Text
Space-Time, 23/01/20
Acoustic Feedback
"Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback, or the Larsen effect) is a special kind of positive loop gain which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for example, a power amplified loudspeaker). In this example, a signal received by the microphone is amplified and passed out of the loudspeaker. The sound from the loudspeaker can then be received by the microphone again, amplified further, and then passed out through the loudspeaker again. The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by resonance frequencies in the microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the directional pick-up and emission patterns of the microphone and loudspeaker, and the distance between them. For small PA systems the sound is readily recognized as a loud squeal or screech. The principles of audio feedback were first discovered by Danish scientist Søren Absalon Larsen, hence the name "Larsen Effect"." (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_feedback)
I was interested to understand the mechanics behind why feedback arises, so that I can know how I may be able to alter and manipulate the phenomenon, and this Wikipedia excerpt helpfully explains what I now know to be the Larsen Effect. Each phone is amplifying the sound from the other, causing the audio to become louder and of a higher frequency (until it reaches some form of equilibrium determined by the factors discussed above, at which point the frequency becomes constant, and only the amplitude increases), an example of a positive feedback mechanism. In my experiments I will play around (where I can) with the factors the text discussed. 8
Image
Text
Space-Time, 21/01/20
Dan Flaving, 'Untitled', 1970
"His illuminated sculptures offer a rigorous formal and conceptual investigation of space and light, wherein the artist arranged commercial fluorescent bulbs into differing geometric compositions. “I like art as thought better than art as work,” he once said. “I've always maintained this. It's important to me that I don't get my hands dirty. It's not because I'm instinctively lazy. It's a declaration: art is thought.” Born on April 1, 1933 in Jamaica, NY, Flavin showed an interest in art during his early adulthood, and went on to study at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts before attending Columbia University. Working exclusively with fluorescent lights by 1961, he embraced the temporary nature of his art—which often shattered or blew out—and was happy to replace parts of his works as needed. His dedication to simple forms, use of industrial materials, and symbolic meaning allied his practice to the work of both Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt." (http://www.artnet.com/artists/dan-flavin/)
I think what strikes me the most about Flaving's work is just how controlled and regimented the arrangements of the lights are, giving him the power to conduct the investigations mentioned above. It is almost scientific how he is examining the phenomenon of light, understanding it, so that he can manipulate it to fit his own means, creating these not only very incredibly aesthetically pleasing works, but that are also very interesting to consider symbolically- this one, for instance, divides the room, initiating a control over it. This hints at the level of domination light has in our lives, perhaps now even more applicable due to light's inextricable link to technology.
With the path I am wanting to follow, it would be wise for me to really apply elements of Flaving's methodology (in terms of thouroughness) to the phenomenon I am inerested in (the feedback loops caused by phones in close proximity). It would also do me well to understand why these loops occur and why they get louder each time.
Text
Space-Time, 20/01/20
Benedict Drew, 'KAPUT', 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgFTUDLYJrg&feature=emb_logo (a video about the artist and his work, from which the quote below originates)
"I’m interested in expanded cinema, I’m interested in how the image can escape the screen and perhaps that its all kind of come out of the screen, it’s all kind of oozed out of the screen, and that the sculptures emerged from the screen into space."
I was instantly captivated when I first saw Drew's work due to the hallucinatory and day-dream like quality it possesses. The forms he uses emanate from the virtual into the physical and I think this is a really interesting way of approaching sculpture in the modern day. We are so engrossed in technology that is seems only logical to create sculptures that highlight how we are becoming influenced by it and connected to it more and more each day. Furthermore, these installations are grotesque and alien, seemingly corrupted by a neon disease, and so they feel like a warning for the future, prophesising humanity's doom via the slabs of metal, glass and plastic in our pockets.
This work in particular reminds me of when you see the human nervous system exposed on a table, with miles of nerves branching off in all directions, the root forming from the screen with some form of brain-like amorphous blob. And yet similarly, they appear like wires all jumbled up and spread across the floor, demonstrating how assimilated we already are with technology- in fact, it is on closer observation that I realise there is in fact a body amongst the mess, being consumed by the neon growths. Perhaps it is interesting to consider then how we may have initially subconsciously created technology in our image (I say initially for now we are using the brain as inspiration to design and build computers), and if I may link this back to a religious concept, does this make us gods? Or has our arrogance deluded ourselves into thinking we are gods, but in fact we worship technology as much as any other old god (I reference 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman here)?
These are all incredibly rich and interesting themes, and, depending on how the next few days go, I might investigate this line of thought further.
Text
Room- 11/01/20
Sarah Selby, 'Raised by Google', @ arebyte
Hmmm... Oh boy. I think before I express my feelings on this exhibition, I should say that it's a great concept, and if it had the right resources, could be really effective. But... it wasn't. It consisted of this room with two doors that you had to take a Tinder-style test beforehand to decide which one you go through (I did like that bit to be fair). Then when you enter, you get taken through different doors into new rooms where there were supposedly activities to do (but not all the rooms did- I was on a path that basically did nothing). After 2 rooms, it ended, I left feeling like nothing really happened (there was this screen shown above which initially I thought was a break down of me, but it didn't change when my boyfriend came out, so that was disappointing too. If it had more rooms and more things to actually do in those rooms then I'm sure it would be a whole lot better, but it was a big let down.
Obviously as part of this process I need to learn something from the exhibition, so here is the lesson I gathered from this work: don't bite off more than you can chew. Work with what you have got until you have the resources to create these grand installations, otherwise they're just gonna flop.
Text
Room - Visit to '24/7' @ Somerset House
Biome Collective & Joseph DeLappe, 'Killbox', 2015-2016
This is a very interesting and thought-provoking piece, and although it doesn't link as easily to room as others might, I think it still deserves discussion- afterall, it inhabits a room by itself and so dominates and alters it in that respect. The work is composed of two games played on two computers (the games flip between screens at the end of each game). The first is one where you explore this colourful and simplified landscape, just wandering around and interacting with the space. The second is an aerial view of this scene, as if you were watching it from a drone. You are taken through instructions in the latter, resulting with you targeting the character in the former with a drone strike (and killing it). These games are based off a real-life drone strike in Pakistan, and the moment you learn that (for I learned it after I played it), the childish facade that had been built around this situation shatters. Instantly it brings to light the trivialisation of war and violence in the media, whether it be in games or in the news (this can cover a whole range of factors, whether it be inaccurate/ insincere/ biased reporting or deciding not to be discussing the major issues in the world right now, which happens constantly). We have become so apathetic to violence that doesn't affect us (I believe it's entirely possible, if not likely, this has roots in racism- i.e. the notion of the 'other', allowing people to distance themselves from tragedy), and this piece of work really brings this to light.
I feel it is the interactive element that makes this piece of work so effective, and I want to carry that aspect into my work. I want to wrap the railings in the nets so that people are forced to touch them. I want to have the nets crawling under different spaces to get people to follow them and look at them. I want people to feel trapped, and that's not going to be achievable unless I make this interactive.
Text
Room- Exhibition Visit
Ben Cohen 'SOMETHING THAT ISN'T' @ the FOLD gallery: 'the point is: if it sounds like bacon you're doing it right', 2014
This exhibition was recommended to me due to my investigations into how changes, based on an architectural feature of a room, can affect how a space is perceived. I found this piece particularly interesting due to how it played with the light and cast lovely shadows behind it, giving it an eerie depth and ghostly quality. Considering how in the press release above it is explained that all of these objects are based off a dead man's home, and combined with the pale, pastel colours used (as well as translucency in other works), it enhances the haunting nature of these works. Hence when all these pieces are combined, in an underground space no less, as if we have been buried with them, there is a powerful sense of discomfort, certainly not helped by the bright white lights. This discomfort is very similar to what I want to achieve with my piece of work, although perhaps in a slightly less noticeable manner. I want my nets to be more like memories, blending into their surroundings, and influencing the space in a vicarious manner, but I definitely need to do more investigations to be able to achieve this.
Text
Room- Reading, 08/12/19
Above is 'The City As Sculpture' by Jeremy Melvin (Melvin, J., The City as Sculpture; The Architectural review, 2002) which "records the proceedings of the Royal Academy Architecture Forum" (from the text). It explores the similarities and differences between architecture and sculpture, assessing as to whether we can truly draw a distinction between the two. Personally, I feel there can be a difference in approach which can differentiate the two (architecture tends to focus on aesthetics and ergonomics, whereas sculpture is more about a concept). That being said, it is perfectly possible to make a building from a concept, which much of modern architecture does anyway, and so under these conditions, I do believe buildings can be sculpture. I also enjoy the concept proposed by Phyllida Barlow that when you view a city from afar, it becomes a sculptural object- it is all just dependent on perspective. On a similar note, I felt this text related to many of the themes in Elimination of Recognizable Form, particularly how repetition of everyday objects can transform them into sculptures (see Tara Donovan below). Hence the idea of the city as a collective appeals to me if we were to consider it a sculpture.
