The Results Are In!

The Soap Carving Process

As I mentioned in my previous post about this project, carving soap challenged me greatly because it involved thinking about "mark making" in a very new way. I ended up titling my piece "Animal Testing" not only because my created piece played with materials actually tested on animals then "tested" on my sculpted animal (phew, that's a mouthful), but also because it tested this animal right here. I was frustrated, exhausted, and anxious I'd take off too much and ruin the entire piece during the majority of my carving. I am glad this project tested me, however, because it proved that even though the end result might not be amazing, I can make it through just about any project. The results are in: I can carve soap.(Perhaps not very well, but hey, with practice, who knows - I might create the next David, this time out of soap!)   

Process Pictures

The key is to start by blocking out the general shape of the animal form. We were cautioned not to get too specific too soon. Everything should stay quite chunky in the beginning (even though my tiger never quite lost that "baby fat"). 

For my second carving, I realized I needed to right away cut off a chunk of the soap and then begin my carving. The orientation of the soap was not conducive to the form of the tiger, as I found out in my first carving. The piece I cut off actually served as the material for my tails.  

Making the tail was definitely one of the most challenging parts of the carving process. It was difficult just figuring out how to create the shape!

Final Piece: "From-Life" Carving

Tiger & Tiger

One of the biggest issues I have with my final piece is its chunkiness. I am fairly happy with my proportions (except the head) and general form, but my wariness when it came to cutting down the legs made for a thick cat. I did a tiger in honor of my cat, Tiger, though perhaps I should've done a very stumpy bear, something more on my level.

   
Final Piece: "Created" Transformation Piece

"Animal Testing"

The concept behind my created piece arose from the ethical and pragmatic dilemma surrounding animal testing. In an earlier post I explained the process of subtraction and addition that led to this final piece, however I did not fully describe the "method" behind my madness. (And I'm pretty sure it was madness, as the fumes from the hot toothpaste, soap, and lip gloss burrowed deeply into my brain.) The experimental process through which I put my tiger mirrored the larger, often grossly transformative nature of animal testing. By making my created piece so radically different from its original from-life sculpture, I emphasized the ways in which inhumane testing (and treatment, in general) "thingifies," or commodifies, actual living beings. The end result is both clinical and messy, structured and random, something and nothing.

      

What Does Tiger Think?

I think she likes it!