The Inspiration
The whole idea from my project esteemed from being sick and missing CFC the day of the waste project. While reaching for my handy dandy "sick pack" filled with all the essentials, I noticed how many usueless pill bottles I had. A lot of my medicine bottles were from expired pills or antibiotics I didn't complete taking. This got me thinking of the physical waste associated with mass producing legal bottles and medicine which end up in my medicine bag. I thought of my previous project, which focused on entheogens, which are often illegal, contrasting with these legalized drugs. My curiosity also wondered towards how many other people probably have prescription drugs left over in their possession. how transparent was this legal, physical waste?
Thus my project idea formed.
The Process
I took kitchen plastic wrap and wrapped my armature, which happened to be my friend Mike.
He was a good participant.
After wrapping whatever part of him in the plastic wrap I would build up layers of clear packaging tape. These layers formed the shape of the sculpture as well as built strength in various parts. For example, in the knees I made sure to build up extra layers for support.
Next I cut my armature out carefully, removed the structure, ripped out excess plastic wrap (to make it more clear), and then tapped it back together.
I had to do this in sections to get the right shapes. If I were to wrap him all at once not only would it be extremely uncomfortable for him, but also it would be difficult to cut out.
The Final Product
After connecting the pieces back together gravity stuck and my tape man was not as tall as my friend Mike. This made the piece come off as a child as opposed to an adult, which was not my original intent.
Regardless I think it still held and maybe even added to my concept.
I collected pill bottles from many of my friends as well as recieved donations from UHS and CVS.
The tape figure is completely filled with pill bottles from feet to stomach, where it is meant to look as if it is ripping it open.
Ideally I would like to collect more pill bottles to place coming out of the stomach and spilling onto the ground. Some of my classmates got the impression that the figure was pushing the pills back into its stomach or consuming it through the stomach.
With more pills it would also be easier to counter weight the figure and have it stand up on its own, which it cannot fully do now. I would like to place this sculpture in an appropriate public place, such as near a pharmacy or drug store (don't tell CVS!). I would tape the feet down securely to the ground and cover it up with more pill bottles, which would be spilling out of the transparent, faceless figure.
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