Text
Contextual Practice/ Room- Lecture, 04/12/19
Robert Smithson, 'Partially Buried Woodshed', 1970
"Robert Smithson made Partially Buried Woodshed in the grounds of Kent State University, Ohio, in January 1970. The American conceptual artist had been invited to the university for a one-week residency and, while there, created this work with the help of students. The work consisted of an old woodshed that was partially buried on one side by twenty truckloads of earth, piled around and onto the structure until its central roof beam cracked. Smithson intended the shed to break up slowly under the weight of the earth, and vegetation to grow over the mound; and he wanted the university to take appropriate care of the artwork and the surrounding site until this process had run its course. He once said he hoped the piece would not only go on to decay but also would acquire ‘its own history’. Partially Buried Woodshed would have continued on its slow path of collapse without much further publicity but for a tragic incident. On 30 April President Nixon, who had been elected on the promise of reducing America’s involvement in the Vietnam war, announced on national television and radio that American troops would attack Viet Cong bases in Cambodia, a country that had been ostensibly neutral throughout the conflict. During a student protest on 4 May at Kent State University, National Guard soldiers fired on unarmed students. Sixty-seven bullets were discharged in thirteen seconds, killing four and wounding nine. The Kent State shootings, as they became known, sparked a round of student strikes and demonstrations, both violent and non-violent, across the nation, and dramatically helped shift public opinion against the continuation of the war in Vietnam. Shortly afterwards the words ‘MAY 4 KENT 70’ were painted onto the woodshed in bold white letters. Suddenly, the work became an unofficial memorial to the event, much visited by students. Some saw Smithson’s artwork as expressive of a malaise within American political society, the envisaged cracking of the roof beam by the overwhelming force of gravity serving as a metaphor for the breaking of the political system. In later years the question of what to do with the artwork became a topic of often heated controversy. Planning to redevelop the area and create a new major public entrance near to the woodshed, the university found the work and its unofficial memorialisation of the shooting embarrassing, but others defended the right of Smithson’s increasingly famous work to remain untouched, no matter how unsightly it became. In 1982 the woodshed’s central beam finally broke, and from time to time groundsmen cleared up and took away loose timbers. By early 1984 someone – it is not known who or by whose order – cleared the site completely, removing all the remaining timber and leaving only the concrete foundation of two of the shed’s walls. One of the few examples of land art by Smithson in the US had been lost, almost casually. Some felt that the piece was intended to disappear eventually, but others regretted the loss of a work that had acquired, as Smithson had hoped, a special significance or history." (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-smithson-4541/lost-art-robert-smithson)
Before the political significance of this work is considered, there is a significant energy to this piece, with the weight of the earth bearing down on the shed, pushing and pushing until it cracks. Hence there is a sense of the inevitable to this work- eventually everything breaks, everything dies, and this work brings these ideas to the forefront at a time when capitalism was moving into full swing and people may have been forgetting that. In fact, the work is still very applicable to today, especially in the environmental context: you have man-made buildings fighting with nature, but nature inevitably wins and takes over the shed, perhaps a warning to our abuse of the planet.
I really like the symbolism of these piece demonstrating how the political system is straining under the weight of a more enlightened populace- people are coming to realise the corruption and falsities within governmental systems, and rightly tackling it. I particularly enjoy how it is earth that is weighing down on the shed- if it were concrete, for example, it wouldn't have the same effect, because there is a purity to mud due to its inherent natural qualities. It reinforces how challenging the political system is the right thing to do. And yet, all of this was completely accidental. If the work was in a different time or place, it would have no way near as much significance as it does, and for me this illustrates how you should never disregard "failures" or accidents. I am certainly going to be taking lessons from this and applying it to my own work, for instance by taking advantage of the roughness of my nets, using their 'rustic' qualities to my own advantage.
Text
Room: Mini-Lecture, 03/12/19
The Drawings of Rachel Whiteread
"For Whiteread's drawings, which have never been shown in depth before, are not preliminary sketches but works of art in themselves and frequently more subtle and beautiful than the sculptures. They show not just how she views the humble objects that furnish her mind, but how the artist actually thinks." (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/sep/12/rachel-whiteread-tate-review, an article about the exhibition of her drawings at the Tate Britain in 2010)
"The drawings are very much part of my thinking process. They're not studies necessarily, I use them as a way of worrying through a particular aspect of the something that I'm doing" (https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/rachel-whiteread-drawings, a video interview with Whiteread about her drawings)
Both these sources help to illustrate how drawing for sculptors like Whiteread is part of their process of developing and working through ideas, and hence how valuable it is as part of your practice. I also like the idea that they are works in themselves, giving them artistic value (and hence monetary value- as with Christo, drawings can be sold to build funds for full on sculptural work). I am certainly going to be incorporating more drawing into my developmental, however this style of drawing, measured out and on graph paper, feels very technical to me, and I would only want to do drawings like this if absolutely necessary (what can I say, I'm a free spirit :D).
Text
Contextual Practice- Reading
Above is an excerpt from 'Stigmata' by Helen Cixous (Cixous H., (2005) Stigmata (1st edition) p. 20 - 23), a text that explores the value of failure. I particularly enjoyed the notion that our lives are a drawing- we are constantly building on the mistake we made in the past, working over them and turning them into masterpieces. This is a mentality I would like to carry through into the work I create and see what I can learn from my "failures".
Text
Room, Lecture, 02/12/19
Richard Serra, 'Castings', 1969
"Speaking of his early practice, Richard Serra makes a succinct claim: “This is this. This is not that.” His works from the mid to late 1960s were intended to express the actions of “process.” In so doing, they demonstrate the deployment of basic procedures that activate the primary qualities of media derived from construction and industrial fabrication, such as fiberglass and vulcanized rubber. Produced from molten lead, the works known as “splashings” or “castings” (or sometimes both) are chief examples of this category of work. Indeed, in their case, the role of process is deepened by the passage of the lead medium—during the on-site production of a given work—from liquid to solid, a material transformation. A splash/cast piece is self-evident, an exposed manifestation of matter plus process—Serra’s non-symbolic this. Process, in turn, implicates change, a temporal register. Given these conditions of medium and change, can we further say that a work’s material and conceptual terms bear meaningful relevance to its eventual fate? One fact is salient, if generally ignored: Serra’s early works from molten lead no longer exist... A splash/cast piece is a compound entity that collapses rather than dislocates its temporal and spatial coordinates by using medium to seize site. To the key factors of raw material and room space we can add that of the bodily sensation of the perceiving subject or beholder, for whom the actuality of location is consolidated and redoubled rather than (as with the non-site) distributed across time and space. As a deposit, the molten lead both marks and fills the juncture of wall and floor, becoming a seam that joins event to object and object to room. As a materialist, Serra shares certain concerns with other artists, including Smithson and Carl Andre (who actually imagined showing his work according to a progression of media based on the order of the periodic table). Yet for Serra the forming properties of a given medium were of paramount significance to the work’s critical relation to the history of sculpture. Serra’s repeated application of molten lead over the course of a year or so represents an extended practice. By exploiting the material nature of the lead medium in a sequence of closely related works, he established an unprecedented syntax for sculpture as form, one in which form addresses itself to—even inheres in—the topography of the room as container, a province of actual space."
As this text describes, not only has the piece captured the shape of the room it was created in, but the process that happened in it. It tells a story of the events that happened here: the transformation and the shaping, all contained within a certain space. Hence the physical shape isn't so relevant because it is only a factor of the wider picture- in other words, the fact it forms a corner is only symbolic of the process and the energy behind it. Hence these pieces retain such an energy and a passion. Furthermore, by arranging them in lines on the floor, he corrupts the memory of the space within them. He has rearranged the space, changing the nature of the room, turning it into a row of corners. It is also interesting to consider that although incredibly energetic pieces, they are very contained and relatively small (in comparison to the room). This illustrates the power that making small changes to a room can do, and it is something I want to harness. I want to alter the perception of a space just enough so that it causes unease and discomfort, and transforming a material in a space so that the space become intrinsic in its existence is something I would really like to explore.
Text
Room- Lecture, 02/12/19
Bruce Nauman, 'Green Light Corridor', 1970
"Bruce Nauman defies the traditional notion that an artist should have one signature style and a visually unified oeuvre. Since the mid-1960s the artist has created an open-ended body of work that includes fiberglass sculptures, abstract body casts, performances, films, neon wall reliefs, interactive environments, videos, and motorized carousels displaying cast-aluminium animal carcasses. If anything links such diverse endeavours, it is Nauman’s insistence that aesthetic experience supersedes the actual object in importance. Perception itself—the viewer’s encounter with his or her body and mind in relation to the art object—can be interpreted as the subject matter of Nauman’s work. Using puns, claustrophobic passageways with surveillance cameras, and videotaped recitations of bad jokes, he has created situations that are physically or intellectually disorienting, forcing viewers to confront their own experiential thresholds."
The notion of art that puts people through an ordeal has always appealed to me- it forces people to experience something you might be feeling and can lead to the strongest emotional reaction. This work acts as inspiration in a way for that idea due to the exertion it causes. The tightness of the corridor pushes you up against the walls, and creating severe discomfort, even more so for those with claustrophobia. It forces you to consider how you exist within this space- if you are too overweight, you wouldn't be able to fit for instance, and so that may lead to questions around how you perceive yourself and other body confidence issues. But accessibility is an interesting one, as someone in a wheelchair wouldn't be able to partake in this activity. Hence you have to wonder whether Nauman is "correct" in a sense, to make people quesion themselves, when often these factors cannot be controlled. Yet perhaps this is a comment on the accessibility of art, and how it needs to be challenged. There are lots of ways of looking at this, but I think the most important take away is that it forces you to consider your place in a certain space, especially in an art context.
The neon green colour is also an interesting ting to consider- it is very potent and sickening, and so could be playing on those sort of themes, to heighten discomfort. Yet this is a similar sort of green used in traffic lights/ crossings, suggesting the piece is encouraging you to move forward- in a way, as well as pushing you on the sides, it is pushing you forwards, pressuring you to do what it wants. That is the dominance of space in our lives, and this piece forces you to realise it.
