However, at the very end of the video, one man seemed much more comfortable with revealing Ono's body.  He completely cut off her shirt so she was left only in a bra (and pants).  This viewer thought nothing of his actions and cut her clothing off in a bold and aggressive manner.  His actions contradicted almost everyone at the beginning of the video. All of the previous people seemed very uncomfortable in revealing her bodily features.

Yoko Ono was very brave and successful in her performance.