“Sculptural Cat”
Low poly Cat Sculpture pet Cat Kit by LPobjects
“Schrödinger’s Cat”
With a potato stacked upon a potato
“Schrödinger’s Cat”
After a bit of skeletal development
“TED Ed Video on Schrödiner’s Cat”
Helps explain with visual and auditory help
~What did you set out to learn about your topic, subject matter, or form through research?~
Since for my “Dewey Decimal” project I selected the secton of philosophy or psychology, I decided to base my project on the infamous thought experiment, Schrödinger’s Cat. I needed more in depth knowledge of the thought experiment and how to properly portray the idea through sculptural or ceramic-like creations. I set out to understand Schrödinger’s Cat, how others may represent the idea in art, and how to accurately convey the idea throughout my artwork. This is what I understood through my research about Schrödinger’s Cat.
The inquisitive and well-known quantum physics thought experiment created by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 can be described as a paradox of itself, as it teases that such an experiment with the size of the subject as large as a cat is incapable of indicting that the state of both “dead and alive” simultaneously can be found above the size of an electron. Imagine concealing a cat in a metal box with a bottle of gas, a geiger counter (a device used to measure radioactivity), a radioactive material, and a hammer. If the geiger counter detected the radioactivity in a matter of an hour, then the hammer would smash the bottle of poison and kill the cat. It was impossible to predict if the cat is dead or alive until someone opens the box and observes the system. Until then, the cat can be said to be in a “superposition” state of being both dead and alive. “Superposition” relating to multiple or double states that electrons are able to be in. Thus, in a philosophical perspective, the cat is both dead and alive until human intervention. Curiosity killed the cat.
Exploring around the subject a bit further, I saw how other enthusiasts convey the idea in art. Most commonly I saw the structure of a cat with a symmetrical and vertical split on itself with half of the cat as a skeleton and the other one with flesh and bones. The cat is both equally dead and alive. A wonderful challenge would it be to portray that in a different perspective and with slightly odd differences. Creating a bit of a skeleton on one side and flesh and fur on the other side.
~Did you gain skill with familiar materials or techniques?~
After having a firm idea of what I wanted to create, I set upon planning on how to make it. Understanding the structure of a sitting cat was key. I explored images to see how the bottom bulged and how the upper-body seemed to elongate up in an almost cylinder-like way. The head and the snout was also formed to not be a complete sphere. I’ve decided to create two spheres by the method of creating a “potato”. In order to create “potatoes”, I created four pinch pots and attached one pinch pot onto another pinch pot. Thus creating two sets of attached pinch pots. The slightly larger one would obviously be the bottom and the other smaller one would stack on top, almost like a snowman. The head was created with one pinch pot and a flat back to close it off and the limbs were just practically sticks with a few adjustments. To furnish it off, I engraved or scraped out bones to emphasize the skeletal part.
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