Text
Sculptural Condition/ Room: Exhibition Visit
Doug Aitken, 'New Era', 2018, in 'Transformer: A Rebirth of Wonder' at 180 the Strand
This was very cleverly done- it took me a good while before I realised that the space was no way near as big as it looks, instead mirrors have been used to deceive me into perceiving depth. I feel the light element is crucial here too- the darkness greatly aides the illusion. But then you have these pillars of screens, reminding me of Piccadilly Circus, showing videos of roads and journeys, and so you are swept away by the enormity of it all, leaving you feeling very empty, very small and rather confused in this kaleidoscopic dystopian nightmare scene. As the text above discusses, it is clearly about how technology and the desire for progress has taken over our lives, but the fact that it is part of an exhibition in a basement suggests that all these things are repressed ideas that we refuse to accept, including how dominant tech is in our lives.
This is a piece about humanity, but the only human aspect in its physical state is those who enter and become dwarfed by it all. In this way, humans are being made redundant, and they gradually lose their form (i.e. what distinguishes them from being human) as it becomes absorbed by technology. This is a really interesting perspective to ERF, and would be one I would investigate if I had the opportunity to do so again.
Above is the excerpt from the press release for this piece which I have annotated.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Recommended Artist
Roman Signer, 'Bidon Bleu (Blue Can)', 2012
"Swiss artist Roman Signer has been redefining sculpture for more than 40 years and is now regarded as one of the finest representatives of Process and Conceptual art. He produces elementary dynamic sculptures and installations, also known as time sculptures for their preoccupation with the transformation of materials and objects through time. In his actions, acceleration and change are part of the creative process and he uses photography and moving image to document his work. Characterized by processes and potentialities, his work takes into account the concepts of Minimalism and Conceptualism, and with this Signer occupies a unique position in the recent history of sculpture. Signer exploits the possible uses and limitations of everyday objects, such as umbrellas, bottles, tables, chairs and candles, through a process guided by both curiosity and discipline. Like the director of a thriller, he makes use of tension and surprise – with the distinction that in his case everything takes place in the here and now. The works are the direct result of processes initiated by the artist.
Signer’s work explores the relationships between sudden energy releases and calm, between order and chaos, and the existence of form in the apparently formless. Physical forces like gravitation and motor energies are both a challenge to the artist and the instruments he relies on to realize his sculptural ideas. In his work, classical sculptural materials have been usurped by sand, water and ordinary objects. Meticulous planning and incalculable chance interact, generating ‘poetic’ visual installations with their own highly developed individual aesthetic. Signer’s artistic explorations of the world around us and its phenomena changes our perceptions and even seems to alter reality. Often the mere indication of a sudden or possible release of energy is enough to transmogrify a simple configuration of objects – a movable wooden arm and a rocket – into a wittily succinct visual commentary on the relationship between cause and effect." (https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/2805-roman-signer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2bOylwKRwA - an interview with the artist
As both the text and video above show, energy is central to all of Signer's work. He constructs pieces which exist to highlight this energy through their dynamism, and so become formless in a way. With this work, the barrel (filled with water) is rolled from the top of this massive slope constructed by the artist down to the bottom where it collides with a thick concrete wall, suddenly exploding, then suddenly going quiet. This contrast between the high-energy, quickly falling barrel and the sudden silence afterwards generates a tension between the piece and the observer: they become entranced. Hence it plays on the carnal human desire for chaos and destruction, and although quite Minimalist in form, has a very strong link to humans and our complicated minds.
There are a number of ways I could relate my work to Signer's- I am focusing on energy, my work plays on principles in physics such as entropy, there is a certain lack of control over the piece, etc, but I am most drawn to the "transformation of materials through time" (from the text above). Time is vital to Signer's work, as in each instance of the piece's existence is different from the last. By working with bubbles and foam, I am also exploring this concept, as they and the form are constantly changing, birthing and dying in a constant cycle, and I really like this turn of phrase.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 21/11/19
Tara Donovan, 'Untitled (Mylar)', 2009
"'Untitled (Mylar) is a large, multipart abstract sculpture that appears to mimic the organic form of a meteor, molecule, or planetary constellation. Donovan developed the sculpture using her signature accumulative process found in many of her drawings and sculptures. For this work, multiple studio assistants rolled flat circles of Mylar into three-dimensional cones and then combined them into variously sized spheres that they clustered together. Like many of Donovan’s works, this sculpture transforms a common industrially produced material—Mylar—into a surprising form that evokes forms and materials found in nature." (http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/54604/)
As desccribed above, one of the key ways this has become formless is by mimicking natural forms. These are the most dynamic shapes and are the hardest to descibe, although still have a certain form= for instance, this is a collection of spheres. What gives it its formlessness, I believe, is how the material, which has a recognisable, everyday form, has been broken down into a new shape and repeated, used in a new way, giving the material a formlessness instead of the overall structure. I intend to use repetition also, although perhaps in a slightly different way. My current train of thought is by me creating loads of bubbles so that they become a dynamic and formless structure,
I think this piece also demonstrates how visual illusions can create a infinitely formless structure: the Mylar give each of these spheres a depth, making them seem like they go on forever, so perhaps playing around with reflections is another way to go.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Wider Reading, 21/11/19
Above is the annotated text from https://aphelis.net/georges-bataille-linforme-formless-1929/ , which has analysis for "Formless" by Georges Bataille, Documents 1, Paris, 1929, p.382. Initially I was clueless about the Elimination of Recognisable Form, but this helped me to understand the notion of formlessness. It's discussion of concepts in physics helped me associate the two ways anything exists in our Universe (matter and energy) and the notions of form and formlessness, i.e. matter has and gives form, and energy is formless. Of course, the two are interchangeable at the quantum level, but as one changes into the other, it respectively gains or loses form. Hence this is how I am going to approach this project: creating something that relies on the principles of energy, something that is fluid and dynamic, for then it will have no form.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 18/11/19
Joseph Beuys, 'Homogenous Infiltration for Piano', 1966
There is something very eerie about this piece. A piano, an object renowned for making noise and bringing joy, has been smothered in this muted grey blanket, which could suggest comfort, but the red cross stitched onto the felt brings more to mind of a body bag. The potential for noise making has been eliminated, and this makes this work feel even quieter. It is remarkable what smothering an object has done to it- its purpose has been eradicated, but not with violence or destruction, no, with softness and comfort. Hence, this juxtaposition gives rise to a feeling of discomfort, as there is something about it that just feels wrong.
As described on https://www.muhka.be/collections/artworks/i/item/16870-infiltration-homogen-fur-konzertflugel :
"This work originated during the action Infiltration Homogen für Konzertflügel, der größte Komponist der Gegenwart ist das Contergankind, performed by Joseph Beuys in 1966 during a Fluxus festival at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. With his action, Beuys wanted to highlight the pharmaceutical scandal surrounding thalidomide, a drug that caused serious birth defects in children whose mother took it during pregnancy. Beuys silences a grand piano by coating it with felt. The work seeks to indicate the danger that occurs when we remain silent. Infiltration Homogen für Konzertflügel was exhibited at Wide White Space in 1970. "
The ominous nature of the piece alludes to death and of something forgotten. Whilst it may just be based on the thalidomide scandal, I believe this work has wider implications about politics and justice. If you do not fight, then you will be silenced. Even people and things as majestic as a grande piano can be silenced and made to look like it is a loving embrace, so we always need to take a stand when something is wrong, or it will be swept under the rug (in much the same way the piano has been).
Another piece of analysis I liked is from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/mar/05/joseph-beuys-homogeneous-infiltration :
"As far as he was concerned his life and his work were indistinguishable, both packed full of symbolism. None of which I knew when I first saw Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano, which meant that my initial reaction and thoughts were unfettered. My first response was to laugh – it's totally daft to cover a piano in felt. Plus, the loose way that the felt has been attached to the legs made it look like a pantomime horse. But then, the dull grey of the felt slowly induces a sombre tone. And then it seems rather sad – this beautiful instrument that has the capacity to lift the soul with sound has been muted forever. Or maybe Beuys was protecting it from the ravages of time, adding the cross to suggest it's an object that needs looking after. Who knows?"
There is certainly a level of ambiguity here, a gentle conflict between warmth and comfort, or silence and submission. But I feel this is where its beauty lies, hidden under this cover which does nothing to compliment the form of the instrument. It has become misshapen, lacking of purpose and above all, lonely. This work is so heavily imbued with complex emotions, but you cannot work out exactly what they are because they have been obscured. I would really like to harness the notion of ambiguity in terms of objects, because objects are definite things, and if you take away their definition, what you are left with is really interesting.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 18/11/19
Damien Hirst, 'For the Love of God', 2007
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/damien-hirst-2308/damien-hirst-love-god - an interview with the artist about the piece.
For something that is clean and sharp and perfect in its physical appearance, there is something very visceral in the reaction from it, i.e. disgust of the arrogance and waste of money to create something that looks so tacky. It is very rare that I hate a piece of work, but I without a doubt hate this. Perhaps what fuels my disgust more is the fact that in the video he says:
"Every artwork that has ever interested me is about death. And I thought, what's the maximum you can pit against death, then, you know, diamonds came to mind."
There is no explicit mentioning of value on his behalf, only that he wants to fight death with diamonds (which is, of course, a futile venture). Hirst has become so engrossed in the attention-seeking, money-making side to art that he has no idea of the implications of the £14 million that was spent to construct it. Even if he was trying to criticise the notion of money in the context of art, this is perhaps the worst way to go about it, because it becomes exclusive and pompous and Hirst becomes a massive hypocrite.
There is a quote I've found on https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/arts/design/13skul.html when I was reading up about the piece which I quite like: "Mr Hirst isn't criticising the excess, not even ironically, but rolling in it and loving it. The sooner he goes out of fashion, the better." I couldn't agree more.
