Thesis
by Silvie Claire Granatelli
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF APPLIED
ART i n ART
Montana State University
© Copyright by Silvie Claire Granatelli (1975)
Abstract:
This thesis is a portfolio that deals with putting visible and mental information together. The parts of
this thesis do not stand alone. They are constituents that interact to fulfill a common purpose. They
transcend individual purpose. My concern is to record the information that surrounds myself
approaching clay in ways I have never experienced before.
It deals with the empirical versus the analytical.
It deals with the objective versus the subjective.
It deals with the fluid versus the restrictive.
It deals with my age.
It deals with my weight.
It deals With my height.
It deals with all of the above in terms of clay.
It deals with foregoing boundaries.
To let go of the idea that perhaps art is not the illustration of ideas.
I have not resolved this, but I have taken a step, by means of approach to abandon this in lieu of the
traditional aspirations I had in the past regarding my work.
I think it is impossible to abandon visibility. One can only significantly alter this convention according
to the degree of one's sensibilities.
I am not concerned with imperatives. I don't say this is how it must be, but rather that this is how it
might be, in this thesis. It is neither correct nor incorrect. It is how it is because it comes from my
understanding instead of yours. D
THESIS
by
SILVIE CLAIRE GRANATELLI
A t h e s i s submitted in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t
o f the r equirements f o r t h e degree
of
MASTER OF.APPLIED ART
in
ART
O
Approved:
Chairman, Examining Committee
____
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H^a'd/f Major Department
Graduate Dfean
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bozeman, Montana
June, 1975
O
STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO COPY
In p re se n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s paper In p a r t i a l
f u l f i l l m e n t o f the
r equi rements f o r an advanced degree a t Montana S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y ,
agr ee t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l
make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r
I
inspection.
I f u r t h e r agree t h a t permission f o r e x t e n s i v e copying o f t h i s t he s i s
f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may b e . g r a n t e d by my major p r o f e s s o r , o r ,
hi s absence, by t he D i r e c t o r o f L i b r a r i e s .
It
is understood t h a t
any copying or p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l
pot be a I lowed. wi thout - my w r i t t e n pe rmi ss ion.
in
ga i n s h al l
IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank my committee, Robert DeWeese,- Gunars S t r a z d i ns and
Mike Peed f o r t h e i r he l p.
I e s p e c i a l l y thank Kim Smith f o r exposing
me to new ways o f l ooking a t a r t .
I want t o thank Dorothy Newton,.
L a rr y Shel by, Tim A t k i n s o n , Martha Igoe and Kei th Hammer f o r t h e i r
suppor t.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My ceramic yvork has always been involved w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l
concerns, d e a l i n g w i t h boundar ies.
My g r aduat e e xp e ri en c e has been
a slow r e j e c t i o n o f the se bounda ri es , an acceptance o f l e t t i n g go
c e r t a i n c o n t r o l s in o r d e r to r e a l i z e t h e , v a r i e d p o s s i b i l i t i e s t h a t
a r e open to one in a r t , in l i f e .
SLIDES
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2.
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' THESIS' STATEMENT
This thesis is a portfolio' that deals 'with putting visible
and mental information together.
do not stand a l o n e .
The parts of this thesis .
They are constituents that interact
to fulfill a' common p u r p o s e .
purpose.
i
T h e y .transcend individual .■
My concern is to record the information that surrounds
myself approaching clay in ways I have never experienced
before.
'
' .
.
'
It deals with the empirical versus the analytical.
'
'
It deals with the objective versus the subjective. .
.
'
It deals with the fluid versus the restrictive. '
.
'.
,
It deals with my age.
.It deals -with my w e i g h t .- - '
It deals W i t h my h e i g h t .
'1
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"
If deals'’w i t h all of the above in terms. of clay.
It deals with foregoing boundaries.
. ■ .
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. •' ■
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To let go of the idea that perhaps art is not the illustration of ideas.
.I have not resolved t h i s ; but I have taken a step, by means I.■ ,
of approach to abandon this, in lieu of the traditional.'
.' ■
I
.
aspirations I had in .the past regarding my work..
I think it is impossible to abandon visibility.
