Why Artists Should Experiment With Materials

For artists, especially those who are still in the early stages of their careers or artistic practice, it is important to experiment with materials. As you climb the ladder of professionalism in art, it is through experimenting with materials that you are able to find your footing, define your niche and gradually develop your style in the profession.

It is important to experiment because, as an artist, you do not know with certainty which material will bring you to the limelight. You may have read about popular artists who are known for particular mediums or materials. If you go through art history, for example, you hear about artists of the classical era working with materials such as marble and bronze. When you see these works, they can inspire you and make you want to explore the same materials.

But it would be a terrible decision to conclude that because a famous artist produced an outstanding work with a particular material, that material must also be your own path.

Take Michelangelo, for example. His David and Pietà were created in marble. If marble is your most favourable material simply because you admire these works, you may be overlooking the amount of time, resources, knowledge, tools and experience that went into bringing those works to that level.

If you simply decide, “Michelangelo worked with marble, so I am going to work with marble,” you may spend a whole lifetime trying to measure up to something that belongs to another artist’s journey.

That is why you have to explore.

Open Yourself to the Possibilities

The first step for an artist is to open up to the myriad of materials available. One of the things I always enjoy about sculpture is the fact that there is an overabundance of materials for a sculptor to explore, especially when you are developing your personal practice. When you are taking up works that are not commissioned, works that are not meant for clients, you have the liberty to explore your creative license. You can think about almost any material at all and utilize it for sculpture.

It is good for every artist to remain open. Do not ridicule people when you see them exploring certain materials and say, “Is this one art too?”

You have to open yourself. Always be ready to be inspired. Always be observant. Look at the objects and materials around you and consider how they can be employed in your creative practice to become materials through which you express your art.

What Does It Mean to Experiment?

Experimenting is the key word in this topic. To experiment means to try out new ideas, new techniques and new materials in order to see what the results could be. The word experiment is most often employed as a scientific term because scientists involve experiments in order to arrive at their theories and results. Most of the scientific inventions we have today are results of years of experiments.

Experiments are like trials and errors. When someone embarks on an experiment, they do not know exactly what the result will be.

Art is also a science in this sense because artists experiment. When artists set out to create their works, even though they may have mental images of what their works will look like, they do not know eventually what the result will be until they produce those works.

To experiment is therefore to try out ideas in order to see what they look like in reality.

What Are Materials to the Artist?

When we talk about materials, material for an artist is the medium by which you express your creative ability and through which you express your art. That is your material.

A material can be anything that you can manipulate. If you can manipulate sound, it can be a material for artistic expression. If you can manipulate air, it can become a material for your creative expression.

So, materials are not restricted to only those things that we traditionally recognize as art materials. Anything that you can manipulate can become a material for artistic expression.

Start From Your Immediate Environment

One may now wonder: How can artists go about experimenting in order to discover materials and experiment in their practice? It is straightforward.

Like I said before, you have to open yourself up to the idea that anything can become a medium for artistic expression. Once you are able to do that, you have to start from your immediate environment.

If you go through art history, you will discover that art styles are usually determined, to some extent, by the availability and proximity of certain materials to artists in their locality.

Consider the early human being. When you look at the cave paintings at Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France, you discover that the early human being used the materials available around the caves. They used colour pigments from rocks and stones. They used charcoal, animal blood, leaves, natural materials, coloured stones and even materials associated with the caves themselves to create images on the walls.

This was early man exploring materials within his immediate environment. As we move forward in history, when early man discovered iron, he also began exploring it. Some objects were made with bones. The bones of animals were carved into tools for hunting and other forms of implements.

You therefore see that man explores materials within his immediate environment.

Environment and Artistic Practice

If we classify art according to different parts of the world, we can also observe this relationship between environment and material.

In Africa, especially in the West African region, there is a climatic abundance of rainforest. Consequently, there is a large abundance of timber. Many ancient African artworks were therefore done with wood. There are many surviving wood carvings, although a lot of them are not that old because wood does not survive well under damp and hot climatic conditions. The large collection of wood carvings found in Africa is therefore also a consequence of the environment and the abundance of timber.

If you move towards Egypt, you see a different relationship between the environment and artistic materials. Ancient Egyptian artists and builders worked extensively with stones available within the region, including limestone, sandstone, granite, basalt, quartzite and alabaster. Limestone was particularly widespread, while harder stones such as granite and basalt were also used for sculpture and important architectural elements. These materials were used in sculpture, temples, tombs, pyramids and other forms of monumental architecture.