The ideas around the value of objects are vital in our day-to-day lives, as well as central to the work I am making for this part of the project. Hence I will use this work as inspiration for what not to do- I will explore how the value of things change as they/ their surroundings change, but I will not make a hypocritical fool of myself by spending as much as I can to get some attention. I will make art- I do not believe 'For the Love of God" is art.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Recommeded Artist, 11/11/19
Matthew Barney, 'The Cremaster Cycle', 1994-2002
Oh boy. Honestly, I have no idea how to even comprehend talking about this series of films, so I'll start with an interview with the artist, where he explains the principles behind the works:
"It probably started as a literal extension of OTTOshaft, and how five locations could be assigned to the mouthpiece, the chanter, and to the bass and tenor drones. Something that was fractured, but local, could be projected on to a landscape at a much larger scale. It began as five locations, but the narratives would not fall together in a linear fashion. So I decided at that point to start with Cremaster 4 and establish a kind of boundary, and then go back to Cremaster 1. I felt pretty certain that ending in the middle would be the way to finish. There was a kind of system that I laid out before Cremaster, which started in a place called ‘Situation’, a sexual place trying to define drive or desire. That impulse would then pass through a kind of visceral funnel, called ‘Condition’, that would shape that raw drive. And then ‘Production’ was an anal or oral output that would be bypassed by connecting those two orifices and making a circular system. ‘Situation’, the sexual station, was always drawn as a reproductive system, before its embryonic point of differentiation between male and female. As for the title, well, I was at my sister’s wedding, sitting next to a doctor, Dr Lung, a man I grew up with in Idaho. I was talking to him about this system, about an unfixed, general point of sexuality, and he said I should look at the Cremaster muscle, which is associated with but not actually related to the height of the gonads during sexual differentiation in the womb. A story could be developed about a sexual system that could move at will, and within this fantasy the Cremaster muscle would control that, although in fact it does not."
The imagery throughout the films is what drew the connection to my work, due to the attaching of objects to my body, consequently altering my form in a bizarre manner, yet this work is much more cyclical in nature, perhaps due to the scale of it. I am focusing on sexual themes in my work, and as far as I can tell (for I can only watch trailers and read interviews), they are rife in the films, exploring ideas of reproduction and the act itself through images of mythology and industry, amongst many others I am sure. I would love to be able to watch them, then perhaps I would be able to form my opinions on them more strongly.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 11/11/19
Leah Capaldi, "InTo This", 2010
On face value, this piece of work is rather simple: Capaldi, dressed only in a frilly thong, gets down on all fours and buries her head in a chocolate cake for an hour, staying as still as she possibly can (although inevitably as time wore on, her body began to shake and move out of fatigue). Yet there is a beauty in this simplicity. By being stationary for such an extended period of time, she has become an object. However, there is an energy here, originating from the fact that she is alive, and this energy imbued into the piece transforms it into a piece of sculpture, of course challenging the notion of sculpture, but, as described on https://curatingthewords.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/testing-ground-live-at-176-into-this-leah-capaldi/ , focuses on other issues too:
"The bluntness of such an act may have been initially perceived as facetious, slapstick and boring, many artists have already in the past tortured and constrained their bodies as an allegory of social conditioning and sexual oppression. The concept for this performance was no different, an attempt to confront issues of bodily endurance, gluttony and desire.
The body was diagonally placed in the centre of the room, the audience just like in mass observed the performance with great austerity, acutely observing every single painful breath the artist took and all the muscle spasms, which would gradually intensify with every passing minute. Capaldi handed her sceptre over to the audience the second her face was in the cake and the roles were officially reversed. One had to simply observe the spectators’ body language and facial expressions to comprehend that they were no longer spectators.
Leah Capaldi understands perfectly well the connotations that follow her performance, the obvious gender issues that she’s tackling, the male gaze she is punching, the contemporary social and cultural criticism she is making, nonetheless her outrageous performance goes beyond the obvious for it succeeds in provoking a strong relationship with the audience and conclusively emancipates the spectator."
As discussed above, something that comes across very clearly in Capaldi's work is the contract as it were, whether it be physical or unspoken, between the artist, the performers and the audience. The first two is an obvious relationship, and often the same, as with this piece, but with the audience, it is their engagement that brings the piece to life: the performances themselves can be rather stationary; for this piece of work, Capaldi is on all fours with her face in a chocolate cake for a whole hour, but the reaction from the audience as her body begins to shake and her breath becomes more pained brings the work to life. Also, considering that this work is about challenging masculinity, I find it interesting to bring it back to my original point about disrupting the notion of sculpture. Sculpture (as with all art really) was incredibly male-dominated up until only recently, and it probably still is, so with this piece, she is challenging normative male sculpture, heightening her point further.
I am also using the notion of masculinity as a reference to the work I am making, focusing on "masculine" motifs instead of those imposed onto women by men (sexuality, servitude, etc) to mock and ridicule them. I will also be the centre stage for my performance piece, so there is another nice comparison here as well.
Text
Visit to the Antony Gormley exhibition at the RA, 08/11/19
Gormley's work centres on the body, so I thought he would be ideal to use to compare to the Being Human project, but there is also a strong interactive and performative nature to his work, whether it be the placing of his works or actual physical interaction with them, so I feel it provides a nice link to the Sculptural Condition project, especially 'Sculptural Performance'. For instance, with 'Clearing VII', 2019 (top left), the room is completely full of coils of aluminium tube, to the extent that the only way through it is to press yourself up against the wall and squeeze round. Consequently it forces you to reimagine your relationship with the space, because its original function has been eradicated by 8km of metal. Hence this brings an awareness to the body too, and you are conscious of how your human form exists in this new space. As a side note, in the exhibition guide provides an interesting link between this and my own Being Human project: "The wild orbits of the line evoke the sub-atomic paths of electrons... No longer a single object, the work becomes a spatial 'field' (similar to a magnetic or force field...)". Instead of using the concepts of physics directly in his work, Gormley has represented them, and this provides an alternative way of approaching the ideas I was working with.
'Lost Horizon I', 2008 (top right) and 'Cave', 2019 (bottom left) both also have a strong interactive nature to them. The former consists of what Gormley is perhaps most famous for, his body casts, arranged in the room on all surfaces (floor, walls and ceiling), seeming to defy gravity, forcing you to question what the human body can do. Yet more so, by being in this room, you again become very conscious of how you exist in this space. You have to carefully move yourself around these identical forms, all of which feel as though they are watching you. It is very eerie and disconcerting, evoking a powerful reaction from the observer.
The latter is this massive metal "cave" that you can walk through. You have to crouch down, and rely on your sense of touch (as it was often pitch black) to move through it, and so it was incredibly dehumanising, as you are stripped away of your senses and your dignity, moving practically on all fours like animals, in a way stopping us from being human. Then, of course, this process is a performance, marrying the two themes together. On top of that, when viewed from above, it is revealed that 'Cave' is in the shaped of a person, curled up in a foetal position, and so you are in fact moving through the body, becoming a part of it.
The final work from the exhibition I have chosen to talk about is 'Host', 2019 (bottom right). It is rather different from the rest, in that it is a room that has been flooded with mud and sea water. It is so still and so quiet, even in an exhibition as busy as this one, and it controls the space absolutely. Perhaps this piece relates best to Sculptural Performance, because it has such an effect on those who behold it. Whilst you cannot physically interact with it, that only causes you to want to engage with it more, and so the psychological interaction with it is immense. You become so aware of yourself when you observe this work, but its not just the water that does this. In all of the gallery rooms, the lighting was dim. It created a sense of calm amidst feeling of unrest and uneasiness, and heightened your awareness of yourself, as if we had been returned to a primal state, constantly on the look out for danger. This whole exhibition was rife with emotional turmoil, and is why I enjoyed it so much.
Text
Being Human- 05/11/19, Lecture (on 04/11/19)
Katie Patterson, 'Earth-Moon-Earth', 2007
This piece of work is really quite beautiful, and although it may seem simple at first, its true beauty hides in the underlying complexities. Patterson converted 'Moonlight Sonata' by Beethoven into Morse code, then with the help of astrophysicists, projected it onto the Moon, where it was then reflected back to the Earth, and the result was received, converted back to music and played on the piano (the result of which I have attached as a recording, as well as the Morse). Interestingly, due to the unevenness of the Moon's surface, some of the code was reflected away/ absorbed by the rock, leading to gaps in the music. These periods of emptiness force you to think about the process behind the work, and I think on a larger scale, that is what the piece is trying to do: reconnect people with their surroundings and reignite a passion for science and discovery.
The Moon is without a doubt the most important part of this artwork, as it is the focal point of the music and central to the altering of the music. I enjoy this factor, because the Moon has been such an intrinsic part of our society, starting off as a god, companion to the Sun, and maintaining its presence in our imaginations as a source of intrigue (escalating to the 1969 Moon landing, and all subsequent adventures to it). It also has a physical significance, being the main cause of the tides, as well as guiding animals in their adventures. Yet recently, our affinity with our satellite has dwindled (rather a been there, done that kind of attitude). By having moments of rest where there weren't meant to be (controlled by the Moon itself), people notice it, and we appreciate it. After all, it is slowly drifting away from us, and it begs the question, what will happen when it's gone? (OK, after writing that, I looked it up, and after 50 billion years it will stop moving away from us, entering a stable orbit, but the point remains. What if we accidentally blew it up?).
Outside of the content of this piece, the inter-discipline nature of it is admirable. I particularly like how it relies on physics, as this is what my project relates to, although relying on different principles. I am a full believer in the cyclical nature of art and science- art is a science and science is an art. Without science, there wouldn't be art, and vice versa, yet society seems to have split them into separate groups. I'd really like for my art to bridge society's gap between the two, and that's partly what I am hoping to achieve with this project.
