Bradley Borthwick: Measure, Material and Process

Measure, Material, and Process, taught by Bradley Borthwick, was a studio course designed to expose the student to specific methods of measure and fabrication within a formal sculptural process. The course was developed upon a core consideration of site, from which the student researched, designed, and created both the sculptural model and the work of art.

The student was assigned one of three sites selected within the Cornell campus. Site was the initial consideration in the sculptural process, involving analysis, measure, and spatial study. The site informed the conceptual and physical development of the student’s sculpture; the hand tool directed fabrication of the sculpture. The sculptures themselves were documented in-situ.

The student initially developed an individual system of measure, where more recent conventions of either Imperial or Metric measure are dismissed. With the individual measure, each student created (i.e. research, draw, design, make) a hand tool. In response to the hand tool, the student then designed and fabricated a tool “case” that provides storage, protection, and transportation for the tool.