Material Movements of Paper as an Artistic Material Report (Assessment)

My material is paper, and in this discussion, I will address the various ways paper movement is experienced artistically. Paper is a material that most individuals do not pay attention to as a material of art. Papers are among the most common items that people interact with in their daily lives. People use paper for writing, reading, drawing, and wrapping other items daily. Individuals encounter papers of different sizes, colors, and textures. Still, they barely think of it artistically, which is why most people dispose of it after they are done using it. In this discussion, I am responding to this material by thinking about the concept of movement with regard to the various movements papers make whenever they come into contact with free air and are subject to human force. The artistic language I am using to respond to this material is dance, and I will examine the various ways in which papers move when subjected to a force. I will document the process of paper movement when free in the air or under human influence.

First, I want to acknowledge the paper movement as an artistic concept. When exposed to the air, papers flap, glide, float, soars, rip, bend, crimples, fold, bend, sway, flutter, scatter, yield, and even fly. Such movements create different patterns which can be analyzed artistically. Understanding movement as an artistic concept enables me to create different impressions for individuals who can observe the various movements that papers make whenever they are exposed to free air (Zhang et al., 2022, p.1208; Jiang, 2022, p. 3). I use paper’s different moves to entertain observers with unique dance patterns. While some moves are spontaneous, others form patterns common in dance that make them unique and interesting. In some cases, paper movements can be controlled in a particular manner, making them achieve desired dance moves based on the direction in which the air is blown. Movements like rising or sinking, shaking, swinging, turning, twisting, and swaying are interesting to watch and can be used to develop artistic dance moves.

In the artistic language of dance, movement is a key component as it enables achieving an effective dance style. With paper, I can achieve all the seven movements of dance, making it qualify as artistic material. The paper motion has the seven movements of dance, which entail plier, entendre, relever, Sauter, tourner, glisser, and elancer. As an artistic material, papers can rise and be made to jump, turn, stretch, rise, dart and glide, making them easy to use artistically. Such movements can be felt, recorded, and observed, making it easy to capture and observe them in an entertainment session (Woodcock, 2022; Litovchenko and Gavrilova, 2020; Li, 2019). Due to this reason, I ascertained that paper is an effective material to be used as an artistic material.

As an artist, I will use paper as a material to attain different movements due to its flexibility. Sometimes I mold, trim, paint, or fold it to attain different shapes that I use in various artistic ways. The shape in which paper is used is determined by the kind of move the artist aims to achieve (Ojala et al., 2018; Sack, 2021). Artists can use small or large papers to attain the desired movement outcomes. In addition, I also mend papers to make different costumes that children can use to showcase different talents in fashion shows or when presenting artistic pieces. Irrespective of how the paper has been used, the processes of developing an artistic impression are numerous, giving room for creativity. Therefore, artists use this feature of paper to develop numerous artistic moves showcasing the usefulness of paper as any other artistic material.

Reference List

Jiang, D. (2022) ‘Matching model of dance movements and music rhythm features using human posture estimation’, Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2022, pp.1-9. doi: 10.1155/2022/7331210

Li, D. (2019) ‘The art of paper tearing with sing man lee’, Art Education, 72(6), pp.46-54. doi: 10.1155/2022/7331210

Ojala, M., Karppinen, S. and Syrjäläinen, E. (2018) ‘Towards making sense of self through emotional experiences in craft art, Craft Research, 9(2), pp.201-227.doi: 10.1386/crre.9.2.201_1

Sack, D. (2021) ‘Footprints: dance on paper by Trisha Brown’, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, 43(3), pp.19-30. doi:10.1080/10509585.2012.694659.

Woodcock, S. (2022) ‘Making the modern artist: culture, class and art-educational opportunities in Romantic Britain’, Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 21(1). doi:10.1111/1754-0208.12815

Zhang, Y., Yu, X. and Cheng, Z. (2022) ‘Research on the application of synthetic polymer materials in contemporary public art’, Polymers, 14(6), p.1208. doi: 10.3390/polym14061208