Text
Being Human- 04/11/19, Lecture
Trevor Paglen, 'Trinity Cube', 2015
Never has a disaster been so beautiful. In this work, Paglen has collected and compressed material from the Fukushima site after the meltdown into a glass cube, mixed with trinitite (a glassy compound formed from the Manhattan Project era nuclear experiments on deserts). It captures the great tragedy into something small, minimalist and utterly encapsulating, a physical representation of history. Yet the trinitite and waste material from the site are still rather radioactive, and so it poses a threat to anyone near it (which is why for when it was exhibited in Tokyo, visitors were blocked from coming too close to it). This quality gives it a very literal energy, a life almost, yet this is juxtaposed with it's ability to take life. The original cube is, in fact, situated in an abandoned home in the exclusion zone. This means that people will not be able to visit it until the site is declared safe, which could take up to "30,000 years" (https://www.paglen.com/index.php?l=work&s=fukushima&i=1). Hence time is also crucial to this piece- it could very well live untouched for millennia, and such a long period of time distances it from humanity - it becomes an object that is beyond human. Furthermore, the very nature of radioactive decay (which produces the radiation) is random, and it cannot be completely controlled by humans, so the 'Trinity Cube' drifts further still from our species.
Perhaps the way that Paglen has tried to contain such an event is a symbol of the arrogance of humanity. We try to twist and bend nature to our will, and it only ever ends badly. Even by simplifying the disaster into a cube, it screams ego, because we are so full of ourselves that we think we can simplify and understand the Universe. I am always drawn to the notion of dark matter in situations such as this. Matter as we know it (everything we see, all the elements in the Periodic Table, all of the atoms) only makes up 5% of the Universe. The rest is comprised of dark matter, something we know completely nothing about (other than it exists). How can we as humans even try to claim we understand everything, when we are clueless about the majority of our existence? For me, Paglen's work is a scaled down version of this arrogance, and whether it is intentional or not, I find it very frustrating.
Physics is key to this piece of work, as it focuses around the principles of nuclear fission, radioactivity and heat. The topic has always been something I have been interested in, and I want to apply it to this project given the opportunity for inter-disciplinary work. Although I can't work with radioactive materials, cos you know, cancer, I will be working with other principles in physics, in particular magnetism, to explore our relationship with the world around us.
Text
The above images show my annotations for 'One Place After Another: Notes on Site Specificity' by Miwon Kwon.
Text
Space-Time, 21/01/20
James Turrell, 'Bridget's Bardo', 2009
"For more than forty-five years, James Turrell has explored the myriad possibilities of using light as a medium of perception. His formally simple works draw attention to the limits of seeing while seeking to expand the wordless thought that they provoke. Throughout these permutations, the light that is normally used to illuminate other things is assigned form and structure, making it the subject of the revelation. Since pursuing studies in perceptual psychology during the 1960s, Turrell has been exploring a variety of perceptual phenomena, ranging from sensory deprivation to intense optical effects. Early works such as Afrum-Proto (1966) and the Mendota Stoppages (1969–1974), which employed planes of light in relation to architecture, became the basis for ongoing investigations. He continues to use light as his primary subject and material, with its inherent allusions to painting and sculpture." (https://gagosian.com/artists/james-turrell/)
Similar themes to Flaving's work arise here, with the notion of undertstanding how light affects space through thourough investigation. He has made something intangible such as light seem physical and interactive, and that it something similar that I want to achieve with my installation/ sound piece. I want to transform this wave of cyclical energy into something comparable to a physical force, capable of causing significant change in how we perceive it. I think the situation will also be key, and I think a good way to do that is to contain this experience in a small, almost claustrophobic mirror room, creating a sense of continuity throughout the work.
Text
Space-Time, 20/01/20
Tra Bouscaren, 'Dear Volunteers', 2016
"My work engages American spectacle at the crossroads of waste culture and the surveillance state. Orphaned objects form the material basis of my practice. My site-responsive process begins with pulling materials from the local waste stream that bear symbolic, indexical, and poetic resonance with what I identify as the toxic underbelly of American culture. Aggregating these waste materials into networks of provisional sculpture, I then submerge them into a projection-mapped, multi-channel video bath built out of live surveillance feeds taken from within the gallery itself. Projecting the live video capture of the exhibition-viewer back onto the material trash of the exhibition, my work implicates the spectator back into what they have arrived to judge." https://vimeo.com/227562573
Whilst I do enjoy the concept of projecting people onto rubbish, and the visual effect it causes, I can't help but feel a little let down at the obtuse nature of this interpretation (which feels very directed and solid). I am more intrigued by how the objects have been concealed by the projection to the extent of unrecognisability, and the implications that has, for I feel that opens up greater windows for discussion. We have become so obsessed by consumer culture, particularly in the US, that we refuse to acknowledge the consequences it has caused. It feels relevant to deeply consider the materials used in this installation- Styrofoam, for instance, is incredibly toxic to the environment and poses a choking hazard for animals, yet it is one of the most commonly used packaging materials. By buying into this culture, we are purposefully ignoring the consequences. Obviously people from more disadvantaged backgrounds have little choice but to partake in these activities (a theme I feel this work fails to consider), but it is the middle and upper classes that are driving these processes. It reminds me of one of the sculptures I made for 'At Home or On The Move', where I used safety packaging to explore not only the safety aspect, but also the environmental one, so perhaps this is another train of thought I could follow with this project.
Text
Room- 11/01/20
Jem Finer, 'Supercomputer' @ Trinity Buoy Wharf
Inhabiting an old shipping container, this work fills and completely redefines this 'room', turning it from empty space to something 'intelligent'. It enables the space to think, and that is something very interesting to consider- we talk about space and the importance of it a lot, but it is always this inanimate construct in which things inhabit. Considering it as a being in itself feels almost revolutionary, yet here is this room that can think. With this room, there seems to be an equality between it and the observer, as if it has branched out into animation, if not humanity (I feel a certain level of sentience would be required beforehand in order for that to be achieve). But this raises questions about artificial intelligence and how comparable it is to human intelligence, how valuable it is and perhaps bringing to light the bias in the human mind (especially the vanity- we are obsessed with believing that we are the only form of intelligent life, even though the likelihood of that is MINISCULE).
I also ponder the relevance of this room being outside. It feels alone, sad that its away from a building structure one would normally associate with rooms. Yet standing alone by the Thames, it feels important and powerful, a symbol perhaps of the AI future to come.
For me this highlights the power of occupying an entire space with art- it becomes something wholly different and is entrancing in its encompassing nature. This is what I want to achieve with my installation- I want people to be surrounded and transported to another realm, but I don't necessarily want that feeling to be obvious. It's a tad complicated, but if I achieve it, I think the work I create will be incredibly successful.
Text
Room - Visit to '24/7' @ Somerset House
Mat Collishaw, 'The Machine Zone', 2019
You walk into this sterile space and automatically you are teleported to some dystopian future, apparently in some form of lab where tests are being done to the robot birds trapped in the cages that dominate the room. The repetition of their actions scream despair and inhumanity, for their whole existence is the futile action of pecking for food that isn't there, not that they would need it if they did. It's tortuous to watch, and I would certainly agree with Collishaw in how it represents the repetitive nature of human existence. Yet I would go one step further and say how it is symbolic to how we as a species project our futile routines and repetitions onto other things, whether animate or not. We treat the other inhabitants of this planet like filth, killing them, eating them, testing on them when we (as long as people have enough money) have no need to do so anymore. Hence not only is this an warning for the future, it is an indictment of the present.
Evidently this has triggered a strong emotional reaction from myself, and I believe that is due to the overall effect this work has. By having a series of these cages within the space, they dominate and direct it, controlling how you think. I can learn from this by deeply considering where I locate and how I install my nets, to ensure they have the greatest impact possible.
Text
Room - Visit to '24/7' @ Somerset House
Marcus Coates, 'Self Portrait as Time', 2016
The monumental cinema-esque projection of this work is symbolic of the effort it would have taken to carry out this performance. Each second is marked by Coates moving the second hand (in time) for 12 hours so that the clock tells the correct time (I do enjoy an early afternoon gallery visit). It is big and it is bold and for me it highlights the arrogance of humans in the modern world- we think we can control everything that we can comprehend, even time, and yet I doubt Coates would have been able to keep up this activity for much longer due to the fallibility of humans, fatigue being the main culprit in this case. Furthermore, this work is a lie. Coates is not determining the length of a second automatically, he is reading it off another watch, yet by being so bold and certain, it feels very much like propaganda in a dystopian society (very 1984). Hence human power is false- I am reminded of the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe-Shelley in how it compares humanity to nature and how miniscule we are in comparison - "Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies..." I feel captures this quite nicely.
I don't believe this is a self-portrait of the artist, I believe it is one of our species and our society. Constructed on lies, its delludes us into thinking we have power, when really it is the constants of nature and the Universe that have true dominance over our lives.
As I have mentioned, I want my work to be more subtle, and I feel this helps to justify my choice. Big, bold works run the risk of being vain and arrogant if even the slightest of factors is wrong, yet by gently altering surroundings, it becomes much more a part of the subconscious, and the audience becomes assimilated with the work. I feel I should say that the arrogance of this piece is intentional- it is purposefully ridiculing itself to force people to consider its implications.
