ARMIN CSIZMADIA

My work explores the expressionism of aesthetics, 
stories, and atmospheres that inspire me. I specialize in printmaking, often blending digital planning in Photoshop with traditional mediums like charcoal, graphite, and paint. I’m particularly drawn to the unexpected outcomes of printmaking, which align with my expressive style.

I am passionate about the intersection of science and art, particularly the fusion of psychology and neuroscience with creative practice. Recently, I’ve begun creating multisensory pieces that combine visuals with scent, a direction I aim to pursue further.




Documentation

semester 1 (S1)
- PROJECT RAZZMATAZZ, 

- WOODWORK SOUND INSTALLATION

- THOUGHTS AS CLOUDS, CLOUDS AS THOUGHTS 

- THOUGHTS AS CLOUDS, CLOUDS AS THOUGHTS AV

- OH YOUR POOR EAR 


Semester 2 (S2)
- SHAMANS RESEARCH

- SHAMANS EXHIBITION WORK
S1 Research

S1 Assessment

OH YOUR POOR EAR- 3D induction

“oh your poor ear ” was intended to be my first small project that connects art with psychology  through a topic related to habits and addiction, which is  executed through a conceptualist approach and style. 

Before our lecture on ‘Ideas’ and my 3D induction, I had to make plans about my ideas that I would like to do with 3d elements. For weeks I couldn’t figure out anything that interested me, and my ideas seemed banal and uninteresting. However on the day of the induction, one hour before the session, another weird idea came from thinking about the habit of fidgeting with my ear. This idea was that I am habitually fidgeting with the outer part of my ear as a coping mechanism or stress, and I cannot stop this since I am 8 years old despite my grandma always telling me that I will develop a cauliflower ear, like the MME fighters. 
A week into university, I started realising and becoming more conscious of me doing this with my ear, however the habit is so deeply internalised in me that I found it difficult to stop which I experienced both as annoying but interesting at the same time. 

The idea to make a physical project around this came about as a psychological strategy to stop the habit, and to become more aware of it. I heard the saying “possess the problem to overcome it” from the film “Ruben Brandt Collector” in which Ruben Brandt the art therapist treats his patients via this ideology. 

I fist wanted to create an ear out of silicone that I could use as a fidget toy instead of my own ear, however I soon started to think about making a whole sculpture, perhaps an automated, moving sculpture out of this. At the meantime, I our lecture on ideas was really influential to me, as it reinforced the idea that the best projects often come out of the most banal ideas. And besides that, I liked the approach I took in this project, which is to just take an idea I am thinking about and do it without much thought.

Photo 1: Illustration of the first plans. The hands and fingers on the ear are ideas that I should create a silicone ear that an automated finger moving up and down is connected to, creating a moving, fidgeting look for the ear.




After that, I started working on the ear. On our first induction I took some clay and started remaking my own ear in clay. I did this by constantly feeling for my ear, and shaping the clay in the same way. At the meantime I was constantly checking if it looked similar. At the end I made a complete refined version of my own ear out of clay. After a day of waiting for it to dry it was ready to cast it and create a mold out of it. 




On the next day, the ear was ready to be casted, therefore I created a clay shape where I could pour silicone around my clay ear. I poured it in one go with the idea that I sill cut into the silicone, take the remains of the clay ear from the silicone, then pour silicone or latex into it. 




After taking the mold out, I first went with the idea of a blue latex ear. I chose blue for creating an alien, or medical feeling which conveys the psychological/ medical perspective reflecting on the weird, habitual nature of the project. 
However there was a problem with latex, which is that it dries to air contact, therefore even after several days I only had a single layer of thin blue latex on the top while the rest was still liquid. I tried this several times even without the colouring as I thought there might have been a chemical reaction that interfered with the drying process, but it did not work. 




For this reason from here I went with making the ear out of blue silicone. I sprayed the mould with silicone spray so the silicone I pour in will not stick to the wall of the mould. The problem with this, is that due to the paint there was indeed a chemical reaction, and my silicone ear completely stuck to the side of the mould. It fused with the mould. 
I could only take it out by cutting it out, which destroyed the mould, while the ear didn’t come out in a good shape either. It was all ripped and destructed on some parts. 


Ripped blue ear from failed rescue. Interestingly it looks like a dead ear of a frozen body due to the blue colour and white remains of the mould. The ripped parts may be showing the outcome of my habit, which is an overstatement but a deterrent illustration of a fear. The fingers and white ear are later made casts.



In attempt to make a healthy looking ear, I attempted to correct mistakes on the blue ear with clay, then make another cast of the ear. I made the cast out of Alginate as it dries fast, and I did not want to use the mould again. After this I wanted to cast an ear out of Jesmonite which I could then sand into shape, so it’s a faster process than sculpting another ear out of clay.  
On the Jesmonite cast, I carved and sanded mot bits down, however some areas were too thin and broke off, so I corrected them with clay and waited a day for it to dry so I can cast it in silicone again. 




At the meantime I started working on the fingers, which’s making process was a debate. I am a big fan of mastering my craft and hand making every single part of my work. I was also rejecting ready made artworks because I did not see the work process in it. However at the meantime I started reading the book ‘Self construction’ which primarily focused on conceptualist pieces of work and artists, and I developed a liking to the technique. Therefore I thought if I make this work conceptualist, I might aswell go with ready made elements, therefore I used my hands for creating the mould for jasmanite. I put my hand into alginate, then pulled it out and poured Jesmanite into it which I coloured crimson so it also looks unordinary and alien, while is in contrast with the blue. This was to draw equal attention to both. After reflection on it, I realised that if I mix this with the blue ears, the ears may look dead and the fingers may look blood shot, or like skin with heavy vasodilation. It’s the look when your fingers are very red after being in the cold for a lot. The overall composition has a ‘frozen, dead body’ effect which is interesting when denoting the artwork. ‘doing the habit until death, even when your fingers and ear cant even feel it anymore’. My ideas about the project became quite dramatic and catastrophic which is really interesting considering that I started it only to play with the idea. 




Then with Alginate I made casts for each of the new ears I wanted to make. I used uncoloured silicone this time. To make realistic ears and avoid any chemical reaction.




The final outcome of the ear was interesting. I ended up using algenate for the sylicone molds too which was quite fragile. Therefore, each of the ears came out differently, each having their own unique deffects. The best ear was still the blue silicone one, as these pink ones were too thick, so in the future I will make some more ears out of clay and cast them, but using vaseline instead of mould release.