Sarah Yang

Draft 1/Proposal
1/28/2020

For my Creative Synthesis project, I am planning to create a mixed media painting and

sculpture.I want to incorporate “Return of the Author” by Busse and “Theory of Resonance” by

Dimock, particularly the concepts around the consumer being involved in the interpretation of

the media and how each person’s experiences shape how they understand the media. With this

piece, I want the viewer to have a part in the art and have each person interact with the art

differently. I also want to involve myself, the creator of the art piece, because I wanted to discuss

the importance of the author in the piece. I thought these two texts were interesting in how they

talk about the dichotomy of the consumer and producer of art and I wanted to explore this

relationship. Additionally, I liked how Dimock analyzed how the context of time, the author, and

the audience impacts the interpretation of the media.

My tentative idea for the synthesis project is making a clay sculpture inside of a picture

book. I was thinking of sculpting a face-like figure in the middle of the book, incorporating the

found objects in the clay. The face will look like it is emerging from the pages of the open book,

but the face will not have an expression. I want the face to have an open, almost blank look

because it shows how the interpretation of the media made is up to the viewer and the author. My

found objects will be a mirror, writing and art utensils, book pages, the book, and the clay. An

aspect that I want to have is mirrors in the eyes of the face, because when the viewer looks into

the eyes of the art piece they will see their own. This reflects the writing of Busse because it

shows how the consumer will always see things through their own eyes and their past

experiences will color how they view the work and the world. The writing and art utensils and
book pages will be incorporated directly into the clay, sticking out of it and framing the face.

These found objects will show the author’s involvement and show some context surrounding me.

It will also give some background on the creative process used to make the art piece. The book

will be the structure for the sculpture. My first thought was creating my sculpture in a book

because I am commenting on an exchange that goes on every time that media is consumed, and I

would be able to illustrate this literally inside the media. Finally, I decided to use clay because it

is very malleable and it would let me make the face-like structure inside of the book. I also

appreciate how the material of clay is so changeable and can hold other objects, just like how an

individual’s interpretation of media is so fluid and has different pieces and bits that impact the

view of the piece.

My target audience will be people mainly aged 18-24 who frequent art museums, or the

same target demographic of the Henry Art Gallery on campus. The most effective mode for this

demographic is the visual mode because it will catch their attention quickly. I also think they will

be provoked and intrigued by the interactive aspect of the piece while also understanding the

meaning behind it. I will use visual, gestural, spatial, and linguistic modes for this composition.

The visual mode will come from making an art piece and composing it in a visually appealing

and striking way. My art piece will have a gestural mode because of the face incorporated in the

clay and book. The sculpture will have a spatial component in it because it will take up space and

use the space around it to add to the interpretation of the piece. There will be a bit of the

linguistic mode in the sculpture as well, because I will include some written words and text in

and around the clay.