Materials of Sculpture: Wood (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Content scheduling

Schedule to be confirmed!
The joint meetings are usually held on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Wood as a material for sculpture is, as its name suggests, a material-based course. Wood as a material surrounds us in the form of buildings, furniture, objects of necessity and sometimes also art objects. Ikea's chipboard cabinets are made of wood, as are the Baroque cabinets that have been declared of cultural and historical value. Trees grow in forests, sometimes even through the asphalt on the sunny side of the pavement, and branches and leaves fall to the ground. Trees have a life cycle and research shows that they are also capable of communicating with each other (see The secret life of trees). Students will critically reflect on the relationship of the material to their work plan and their chosen working methods. How the nature of the material is revealed in the student's work and how it relates to debates in the field of contemporary art. Students will produce their own independent work or process exploring the qualities of the material within the given constraints.

Objective

The students will be able to:
• apply historical and modern techniques and modes of expression in sculpture.
• use the methods and materials of wood sculpture and develop their own three-dimensional expression from a wide and innovative perspective
• analyse and compare different technical and material choices and meanings of different material combinations
• work while observing occupational safety and environmental considerations
• plan and scale their work for the time frame allowed
• working as an active member of a group while developing its work

Content

During the workshop, the students will learn the qualities and behaviour of wood as a sculpting material. The focus areas include the tools and safety in woodwork, the theory and practice of wooden sculpture and the development of individual expression in relation to the discussed methods and materials. The workshop may be held as a separate course or its content may be linked with projects that have already been started in other sculpture workshops.
The studies are completed according to the plan at workshops. Through these exercises, the students will learn how to use different methods, materials and their combinations as part of their expression. The students are expected to actively participate in instruction and feedback discussions.

Materials

Salonen, Pohjola, Priha. Kuvataiteilijan työsuojeluopas. Jyväskylä: Taide 1994. – soveltuvin osin
Siukonen, Jyrki. Vasara ja hiljaisuus – Lyhyt johdatus työkalujen historiaan. Helsinki: Kuvataideakatemia 2011.
Wohlleben, Peter. Puiden salattu elämä. Gummerus 2016.
www.puuproffa.fi

Teaching methods

The learning methods emphasise task-based learning, project-based learning and face-to-face teaching. At the beginning of the course, the student defines, together with the supervising teacher, a goal for his/her/their work, which is approached through personal work, group and individual meetings and self-reflection.