Text
Room- Recommended Artist, 16/12/19
Fred Sandback, 'Untitled (Sculptural Study, Two-Part Construction)', 1974-2013
"The American artist Fred Sandback (1943–2003) worked with elastic cord and acrylic yarn to delineate or bifurcate three-dimensional space, creating room-filling volumetric forms using the most minimal of means. By stretching single strands of yarn point-to-point to create geometric figures, Sandback’s near intangible objects nevertheless amounted to precise and subtle delineations of pictorial planes and architectural volumes. Despite this relationship to the built environment and to the practice of drawing, he became known primarily as a Minimalist sculptor, alongside such contemporaries as Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt and Carl Andre, but Sandback was also a forerunner of and a major influence on many of today’s installation artists. Contrary to his own matter-of-fact artistic statements about his practice, his work has been said to conjure up references to architecture, painting, sculpture and even music, given his early fascination for stringed musical instruments." (https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/fred-sandback)
In my Room project, although I am using similar materials to achieve similar goals, the focus in my work is more about fluidity and slackness, whereas tension is vital to this piece of work, providing me with an alternative way to approach the themes I am working with. The sharpness of the lines and boldness of the colour of the yarn cuts through the space like a knife, and it is incredibly present at the same time as being mostly absent. I agree with the text above- with a few simple lines, Sandback has created new planes, shifting the dimensions of the room and massively altering how we perceive the space. Instantly the room shrinks, becoming more crowded, yet simultaneously, I can imagine as you walk through this space, it becomes more of a journey, enlarging the space in a beautiful, crisp juxtaposition. Gary, who went to see one of Sandback's exhibitions, was telling me how you instantly become more aware of the space, you act more carefully so as not to disturb the artwork, where in fact there is essentially just as much space to move around in than a empty room. These are all impacts I want my work to have on people, and so I feel it would be beneficial for me to take on the themes of tension and use it in my own project to explore for an additional outcome.
Text
Contextual Practice- Lecture, 04/12/19
Roman Signer, 'Engpass at Aussendienst', 2000
"To talk of failure more recently, however, is not only to draw on melancholic radical doubt, but to embrace possibility in the gap between intention and realisation. There is a pleasure in failure, and its potential, too. Roman Signer, for example, courts failure just in case success unexpectedly turns up – if not, though, it really doesn’t matter. His “accident sculptures” use experiments to test things out, with the proceedings documented as evidence. In 56 Small Helicopters 2008 he sets off a swarm of insect-like model helicopters in a room far too small for their movement to be unimpeded. One by one they collide, and fail in a joyful choreography of not working. Or in Bottleneck 2000 a car was driven between two wedge-shaped concrete walls, the architecture arresting movement and the moment of failure marking the point where the event becomes sculpture."
I am rapidly becoming a fan of Signer's work and this is a wonderful example why. There is a humour in the knowledge that this was never going to work- the space between the walls could only get so small until something would happen (car gets squished and stops, car gets squished but passes through, wall breaks, etc). And yet, laughing in the face of futility, he goes and does it anyway, simply to find out what will happen. For me, this highlights the enjoyment of failure- life would be boring without it, there would be nothing to motivate us. It encourages you to do things for the sake of doing them- there doesn't have to be a reason. There is such a calamitous energy here- naturally one would associate a car crash such as this with death and misery, but the context of the situation puts a twist on it. It is a welcoming embrace into the chaos of existence, and I for one find it marvellous.
In terms of my own work, this is really encouraging me to test every avenue, to leave no stone unturned. I have got nothing to lose, and so I will push the string and the nets to the limit, seeing how they interact with the body, with motion, with time, and then I feel my work will be as successful as it can be.
Text
Contextual Practice - Lecture, 04/12/19
Francis Alÿs, 'Tornado', 2010
"Since 2000, Alÿs has visited an area in the Mexican countryside where tornadoes occur, and has filmed his attempts to run into the eye of the storms. The footage was gathered over a decade and edited to make the intense video Tornado 2000–10. For Alÿs the dust storm suggests the imminent collapse of a system of government or political order. The act of running into the storm, which we see repeated over and over, also invites interpretation: is the artist no longer able to combat the chaos he encounters? Is he recognising the vanity of poetic gestures at a time of calamity? Or is it only within the chaos that he can challenge the turmoil around him? Reaching the epicentre of the storm, the artist is breathless and almost blinded, yet he encounters a furtive moment of peace that could hint at a new moment of possibility." (https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/francis-alys/francis-alys-story-deception-room-guide/francis-alys-6 )
There is something very futile feeling about a man spending a decade running into tornadoes, and yet it is this dedication I think we could all take a lesson from. Such weather is causes damage and danger, and yet Alÿs' reckless disregard for his wellbeing in the pursuit of reaching the eye either references the levels of madness and chaos society has declined into, or teaches us to use each failure as a teaching tool (I'm thinking the latter- society is riddled with issues for sure, but its not that bad just yet). I get the impression that the tornado is his medium- each time he runs into it he learns something new about how it works or how best it might be to achieve his goal, and I relate to that strongly; for instance, in Room, I am and will be repeatedly making nets out of string so that I know exactly how it functions.
I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of using natural events to relate to human activities, it is too reminiscent of theism and the absurd notion that human existence is of consequence to the Universe. It is only when humans start directly interacting with said natural event (this piece of work for instance) in which I'll allow it, for then you have the conflict between man and nature (such as with Smithson's 'Partially Buried Woodshed', 1970), or just the notion of two sides against each other in general, which could reference the 'political collapse' Alÿs is going on about.
Text
Room: Mini-Lecture, 03/12/19
The drawings of Christo and Jeanne-Claude
As sculptors, drawing is a vital tool to understanding not only the shapes and forms of what we want to create, but also how it might work in the given space. These drawings are wonderful examples of a way we could approach the process, highlighting the shapes and forms, but also maintaining the energy of the works, which really brings them to life in a really fantastic way. As described on http://www.artnet.com/artists/christo-and-jeanne-claude/:
"Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a collaborative artist duo known for their monumental environmental installations. Best remembered in the public’s mind for wrapping architecture and natural elements in fabric, their works were often unprecedented in scale, such as The Gates in New York’s Central Park, Running Fence down the California coast, and Wrapped Coast in Australia. Part of France’s Nouveau Réalisme movement, the artists’ temporary textile interventions required dedicated planning and execution through detailed drawings. “We wish to create works of art, works of joy and of beauty,” Jeanne-Claude once said of their work. “As with every true work of art, it has absolutely no purpose whatsoever: it is not a message, it is not a symbol, it is only a work of art. And like every true artist, we create those works of art for us and our collaborators.” "
I believe that they were only able to achieve such a status of a "true work of art" by being so thorough with their drawings and planning. This enabled them to truly understand what it was they were making, and so they were able to execute their plans to the best of their ability. I also feel there are similarities between the way they draw and the way I draw: very energetic and expressive, meaning I can learn a lot from their draughtsmanship, using lines to truly capture what they are trying to express. With Room, it is going to take a large amount of planning on my behalf, and so I will be drawing regularly to understand what it is I am making- there is only so much you can understand through experiments with materials, in order to be holistic in your approach, you need to look at all the avenues of planning.
Text
Room- Lecture, 02/12/19
Doris Salcedo, 'Shibboleth', 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIJDn2MAn9I - an interview with the artist about the work. There were two things she said that particularly interested me, and I will delve into those a bit further
"It is a piece that is the epicentre of catastrophe, and at the same time, it is outside catastrophe" In terms of the aesthetics of the piece, it is this giant crack on the floor of the Turbine Hall, giving it the impression of some monumental disaster such as an earthquake. Yet this crack acts not so much as a symbol of this disaster, but really a tool to observe the catastrophes in our society, in particular its polarisation and the following effects on people's perception of race and immigration. There are at least two sides opposed to each other, held back in restraint so that the observer is left to wonder the consequences of what would happen if these two sides meet, suggesting a conflict. This violence illustrates the history of racism and the catastrophic effects it has on societies.
"I wanted a piece that intruded into the space, that is unwelcome like an immigrant" I think this quote relates the piece to the concept of room. It is bold and brash, much unlike the other more subtle pieces I previously looked at (see Cristina Iglesias and Richard Serra), and completely dominates the space, forcing the space to be reimagined, and honestly, I don't like this approach as much. It feels heavy and clunky, void of the gentle beauty the more subtle works had. It feels unconsidered, despite the monumental amount of planning I can only imagine it would have required, and so I am taking from this a lesson: I need to really explore what I am doing and think deeply so that the final result is not obtuse and basic feeling.
Text
Room- Lecture, 02/12/19
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, 'Untitled (Portrait of Ross In L.A.', 1991
"The approximate 175 pounds of candy that make up the work resembles the 175-pound body of Ross Laycock, the artists’ boyfriend who died of AIDS in 1991. As each person takes a piece of candy, they in turn act as the AIDS virus depleting Ross’ body, piece by piece taking it away until there is nothing left. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, who dedicated his artwork to the one he love and lost, died in 1996 of AIDS. His work doesn’t only represent the disease and its depletion on the body, but it represents the love between the person who is suffering from the disease and the person who is there to support them and suffer with them. The sweet candy, in and of itself, is a representation of love. If you think about giving candy to a loved one on valentine’s day, sweets in a box with flowers on mother’s day, candy has long been tied to affection and love. While the candy is eaten, while the body begins to disappear, the love remains." (https://publicdelivery.org/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-portrait-of-ross-in-l-a-1991/ )
This piece is very sad and very beautiful, as it has become a way for Gonzalez-Torres to memorialise his loved one. If this piece were to remain true to the limitations it set itself, it would fade away to nothing, showing that all that is left of Ross is gone, including memory. But in a way, Gonzalez-Torres has played with the system: galleries want people to keep on visiting, and so they would never let the sweets get down to zero, one gallery proclaiming to restock every day. In this way, Ross is never forgotten, and so he lives on potentially eternally in people's pleasure, which fills my heart with joy.
This piece is very much temporal in nature, and so it leads us to treasure those around us ever more dearly. By having strangers consume the body of his loved one, Gonzalez-Torres highlights the effects society and its expectations on people can have. Gay people at that time were targeted and made to suffer, and this work highlights the degrading impact that can have on the body and the mind. Activism and awareness raising are themes that I try to weave into the work I create wherever I can, and so this work is especially pertinent to me.