In southeastern Nigeria, there is the famous tradition of Eshié soapstone sculpture. The soapstone sculptures associated with Eshié demonstrate how the availability of a particular material within a region can influence artistic practice.

So, the first step for an artist is to explore the immediate environment. What material is always abundant around you? That is your first call of exploration.

Explore What Others Ignore

Before you start looking out for materials that are difficult to acquire, look at those materials that are ignored but are always abundant around you.

Sometimes there is a large collection of materials that are simply trashed. The thing about exploring material sources for artists is that sometimes it helps you to be productive without spending much. It is economical.

Rather than always going to the market to acquire costly, traditional materials for art production, you can decide to look around you and explore the materials that are more abundant before acquiring those that are not abundant.

This also helps artists to develop in the concept of sustainability. In the contemporary world and in the postmodern art of today, a lot of works are exploring themes of sustainability, upcycling and environmental protection as a result of artists exploring materials that are usually trashed.

This is what you can call waste-material exploration. It is a very good opportunity for artists.

Rather than saying you do not have so much money to produce art, look inwards within your environment. You may not have to go far to explore materials and to experiment.

How Far Can Experimentation Take You?

I will give you an instance of success in material exploration for artists.

If you study the life and works of an artist like El Anatsui, who is one of the most successful international artists from Africa, you will discover that earlier in his career, he was working with the basic traditional materials of artistic expression.

You will see some of his early works in clay and ceramic. He also explored wood. But it was when he ventured into upcycling art, exploring the use of aluminium cans and bottle corks to create what I would call environmental installations, that his work gained the recognition for which he is widely celebrated today.

His ability to experiment with materials took his practice in a new direction. This is how far your ability to experiment can take you.

Start From Where You Are

So, what is the way forward for artists in experimenting with materials?

The way forward is:

Do not wait until you have enough money to create art.

Start from where you are. Start from those materials that are abundant in your environment. Start creating.

Experimentation and Safety

There are, however, challenges in the exploration and experimentation of materials. One of them is hazard and safety concerns.

Because of a lack of knowledge about the nature of certain materials, there is a tendency for artists to expose themselves to hazardous materials. These hazards can come in the form of chemicals or other dangerous conditions.

Artists therefore need to protect themselves when they are working with unknown materials. Observe safety precautions. Wear your goggles. Wear your nose masks where necessary. Protect yourself and understand the nature of the material you are working with.

You have to live to see the result of your work and also to be celebrated.

What Can and Cannot Go Together?

Another challenge in material experimentation is understanding what can go together and what cannot go together. Some materials work well together. Some do not.

It is therefore always good for artists to study and do a little research about the nature of their materials so that they can understand what should go together, especially when they are trying to create a mixed-media work.

As we are talking about sustainability, we are also talking about the durability of the piece. You do not want to create a work that will fail simply because the materials you have combined are not compatible.

There are situations where an artist may intentionally create what we call temporary works—temporary installations, for example, that are meant to last for a specific period of time. But that period has to be well defined and intentional.

Other than that, it is expected that your piece should be durable enough to last and survive under normal conditions.

You therefore have to study your materials and be able to tell what can go together. What are your binding agents? How are you going to do your binding? With which medium are you going to tie the materials? Are you going to weld? It depends on the materials and the kind of work you are producing.

And even when you are welding, make sure you are protected. Make sure that what you are welding does not give off poisonous gases. If it does, protect yourself.

These are safety measures that an artist must engage in in order to make sure that they live to see the result of their work and also to be celebrated.

Conclusion

Experimentation is an important part of the development of an artist. As an artist, you have to remain open to materials, ideas and possibilities. You have to observe your immediate environment and learn to see possibilities where other people may see nothing.

You do not always have to begin with expensive materials. You can start with what is available. You can explore what others ignore. You can explore what others throw away. You can experiment with materials and discover possibilities that may eventually define your artistic practice.

You may not know at the beginning which material will become important to your career. That is why you have to explore.

Experimentation can help you find your footing, define your niche and develop your style.

But as you explore, remember that experimentation also requires knowledge, responsibility and safety.

Explore. Experiment. Observe. Create. And protect yourself while doing it.