USCB students create environmental sculptures

University of South Carolina Beaufort students in the Three-Dimensional Design course created environmental artworks at the Historic Beaufort campus in the style of Andy Goldsworthy, a contemporary British environmental sculptor.   After learning about Goldsworthy and his process of creating art, students began designing their own creative aspirations in which they would only have two hours to implement with environmental materials found on campus or at home.
According to class professor, Joan Podd, “When we teach art there is always a connection between the making of art, a critical analysis of art, viewing the historical context and content of the art, and the evaluation of the work of art they have created. An underlying objective I had for this lesson was to get students into nature and have them pick up leaves, pine cones and palm branches and take a real careful look at them. What do they look like, feel like and smell like and how do they fit into my sculpture?”
In this assignment, the creative process was as integral as the product.  Some of the students’ designs looked good on paper, but when they tried to interpret the drawings in an outdoor setting, they realized their ideas didn’t fit the environment. Conducting an ongoing critical analyses of their works in progress while adapting their ideas to the environment, students were required to solve a wide variety of visual problems during a limited timeframe.