'. .
,
One can
only significantly alter this convention according to the
degree of one's sensibilities. .
I am not concerned w i t h imperatives. - I don't say this is
how it must" be, but rather that this is h ow it might .be,
in this thesis.
It is neither correct nor incorrect.
It-
is h o w it is because it comes from my understanding instead
of y o u r s .
.
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I wanted to maintain twenty-eight successive contacts o f my
weight, 'upon my weight in clay . . .. through my hands.
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When I was sixteen, I played soccer every afternoon after
s c h o o l . ■ I was ranked somewhat of a "star" on my team.
When I was sixteen I was also a very good gymnast and considered..
physical fitness i m p ortant.
Twelve years later, instead of
physical fitness, I a m obsessed with maintaining my weight
at one-hundred fifteen p o u n d s .
,
I. distributed one-hundred fifteen pounds of clay into a
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space that was my height by the width of my outstretched
arms.
manner.
I did a cartwheel accrpss the clay in an.arbitrary,
I recorded the impressions as proof of the action.
I .did this twenty-eight times
(my a g e ) .
As I made contact with the clay in this manner, the room
filled with d u s t .
My body sweated and when I was finished,
I was covered with a film of clay.
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I wanted to actualize an awareness o f 'm y body v o l u m e 'and w e i g h t .
in terms of clay and function.
I wanted to discover the various -volumes I could come up with
b y throwing one-hundred fifteen one pound balls of clay into
cylinders.
.
I wanted to k n o w their volume total.
.
. I wanted to determine how long it would take me to drink
that amount of liquid.
I wanted to compare that volume to m y body volume.
To proceed,
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I divided one-hundred fifteen pounds of clay
■ into one pound balls,
I threw each, into a cylinder.
The constants of the procedure w e r e :
Centering the clay
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Opening the clay
. . .
The first pull
The second pull '
;
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• The-third pull
Straightening the side with a wooden rib
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The variables of the procedure w e r e :
That sometimes I might leave the bottom thicker than other, times.
T h a t sometimes I might pull more clay up on the first pull
than on o t h e r s .
- That sometimes I might tear the clay because I was not being
careful..
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That sometimes there might be a bit of stone or piece of debris'
• in the clay, that would cause the lip to be uneven.
To determine the results,
I, measured the cylinders when they
2
were dry using the formula pi • r
' h = v
(pi times the
radius squared times the height equals the v o l u m e ) . ■
(])
*2a.
Out of one-hundred fifteen possible volumes, there were
twenty-one variations with thirty-eight cubic inches being
the average.
■ The total volume was three-thousand, eight-hundred thirty-two
point five cubic inc h e s .
\
At two-hundred thirty-one cubic inches per gallon,
I determined
that my weight in clay thrown into.one pound cylinders
(these
particular cylinders) will contain sixteen point, six gallons
of liquid.
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■It took me twenty-nine days to drink sixteen point six gallons
of liquid.
T h e volume of m y body as. measured by liquid displacement' is
nine point five gallons, or two-thousand, one-hundred ninetyfour point five cubic i n c h e s . ■
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If I suppose that I can divide my body into cylinders, what
will the' total volume of. my body be?
H o w many pounds of clay will I use to manifest this volume?
What will the percent of shrinkage be?
I set up a chimerical situation;
If my foot is going to be a cylinder, I measure i t ’s length
and then determine some point that seems average to measure
it's diameter.
Using the formula pi
* r^ „ h = v
(pi times
the radius squared times the height e q u a l s ■the vo l u m e ) , I
calculated it's volume.
Using that result as pounds, I
weighed out the poundage
(my foot equals two point two p o u n d s ) ,
and quickly rolled that, amount of clay with my hands to the length,
of my foot (eight i n c h e s ), thus, duplicating my foot as though
it were a cylinder.
I let the clay dry, and measured to
determine it's sh r i n k a g e ..
The total vol u m e of my body, according to this method, is
one-hundred six point seven cubic i n ches.
The total pounds of clay used was sixty— three point six.
The total shrinkage was two p e r c e n t .
While doing these calculations and translating them into clay,
certain things became apparent.
think the process through.
