Obama Sculpture

Wednesday, August 12, 2015 :: some shots of the process

Updates

by: Tom Estlack - Wednesday, August 12, 2015

I have begun making portrait caricatures of 20th and 21st century U.S. presidents in preparation for an interactive/kinetic sculpture installation. Initially, I was interested in exploring the "Earth Mother" archetypes and the exploitative nature of contemporary governments.

I am also interested in turning the role of the viewer into that of a participant. In the work's performance, the participant would operate various cranks and gears. Among the questions posited can be, "to what extent does the viewer play a role in the exploitation of cultures, societies, and ecosystems."

I am working in reverse chronological order, starting with the Obama.

2015.08.13 - Switching out one clay type for another because of compatibility issues with some other chemicals used for mold making and casting. The new clay is also more versatile. So, these other sculptures (Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, Bill Clinton) were sculpted originally in Roma clay, but since it's incompatible with some silicones, I duplicated them in Chavant NSP.

2016.11.20 - I have abandoned this idea.

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