Savanna Leigh: March 2009

tech-savvy

it's one of those weekends when i feel vindicated; like all the work i put into my studies really pays off- it's hard to see how certain skills apply when you're restricted to classrooms. this weekend i really got to stretch my arms and do some stuff for fun.

in high school, i loved working with the theatre. i never really acted (i was always in the chorus) and i never really did tech, just some set building and flat moving, but i was always in love with the magic of the stage. after senior year i never expected to be involved with it again, but luckily, i am. lexi hubb has been directing the "vagina monologues" for the past three years, and i've run tech for the past two. it's a small play, and the tech is as simple as it gets, but i still have the chance to sit in the catwalks and watch the whole thing unfold. it never gets old. recently, i also got to sit in on an MFA theatre project and critique the work in progress. i don't know very much about theatrical theory, and i'm fairly sure that my ignorance showed, but it was still interesting to experience.

film is quickly becoming my passion. over the past two years i've grown obsessed with movies- how they're made, what they mean, what i can do. i've never had a production class, but i've been trying pretty hard to learn through contact. today i learned that clothespins on set are called "bullets," that lightposts are called "c-stands," and that a tiny tripod is called a "high-hat." this is probably basic stuff for EMF kids- i'm jealous that i'll never get to learn it all officially. being a PA on set was great- clipboard in one hand, clapper in the other, light meter around my neck, tools in my pockets. it's a great feeling. i even got to do a rack focus on the camera!

i was initially called onto set for props, and sergio used many of my paintings in all of the shots. he also needed a sculpture quite suddenly, and i sculpted a bust for him in half an hour.

two days of shooting for a ten-minute film... it's a lifestyle i could easily love.

stage managing

i still love the theatre

mixed heritage

john waters meets mexico

to be a low relief, molded and cast in plaster (or maybe fiberglass...)

i'll soon upload a color master

EDIT:

....i just noticed that i have a rather bloody finger in that image. i blame the Bondo.

today

9am-11am : Modeling Concepts in Ceramic

11am-12pm : Modern Art 1

12pm-4:30pm : Work work work

4:30-6pm : Prepping for Ellen Durkin's MFA Thesis show

7-10pm : Simultaneously assisting models in and out of massive steel dresses and running the lights for the Vagina Monologues

...Hopefully I'll get a break to eat somewhere in there

zeke fletcher

This is Zeke Fletcher. Zeke is the action figure I've been building all semester. This is just his head, which is articulated at the neck, and it's a little smaller than a US quarter.

At the end of the semester, I'll need to turn in the whole model with a background story. Conveniently, a film class required that I write an original treatment, and I wrote Zeke's story. The setting goes a little like this:

The year is 2012. Global warming has caused the sea to rise, flooding many coastal cities including NEW YORK CITY and BALTIMORE. Gasoline is available to a select few, and America has largely lost touch with its suppliers in the Middle East. American infrastructure has completely broken down since the loss of petrol. The American government is struggling to control several rebellious city-states which are gaining power and allegiance through their innovation and use of steam technology. They call themselves THE LEGION. The flooding ocean has increased coastal piracy, which is the Legion's primary source of income. Legion's communication relies on steam skiffs and pony-express style messengers, called RUNNERS.

Zeke is a Runner. He delivers messages from one Legionnaire to another over land via his amphibious steam-powered cycle. This summer, I'd love to design and build the cycle he rides. We'll see.

waste mold

self portrait bust in ceramic

shim with keys

adding plaster

this mold will be separated into two pieces, and the clay will be dug out. then it's on to casting in fiberglass later this week!

what goes up...

...will fall down and hurt itself badly.

This is a mixed media project for my Experimental Directions project. The assignment was to create a three-dimensional self portrait out of photographs. It's difficult to see here, but I took a picture of my foot from every angle and attached it to the outside of my climbing shoe. The xray shows the bone fragments that have shattered, as well as the fracture that runs through the length of my talus. Needless to say, I had Ace bandages to spare.

recent projects

Here's a bird I made in Super Sculpey, molded in silicone rubber, then cast in fast-curing Urethane plastic. The plastic copy is painted with acrylic.