FLEETING AND FOUND: EPHEMERAL SCULPTURE focuses on creating 3-D art projects that are ephemeral and temporary. Themes of process, lifespan, duration, climate, intervention, entropy, and degradation will be explored. Students are required to complete three art projects, participate in group critiques and discussions, and produce a final portfolio. Readings and discussions on the course topic will augment studio work. Some materials are supplied from reSource but 99% of your project material costs are your responsibility.
SPRING 2026 COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK ONE
Jan. 12 Welcome
Introductions and Course Overview
M12 STUDIO - Research a project and come with 1 question for Wednesday
Jan. 14 5-minute Presentations: tell us about yourself and your interests in art and taking this class
1. Origins - Where you are from or feel most at home geographically or spiritually
2. Contemporary artists you are inspired by - examples of work
3. Your artistic process and interests so far - examples of your past work
4. Why this course? Goals for Semester
Toolboxes, Lockers and Storage Areas. Tool room, Studio orientation.
Weekend: Watch Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art and Cai Guo-Qing: A Firework Ladder
WEEK TWO
Jan. 19 No Class MLK Day
Jan. 21 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Introduction to Project 1
Reading Due: Hans Haacke: The Good Will Umbrella, 1976
A System Is Not Imagined by Jeffery Kastner
Erwin Wurm: Watch an Artist Make a One-Minute Sculpture With a Sweater
Olafur Eliasson on How to Do Good Art by Ned Beauman
WEEK THREE
Jan. 26 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Reading Due: Ends of the Earth and Back by Miwon Kwon,
Hans Haacke Weather or Not,
Lucy Lippard: Land Art in the Rear View Mirror
Discussion / Studio Work Day
Jan. 28 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Studio Work Day
WEEK FOUR
Feb. 2 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
1-page Project Statements Due
Studio Work Day
Feb. 4 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Studio Work Day
WEEK FIVE
Feb. 9 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Process Crits
Studio Work Day
Feb. 11 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Process Crits
Studio Work Day
WEEK SIX
Feb. 16 No Studio / Richard Gone
Feb. 18 Project 1: CLIMATE: Channeling Weather, Environment, Time and Degradation
Studio Work Day
WEEK SEVEN
Feb. 23 Critique Project 1 CLIMATE: Channeling Weather: Environment, Change and Degradation,
Prepare, Print, and Exhibit Project Statements, 300-500 Words
Feb. 25 Critique Project 1 CLIMATE: Channeling Weather: Environment, Change and Degradation,
Prepare, Print, and Exhibit Project Statements, 300-500 Words
WEEK EIGHT
March 2 Reading Due: The Interventionists Toolkit / Part 1 and Readings Due / Discussion:
Writings from the Situationist International by Guy Debord
Gordon Matta Clark's Food (When meals played the muse by Randy Kennedy) Class Derive
March 4 Part 2 / Part 3 by Mimi Zeiger,
How Mining the Museum Changed the Art World by Kerr Houston and How to live, according to Marina Abramović by Elise Bell
WEEK NINE
March 9 Project 2: Spatial and Social Interventions
Studio Work Day
March 11 Project 2: Spatial and Social Interventions
Studio Work Day
WEEK TEN
March 16 Project 2: Spatial and Social Interventions
Studio Work Day
March 18 Critique Project 2: Spatial and Social Intervention
WEEK ELEVEN
March 23 Spring Break - No Class
March 25 Spring Break - No Class
WEEK TWELVE
March 30 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
Readings Due: Contemporary Assemblage: The Art of Found Objects
Going to Pieces in the 21st Century by Laura Hoptman,
The Arte Povera period, Germano Celant ,
Ask the Dust by Massimiliano Gioni, Arte Povera
Self-guided Field Trip: Resource Central — Resource Central 6400 Arapahoe Rd, Boulder, CO 80303
April 1 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
All Section Readings Due / Resource Field Trip Due
Lecture: Sculptural Assemblage / Readings Discussion
WEEK THIRTEEN
April 3 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
Due: Resource Materials Survey, Drawings
April 8 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
Due: All Materials for Final Project in the Studio
Studio Work Day
WEEK FOURTEEN
April 13 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
Studio Work Day
April 15 Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
Studio Work Day
WEEK FIFTEEN
April 20 Critique Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
April 22 Critique Project 3: Sculptural Assemblage
WEEK SIXTEEN
April 27 Final Portfolios Due by 5PM