Planning for a new sculpture

The idea for this sculpture was prompted by a recent project theme that the DigiFab Learning Community

at Appalachian State chose to work on collaboratively. The project the theme is "Displacement". The DigiFab

group is made up of about 10-12 faculty from various depts across our campus. The goal is to expand our ways

of problem-solving, designing and making by seeing and discussing how we all approach digital fabrication and digital

design within our own practices. The current "Displacement" project is an attempt to put together an exhibition

surrounding a common theme, that we can submit to display at galleries or museums in our region.

The general source of content for this idea is a response to the recent hurricane Helene:

I don’t have direct feelings of displacement due to this event, but have witnessed the destruction and loss of property of other’s closeby. I was very encouraged to see the amount of outreach and support within this local community, by those who were more fortunate than those who were negatively impacted.

A lengthier description of what I plan to create is as follows:

I’m envisioning a composition where 2-3 shovels (with chopped-off handles) are mounted to the wall, so that it appears the handles are receding into the wall. In the pan of each shovel is some dirt; possibly dried mud. On top of the dirt “landscapes” there will be miniature houses. These houses will most likely be digitally modeled, possibly using some AI translations/conversions. I’m considering casting these houses in bronze, or painting 3d prints with various metal faux finishes. The houses will portray a sense of diversity- meaning that there will be some variance between the houses to suggest differing lifestyles, values, status, etc.

On the underside of each shovel pan, directly under each house location, there will be a cluster of roots. The roots will be fabricated from wire, and possible coated with paper pulp. The intent of the root is to portray the unseen, yet vital, values that anchor each of these houses to a sense of place or belonging. I plan to compose the roots in such a way that they are merging and intertwining. The roots will portray a sense of connectedness and inter-reliance that exists among the houses “under the surface”, while “above the surface” they appear to be disconnected.

If there are 3 or more shovels, I’m considering leaving just a pile of dirt/mud in one of the shovels, with no house. There would be an impression (impint) in the mud/dirt where the house did exist at one time. I’d like for the impression to be noticeable enough to imply that this was the foundation of where a house once occupied. The roots will still be present on the underside of this shovel, as an implication of the roots being more durable/long-lasting than the house. The roots from the ‘’ghosted” house will be oriented towards the other clusters of roots present, and will be intertwining with those other roots.

This is a 3D rendering that was generated by Vizcom. It is an AI software that can take sketches and turn them into 3D renderings or models. This is the first time that I've used this program.