3D Design : The lost Shoe

Two years ago (well, the summer we got married so... almost 2 years ago) we were driving together, getting on the freeway and heading into.....I think Elk Grove. We had been house sitting for some friends of ours down town and had packed up our car full of what I remember to be as laundry and things from staying at their place. We made it maybe a mile on the freeway to discover that something had just hit our car. "What was that???" Alarms went off in Wes' head (I'm sure there were alarms) and Wes said "My SHOES!" His brand new black, high-top, converse shoes, given to him by his parents, had flown off of the roof of our car. Yes, he did the whole set-your-cup-of-coffee-on-the-roof-of-the-car-and-drive-off-with-it type thing, only, it wasn't coffee. It was his brand new beloved shoes. We took the first exit we could. We drove back to the on-ramp and followed the same route until we thought we saw them. We pulled over (on the freeway) I got out of the car (on the freeway) and walked a while (on the freeway) searching for these shoes. First trip around we found one. We took the exit again, on-ramp again, and stopped a little bit sooner. No second shoe. We drove a little bit further, no second shoe. It was hard to accept that two shoes had flown off the car at the exact same time and landed so far apart. But accept, we did. And we left with only one shoe, and guilt over the gift that was lost because of pure mistake. For one reason or another we kept the shoe. For a long time it sat in the back of the jeep. I think all along we were thinking we would do something creative with it... maybe plant a flower in it or something. Somehow, it moved to Portland with us, and for the last year it has sat outside our backdoor. It is faded from the sun, and sopping wet from the rain (growing mold no doubt, I didn't look inside...) and an opportunity finally presented itself to fulfill it's new purpose: art. For the sake of art the shoe was resurrected and removed from it's spot on the back stairs.

Now, let me explain the art project. My second 3D-Design project was to find a story. A story of a lost object. I was to ask around for items that people had lost, find a story that I liked the best, and recreate that object using wire. The best part is that the assignment isn't complete until we give the sculpture of "the lost object" to the person. I should have kept it a surprise but I didn't. Wes knew I was recreating the lost shoe from the beginning but it was still a lot of fun. When the project was assigned I immediately started thinking about the objects that become useless with out it's partner. For a long while I was stuck on the idea of earrings, because darn-it, I hate losing one earring. But when I remembered the lonely shoe, I couldn't overlook it. So, I set my sights on creating the left foot and that I did:


The project was to explore the use of line in space and how it translates to the viewer. How much can you say about a volume when using something as minimal as a line? I used wire to construct the shoe, paper and tape for the black part, washers for the string holes, and an old shoelace. Pretty fun huh?

We are encouraged to keep in mind the placement of our sculptures. Is it best viewed on a pedestal? On a table? Hanging? With a red background? On the floor? While all of my classmates picked pedestals in the same area, I placed my shoes by the door. No one noticed they were there, and when I told the teacher she was shocked and exclaimed "perfect!!!" when she saw them. Shoes do not belong on a table. You kick them off at the door. This was my first piece of art that was experienced as art should be. It was unpredictable, and shocked people. It should be known that generally when you turn in an assignment that you worked late into the night on, it is viewed for 5-10 minutes and people make comments like "I'm glad you chose black." and "what is the meaning of _______?" And then, it is over. Your hard work was looked at for 10 minutes and then the teacher says "Great, thanks." This time, people were actually engaged in my work and as simple as it was.... wire, tape, paper and a shoe lace. It was a success, and proud I am. :)