As many of these works are highlighting, it only takes a small change to a room for the space to be completely re-shaped. The sweets have such connotations of joy, and so their presence in the room instantly brightens it up, which makes the sadness even more heavy-hitting once you understand the context.
Text
Room- Lecture, 03/12/19
Cristina Iglesias, 'Untitled (Alabaster Room)', 1993
"One of a generation of Spanish sculptors who gained international recognition during the 1990s, Cristina Iglesias creates large-scale, minimal structures that articulate a delicate balance between the physical and the visual. Characteristic of her work are imposing forms made of concrete, iron, or aluminium, juxtaposed with intricately etched surfaces (often worked with rich waxes and patinas) and sumptuous materials such as glass, alabaster, and tapestry. Concerned with form and space as they occur in nature, Iglesias in effect creates her own pared-down, sculptural landscapes. Her roughly hewn yet sensitively modelled freestanding sculptures, though of generous proportion, are nearly all constructed on a human scale, and her compositionally varied architectural appendages generate a dialogue with the surrounding space, beckoning the viewer to circumnavigate them. Iglesias describes her work as "pieces that are like thought, places from which one sees, spaces that fall between reality and image, between presence and representation, spaces that speak of other spaces." It features three sloping canopies composed of thin, translucent sheets of white alabaster supported by an iron frame, which are hung from the gallery wall just above head height. As in so much of Iglesias's work, ambient light and space are as fundamental to the work as the physical materials themselves. Here, the light produces a softly suffused glow through the alabaster membranes, at once imbuing the canopies with a sense of immateriality and subtly altering the beholder's perception of the space delineated below them." (https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-collection/works/untitled-alabaster-room)
With this work, I am particularly intrigued by Iglesias' method of making subtle additions or changes to a space, and how that then has a profound impact on the room itself. For instance, by fixing these sheets to the wall, a form of shelter seems to have been formed, perhaps from the harsh gallery lighting, and so, although the thought process may not be conscious, you feel safer and more comfortable. This is aided by the effect the alabaster has on the light, diffusing it, softening it, and so this subtle change in the lighting has had a quietly major effect on the observer's perception of the space. Lighting is something I would really like to explore- for instance, I loved how the a more gentle light source created these ghostly shadows with the net I made, and so I really want to use the light to explore the emotional impact it has.
I think it is also relevant to consider the materials themselves in this instance. Plaster is extracted from alabaster, and considering iron is used for the frame, this work is composed of materials used in construction that would traditionally have a major impact on a space. Hence Iglesias has been very clever and used the materials in a slightly different way, creating this lovely depth to the piece that melds in with the gentle ambient lighting it produces.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Exhibition Visit
UVA, 'Other Spaces' at 180 The Strand
This was an exhibition quite like nothing else I have been to before, as it was entirely light and sound based media, yet the bodily effect of it was really quite impressive. As written on https://londonist.com/london/art-and-photography/uva :
"I step into the darkness and lights swing hypnotically above my head. It’s all rather relaxed until it suddenly feels like the whole room is tilting in one direction. I tip my head and body to compensate before my own body corrects back to stop me falling over. It's like that feeling when you set foot on dry land from a boat and can't find your balance. That’s the unsettling experience of being inside an installation by United Visual Artists (UVA) — an arts collective who have set up three atmospheric experiences within the massive events venue that is 180 Strand. Thankfully, the disorientation only happens when walking up the middle of this installation, so stick to the side if you prefer being mesmerised by the gently swaying lights."
This piece of text is talking about the part of the show I found most impactful, where you are in a dark, foggy room, with lights swinging to peculiar music. In sections of the sequence, the light seemed to form a type of plane, but when that started moving, it felt like the floor was falling away from you. In a way, it is a grounding process for humans, demonstrating the fallibility of our so-called intelligence, as we are tricked by simply playing around with lights.
I feel it also partially relates to the work I have been doing in ERF- I have been trying to use energy to create sculptures, and UVA use light and sound to create their installations, which, due to being energy-based, are largely formless. If there is one form these works certainly eliminate, it is the concept of a room/ box- like with this piece, the bodily reaction caused by the works tells the tale of how the room-space has been broken down, leading to the feelings of nausea.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Found Artist, 22/11/19
David Medalla, 'Cloud Gates', 1964
"Described as an “auto-creative sculpture,” Cloud Gates (1965/2013) is perpetually forming and reforming, as soap bubbles emerge and move through its apparatus. Playfully animating a starkly minimalist base and frame, Cloud Gates – of which there are multiple variations – is derived from a number of real-world inspirations and associations that fascinated the artist. Shifting residences throughout his life, Medalla has lived in Manila, New York, Paris, and London, and has travelled and exhibited widely. The international array of referents that he attaches to Cloud Gates pointedly exposes its cosmopolitan valence. From cooking with coconut milk in his home in Manila, to the bubbles of an Edinburgh brewery that Medalla once visited, the work, like its title, also mimics the changeable forms of clouds. The associations of this work are not entirely positive, however. Before his relocation to the United States at age twelve, Medalla saw his home of Manila disintegrate under military bombardment during World War II. In the process, he witnessed the fatal shooting of a Filipino guerrilla fighter by a Japanese soldier. From the dead soldier’s mouth, Medalla saw an eruption of blood-red bubbles of saliva. Inspired by the kinetic sculptures of Panagiotis "Takis" Vassilakis (b. 1925) and Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) in the 1960s, with Cloud Gates Medalla brought to kinetic art the organic and random component of self-forming movement. Yet in Cloud Gates that self-generation is also a movement towards millions of tiny deaths, as the bubbles emerge from the tubes and into the air, then quickly burst and disappear." (https://postwar.hausderkunst.de/en/artworks-artists/artworks/cloud-gates-bubble-machine-wolkentore-seifenblasenmaschine)
I found Medalla on http://www.radicalart.info/informe/ to see someone who uses foam and bubbles in their work, and to gauge how it might be done. This, to me, is true formlessness, as the sculpture is constantly changing and so has no permanent form, and is something I want to play with in my own work. I also enjoy the references to the cycle of life and death, as it feels appropriate to consider death the loss of form: as soon as we die, we start being broken down, flesh peeling away to reveal the bone underneath. Yet bubbles are inherently childish, something you would play around with, and so an interesting dynamic is formed between the child playing and death looming over its shoulder.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 22/11/19
Janine Antoni, 'Gnaw', 1992
Below is a description and analysis of the work from https://www.silent-frame.com/articles/1992-gnaw-janine-antoni :
"Gnaw began life as a pair of large cubes, one of chocolate, one of lard, each weighing in at 600 pounds. In their final form, elevated on marble pedestals, the two blocks are visibly diminished. The corners are rounded, the surfaces marked. Far from the result of natural erosion, though, this scarring was imposed by the teeth of Janine Antoni. Gnashing and nibbling, the artist worked to prove that sculptures need not be fashioned by hands. The abrasions provide us with insight into the materials’ textures. We see the dental scrapes in the chocolate, the soft depressions of nose and chin in the lard. Viewing the work, we imagine ourselves pressed against the cubes, our canines contending with one, our face left greasy by the other. The untouched areas highlight the physical limitations of Antoni’s undertaking, as we picture her struggling to negotiate the difficult angles. The offcuts were neither eaten nor discarded; the process was one of extraction. The mined resources were recast into heart-shaped boxes and lipstick tubes, then exhibited in a small room, made out of three display cabinets, nearby. Tongue firmly in cheek, Antoni presents a commercial caricature of femininity: makeup and Valentine’s Day clichés. Gone are the minimalistic blocks that sat on the studio floor. Refined approaches and rigid substances are nowhere to be seen. By displaying the products of her labour in this manner, Antoni prompts us to reflect on her methodology. We chomp on sweets and dab our lips with fat on a regular basis, partaking in rituals that we rarely pause to consider. Why shouldn’t art chew tradition over? With Gnaw, Antoni carved herself out a place in the art world, using her mouth to subvert, innovate, and create meaning. Rarely have incisors been used so incisively."
One thing I am captured by is how this work is in essence a scar of a performance, symbolic of how far the human body can go. Hence these blocks become incredibly visceral, the signs of Antoni's torment engrained into the surface. Whilst static, their history is incredibly dynamic, where the form of a cube has been attacked and broken down so that it bridges into formlessness. I think that's key: in order to achieve formlessness, you have to undertake a process, and so there has to be some form of dynamism within the work, whether it is actually moving, or gives the perception of previous movement. However, although the cubes went through a process and have become somewhat formless as a consequence, they are now static and have a form people are now accustomed to, so in this way, they are no longer completely formless. In order to achieve absolute formlessness, I think something needs to be constantly changing so that people who view the piece at different times see different forms, and so this is what I want to create, something that plays on themes of fluidity and energy, both of which have no constant form.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Wider Reading
Above are images of a conversation between artists about what sculpture is, taken from Marsha Bradfield & Lucy Tomlins, On Your Marks, Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre, Ditto Press 2014. It provided an interesting insight and perspective on sculpture, in terms of how to define it (you can't really, certainly not in an objective way) and its future. A key factor that was discussed is how rapidly sculpture is changing, to the extent that the word "sculpture" is beginning to become irrelevant, and that we need to make up new words to compensate. For me, this suggests that "sculpture" is at the forefront for change in art, and I am excited to see where it leads me.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 18/11/19
Tom Friedman, 'Untitled (Total)', 2000
There is something very charming about Friedman's work- it feels cosy and approachable, certainly not deviating into the excess of Hirst's work. Ideas around value also arise, as cereal boxes, in particular American ones, are very commercialised in terms of the adverts and the characters that go on them to entice children to beg their parents to buy them, and so by combining 9 boxes, the total value as it were (no pun intended) should increase by the same amount. Yet the by fusing the boxes in this way, they become hazy, less certain, and so it is difficult to ascertain the nature of the fate of its value, particularly when you put it in the art context, something where value is intrinsically applied to object. Hence there is an uncertainty and a grey area here which I enjoy- the subtleties of its process are so much more satisfying.