I found it very hard to.
In doing this investigation, I
was forcing myself to work w i t h i n .the confines of a chimerical,,
mathematical structure.
In retrospect, I realize I used
intuitive a s s u m p t i o n s .to deal with analytical data.
resulted in incorrect information.
This
; 'Primitive man based his smaller units of measurement on some
’ part of the human body.
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■ Contemporary man bases measurement on precision standards
■ .that■are maintained in a controlled and secured environment! "
Contemporary man has the.; capability to be absolutely correct
based on his precision .standards, but he is probably not
absolutely.correct since rulers and scales are often:inaccurate
I wanted to make''measuring tools out of clay based on my body,
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to .determine my height.
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-'I used the palm of my hand.
- I used the width-of my knuckle,
I used .the length of my.- foot..
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.While w r i t i n g this, explanation,. I' realized that I h a d based. '
,.the tools .on those parts of 'my body, b u t also oh inches,
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,: .I did this unconsciously i'• This contradicted my -original intent.
In- this case the intuitive assumption was-based on
:'' tutored, intelligence. ■; '...
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W h en I lay next, to each of these lengths of clay, I can easily
" say I am'seventeen palms tall, ^ sixty—seven knuckles tall, dr eight -feet' tall.
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Length A, based on the p a l m of my hand, measures seventy-one
inches.
.Each' unit-is four inches long.
:
L e n g t h l B ,:based on the-width of one knuckle, measures sixtyseven and o n e .fourth inches;
Each unit, is one inch. long.
■Length G, Based on the length of m y -foot;, meas u r e s .sixtythree inches.
Each unit is eight inches long,.. -
I am sixty-seven inches tall.
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I can measure, the surface of.my body mathematically, with
measuring tape and calculus.
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I can measure the surface of my body visually b y looking
in a mirror'.
I wanted to have a contiguous understanding of my b o d y ’s,
frontal surface through tactile experience but with a' cal­
culated result based on that experience.
By placing my hands in various positions I covered the front ■
■ surface of m y body.
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The front of m e is. thirty-nine hands, large (my hands) .
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•I can't know h o w much I weigh by feeling my body..
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■I can't know h o w much I weigh by lifting myself.
I wanted to feel how much I weigh.
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I wanted to lift my weight, carry it and push it around.
Using one-hundred fifteen p o u n d s .of clay, I found:
I could not lift my w e i g h t .
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I could not carry m y weight, • • •
,It was difficult to push my weight around.
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The clay was very wet - too wet to. form into a ball..
When -
I tried- to roll it into a coil that would equal my height'
(sixty-seven.inches), it'would not release itself easily'/
from the cement floor.
After much deliberation, the results' ':
of my actions were that I could not easily manipulate my weight
According to mathematical calculation;.it should be possible.
for me to roll one-hundred fifteen pounds"of clay into a
i re c t a n g l e 'that is exactly sixty-seven inches by-.twenty-four •■■■
;
p o i n t .five inches by one', inch thick.
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(note)
If I spread my volume which is two- ■
- thousand, one-hundred ninety-four point
'■ ■
five cubic inches into a rectangle, the
rectangle would b e sixty-seven inches b y
"
thirty-two point six inches by one inch thick.
'Using a large rolling pin and my b o d y , 'I wanted to see h ow
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■close I could come to these dimensions..
Iq proceed, I tore one-hundred f ifteen'pounds of ..clay.into . sections. ■
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I laid the sections into a space, sixty^seven, inches b y .' .'
twenty-four point five i n c h e s ,
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I pushed the clay together with the rolling.pin until the"
sections were.joined.
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The clay was too stiff, which made it difficult to m a n i p u l a t e .
If it had b e e n slightly wetter it would have moved with m o r e .
ease bn the cement floor. •.
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If I h a d used canvas or dry powdered clay under the one- ■
■hundred fifteen pounds of clay, my endeavor would have been
■e a s i e r .
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■ If I had placed.-one inch thick sticks'along the sides of the
rectangle, I could.have rolled this amount of c l a y c l o s e r ,
to the mathematical possibilities. (One inch thick).
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