Foundation students create in three dimensions

Using form to communicate complex ideas

The challenge: create a large three dimensional piece using simple materials and tools (plywood,one color of paint, and a jig saw ) in order to communicate a personal statement.

Every semester for twelve years, every first-year art student at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design has received this challenge in Jeremy Waak’s Foundation 3D Design class.

According to Professor Jeremy Waak, Foundation Department Chair, the goal of the project, the semester’s final project, is to use form alone to communicate by creating tab and slot sculptures to address their subject matter. The class is part of PCA&D’s Foundation curriculum, taken by all BFA students from all majors, during their first year,

Before making the sculptures, students presented a proposal about their subject matter, which then is used to guide their work. On the last day of class for the semester, the student presented their work and critiqued it, discussing the technical elements of the project and their success in communicating their subject matter..

Scenes from the Fall 2017 Semester’s 3D Design class and their tab and slot sculptures: