Soap Part 2 Finished

 Subtract. Mmkay, goodbye tupper-ware. Hello, mat, it's been so long.

 Subtract. This is essentially me trying to cut and pull out slices but being obstructed by the sponges inside. Turns out the ink had not created layers inside, it was just white so there was not anything to reveal on the inside any how. I wanted the bottom to somewhat match the red top so I cut and tore at it before adding blue ink later on.

 Add. After revealing how there was nothing to see inside, plus the sponges refused to be moved from their lodgings, so I shoved the pieces back together.

 Add. More blue ink since I wanted the bottom to be more blue while the top was bright red/pink. I was also not sure if the soap was going to be presented on the mat and I liked how the ink splatters looked on the shavings.

 Add. I happened to be throwing away wilting roses and realized that their pink was very similar to the red ink. Off with the stems (subtract?) and into the soap.

Ta da. The irony is that one of my soaps was rose scented.

Finished Soap & Part 2 in Progress

Behold the fox, it's confused clone, and the half incomplete 2.0.

 Add. I chose the clone with the most substance to work with for part 2. Originally I wanted the mat (complete with left over shavings) on which I carved it to be the platform on which it was mounted.

 Add. The first addition of yellow sponge strips to the soap.

 Subtract. Never mind, mat, I'm using a tupper-ware container.

 Add. Hello tupper-ware plus the shavings.

 Add. Boiling how water.

 Subtract. Using the knife to break up the soap.

 Subtract. Poured the water out.

 Add. More sponge strips.

 Add. Second boiling water attempt.

 Subtract. Poured water out.

 Add. Blue ink to soak into one of the sponge strips.

 Add. Red ink into another sponge strip. Cue the appearance of purple.

 Side view of marbling effect and the ink spreading.

 Opposite side view.

 Add. Separate shavings were melted down and added over top.

 Add. More blue ink.

 Add. Another layer of molten soap.

 Subtract. Digging grooves for the red ink to fall into.

 Add. Red ink.

 Another side view.

 Opposite side view.

Add. Blue ink splattered on red.

So far I can't decide if this looks more like cake, ice cream, or a confused geode. Over night the sponges really absorbed the ink well and I would like to get the block of soap out of the tupper-ware so I can pick at the visible soap, subtracting to make it more jagged and more geode-like. I am also thinking of either cutting it in half to reveal whatever happened inside or to cut it into "cake slices" for the duality between cake and earthly marble.

Starting Soap Carving & Janine Antoni Response

This may be a worthless observation but I was not expecting the soap I needed to be the hosh-posh luxury soaps that get their own cart set aside from the regular bathroom items. This stuff is Italian made, imported, and you can smell the fragrances at the door of the art building before you even reach the classroom.

For Janine Antoni, my first reaction was to her explanation of the rope, which was braided with various fabrics from meaningful people and occasions of her life. "A rope is an umbilical cord," she said, which connects us not just to our mothers, or our creation, but it is a red string of fate binding our friendships, spouses, strangers, and colleagues, which she then reveals to us through her installation. I understand her reasoning for her performance pieces and like how she explains that with her body, she is indirectly calling upon the viewer's body; that in turn tricks the viewer into feeling as she feels. She is making art through materials, sight, and muscle memory, in a way.

Regarding the chocolate and soap piece, initially I thought it was just a clever gimmick and then I thought about it and realized I did not understand it. Then she commented on how soap is usually made of lard, so "washing the body with the body" was indeed a strange irony. I appreciate the way she thinks and find myself doubting what she's doing until I hear her explain it, and then I'm like, "Oh, of course." That has not happened too often with me and modern art.

Architecture Relief

Firstly, things started off with these reference images:

And I wanted to take the styles of modern architecture, Venetian Gothic, and at the last minute I chose to work with a pyramid structure.

Starting off, we made a small, paper mock-up....which wound up being glued to my cutting mat. Live and learn.

Sadly this project goes under the list of "Out of time, just finish it" assignments. The process of gluing the wires inside took way longer than I anticipated so it looks as if they were a last minute decision but I wanted them to be a thick web inside the pyramid. Perhaps it was because the mock-up was glued to my mat that I wound up neglecting the screens or "windows" in the cut out sides of the pyramid, and the dangling bits should have been strung on the wires inside the pyramid.

However I was pleasantly surprised by the result of coating masking tape on paper, followed by ink, gesso, and gel medium. The corners have an almost leather appearance as well as texture.