Animal Testing: Soap Carving and Form Changing

Soap Carving: An Overview

Besides my patience, the soap carvings project really tested my ability to apply previous problem solving solutions to a new medium. I had never really sculpted seriously before this assignment; though familiar with Play-doh and those coil pots everyone makes in art class on "clay day," subtracting from a form with carving tools proved much more complicated than sculpting (with the ability to add to and easily "fix") a piece. I felt a lot like SpongeBob in the episode "Artists Unknown" when he talks about the process of really knowing one's marble before beginning to work with it.

        

YOU GOTTA BE THE MARBLE!

Unlike SpongeBob, I'm not sure if I ever really "became" my soap. But one thing is for certain: I will never, ever be able to forget the smell of Fiorentino peony and seaside body bars. 

Professional pictures of my final pieces are forthcoming. Below, however, is the process one of my sculptures underwent to transform into a new object. Miss Laura said, "If it feels wrong, that probably means you should do it." Well, I did it...and let's just say that things got pretty nasty.

Creating a New Form: Addition and Subtraction

  

I started out with this lumpy critter as my animal form.

I then grated the tiger's head and tail. (Subtraction) 

This resulted in a pile of soap shavings, which I then scooped into a Ziploc bag, mixed with purple ink, and put in the freezer (depicted below). 

Because I had grated off the tiger's tail, the stick that held it to the tiger's body was no longer necessary. So I used the extraneous stick to poke holes all over the tiger's body. (Subtraction)

Going along my concept, which I will explain later in greater detail, I tried to use mostly cosmetic/bathroom products. Consequently, I covered the tiger with Crest toothpaste. (Addition)

I then stuck the tiger in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I felt really bad about it, but it had to be done. (Subtraction/Addition)

While the tiger baked, I created a simple form of tiny Dixie cups (used for water, mouthwash, etc.).  

This is when things started to get stinky. A strange, clinical odor emanated from the oven, especially in the last few minutes of the baking process. It smelled like a dentist's office, but one where something was definitely amiss. The toothpaste had bubbled and formed a crusty layer over the soap.

I then cut the tiger into three pieces (Subtraction)

As if things didn't already stink enough, I decided to add lip gloss to the mix. Using the cosmetic like glue, I put the pieces back together. (Addition)

Then came my worst/best idea: to microwave the tiger on high for 1 minute. I stopped at about :40 because the microwave started smoking and it smelled really, really horrible. However, after letting it rest for a bit, I was able to finish the minute. (Subtraction/Addition) 

The odor of the hot, mutated soap/toothpaste/lip gloss nearly made me puke at least four times after taking it out of the microwave.

While trying not to vom, I scooped the fluffy mush into the Dixie cups (pictured below). (Addition) I also discarded the material that did not fit into the cup structure. (Subtraction)

I then stuck Q-Tips into the mixture. (At this point, everything smelled so bad that I slowly felt my body shutting down.) (Addition)   

After placing the form in an aluminum baking pan, I took the inked shavings out of the freezer and sprinkled it over top the whole thing. (Addition)

FINALLY...

"Animal Testing"