Annoyingly, there isn't much critical writing about this work out there, all I could find were blogs, but they'll have to do:
"Another ordinary object that Friedman has painstakingly transformed is a series of retail packaging. In the above image, he cut up nine identical cereal boxes into small squares and reassembled them in a single larger version of a Total box. He's taken a familiar object out of its original context and given it new life."
Context is key when you discuss objects, because what I have started to find is that the object itself does little to define itself. More so it is the actions it enacts and the contexts it is placed in- for instance, if you see a fork on a plate, that would tend to not evoke a reaction, as this is standard, this is the acceptable context (food). Yet if you place that fork inside a microwave, then all of a sudden you have this fear because you are aware of the consequences if you close that door. Whilst this is not such a drastic change in context, it is enough for you to question its purpose. I really want to play with context, for instance altering the state of the buckets so that they become unusable- this takes them outside of their original context as a functioning item, and instead leaves them in a contextual limbo, left for only the audience to ponder.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Visit to 'Rayyane Tabet: Encounters', @ Parasol unit, 15/11/19
Rayyane Tabet, 'Colosse Aux Pieds d'Argile', 2015
This was one of those works where my perception of the piece is wholly different from the artist's intentions, but lets be honest, that's where most of the fun lies anyway. This piece consists of a 'field' of columns and cylinders made from either marble and sandstone or concrete, lying in different positions. This was the last piece in the exhibition which had largely focused on conflict in the Middle East, and so looking out at these cylinders of stone, it appeared to me like the aftermath of a battle, corpses rotting in the Sun. For me, this was heightened by the selection of them outside, separated by a window, which then created a series of reflections that made it look like the cylinders stretched into infinity, perhaps suggesting the repetitive and never-ending cycle of violence and destruction. By walking through them, you get to identify the differences in the materials used, suggesting the two armies. Concrete has overtaken marble in use as a building material, so perhaps this is a conflict of progress, the past against the future.
However, as exhibition booklet shown above suggests, it is actually about the land being taken over by skyscrapers. So in a way, there is a conflict here, just not in the way I imagined. One thing I particularly like from this text is "Both have been extrapolated into ideas of how the environment should be built, unbuilt or re-built.". For me this suggests how one material has taken over the other, describing an impermanence for materials even as strong as marble and concrete. Eventually, the material will be replaced with something more suited to the job, and so the remainder will be left to decay, leaving a field of rubble as its only trace.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 11/11/19
Anthea Hamilton, 'The Squash', 2018
I think this is one of the greatest inspirations for my piece this week, not necessarily because of the themes it explores, but more so in terms of the way it was executed. It uses people in very sculptural costumes who are performing certain actions to explore its own ideas, which, if you stripped my idea down to the bare essentials of content, would be the same as mine (that is not to say that my piece is derivative of this work, it just gave me the inspiration to explore this project in such a way). This is from the Tate's website (as this was exhibited in the Tate Britain):
"A solo performer in a squash-like costume inhabits the Duveen Galleries every day for more than six months for the Tate Britain Commission 2018. Each element of The Squash has evolved from Hamilton's interest in a photograph she found in a book several years ago when looking at improvisational theatre and participatory art practices in the 1960s and 1970s. It showed a person dressed as what looks like a vegetable lying among vines. The original photograph dated from 1960 and depicted a scene from a dance by American choreographer Erick Hawkins. Hawkins was interested in Native American philosophies and he took the form of this costume from the Squash Kachina of the Hopi culture. As Hamilton had lost the original source of this image, she was not able to discover its origins and was left to imagine its context from the image alone. The artist has brought together tiles, structures, sculptures and costume, inviting a performer to explore their own interpretation of the image and how it might feel to imagine life as other, as vegetable. The performer selects their outfit for the day from a collection of seven elaborate costumes. Each one is inspired by the original image and by different kinds of squash or pumpkin. The length of the galleries’ terrazzo floor has been tiled in domestic-scale white tiles to create a new environment within Tate Britain’s neoclassical architecture. " (https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/squash)
I am particularly interested in how the performers were asked to embody a vegetable, to essentially strip away everything about you that makes you human, and become something that we consume (for 'vegetables' do not exist in botany, only in food terms). It would require a complete rethinking of your own character (although in part aided by the fact that it looks like you're in a massive kitchen) and to see how different performers interpreted the brief would have also been interesting. However, considering it now, by allowing the performers to decide how to become a vegetable, that surely breaks the parameters of the performance, because the ability to choose is one decided by free-will, a remarkably human trait, certainly not found in vegetables?
Anyway, whilst this may not be the most water-tight of principles, I certainly enjoy how people have been dehumanised in a quirky and humorous way (and how people just accept that). I wish to carry this forward, because I want to break down what it means to be a man by wanking all over the place, so there is a correlation (of sorts). One could argue that the phallic nature of a squash references masculinity, and so this could be another link to my own project.
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 11/11/19
John Wood & Paul Harrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS50mYKCL_M - a video of an interview with the artists
The self-described "sculptural pratfalls" of the art world use slapstick and humour in the way they use and interact with the objects around them, growing over time in how they approach objects:
"We first began much more geometrically, using objects that we build around the human figure and what boxes you could fit in or what happens if you stood on a semi-circle, things like that, to then how a person interacts with an object in a different way" (from the afore mentioned video).
Initially, the human element of the work is important, if not the key element. It explored how we shape the world around us, in a very anthropo-centric fashion. Yet as the two of them grew, their art changed so that humans actually became irrelevant in a way, despite still being the focus of the videos, because the humans had to change in order to create the artwork. In this way, they are making a statement about objects in that they are constants. The existence of an object is dependent on the very fact that it exists. Once something about the object changes, it is no longer the same and the original object does not exist, and will never exist again. This then plays on themes of entropy, the idea that chaos is always increasing.
Furthermore, the fact this change in perspective occurred over a length of time gives a sense of scale and temporality, which I feel fits nicely, because if you start out with your focus on one person, they are the most important factor. If you zoom out to a country or even the whole planet, it is the species of humanity as a conglomerate that has the importance, not the individual. Then, if you zoom out even further to comprehend the entire Universe, then, well, we are entirely irrelevant.
Whilst this got a bit deep, these themes run under a guise of humour. Exploring meaningful ideas but diluting and ridiculing them is exactly what I want to do: I want to challenge the notions of masculinity and respective sexuality, but by making people laugh/ feel uncomfortable (depends on the people really).
Text
Sculptural Condition- Lecture, 11/11/19
Bruce McLean, 'Pose Work for Plinths', 1971
The mid to late-20th century was a period where the very notion of sculpture was put to question. In this set of photographs, McLean's body becomes the piece of art, twisted into unusual shapes to fit on the plinths to create a humorous set of images. The purpose of these images was to mock "the pompous monumentality of Henry Moore's large plinth based reclining sculptures" (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mclean-pose-work-for-plinths-i-t03273). Whilst I am a fan of Moore's work, I can appreciate the frustration British artists must have felt when he was used as the benchmark for British sculpture, because although the forms are abstracted and warped, the process of making them is very similar to traditional sculptural practices. In terms of plinths, they are used as a convention for sculpture in much the same way frames are used as conventions for paintings: they raise the work up, giving it perceived importance and value. Hence by placing himself on plinths, McLean gives the notion of 'people as sculptures' relevance, yet also ridicules the notion that the value of a sculpture should be determined by what it stands on.
This work is one of the many from the lecture that have inspired me to use my own body as part of the sculpture. It is something I have never done before, hence it is entirely out of my comfort zone (especially seeing as I'm throwing myself in at the deep end, creeping around half-naked, wanking off cones protruding from my body), but that is what I am so looking forward to.
Text
Being Human- Recommended Artist, 07/11/19
Marina Abramovic and Ulay, 'Rest Energy', 1980
There is undoubtedly a tension between the two sides of my piece, pulling on this one object, and it is for this reason I believe my sculpture was compared to this piece of performance art. As the still above shows, Abramovic and Ulay held a bow and arrow and used their bodies to lean back and draw the shaft, holding it so that the arrow is only a few inches from her heart. The piece is four minutes and it is painful to watch, because as time goes on, the forces exerted on their bodies start to have an impact, their arms begin to shake, and you are holding your breath, hoping they make it through. There is such a potential for death here, but what makes it even more potent is that these two people were in love, their relationship explosive and extravagant. Hence this piece could be a symbol for love's relationship with time- for some it may weaken, until it finally breaks your heart. The bow could even belong to Cupid, the potential of their love trapping them in dependency on each other. And with a relationship such as Marina's and Ulay's, it could never last, culminating in 'The Lovers', 1988, where they walked from either end of the Great Wall of China for 3 months until they met in the middle, at which point they ended their relationship.
There are so many aspects to being human integrated into this piece of work- love, dependence and death to name just a few, and so I feel it is a beautiful metaphor for the human condition: we need each other to survive and to love, but times change and love fades, and so we need to move on when the situation is not beneficial to us.
Text
Being Human- 05/11/19, Lecture (04/11/19)
Pierre Huyghe, 'After ALife Ahead', 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWre6dlUAbo - a video of the piece
This is such a monumental piece of work that it is tricky to think how one would even start talking about it, but I guess the location is a good place to start. He wanted a space "to grow the work to the condition I want it to grow... The museum is a place of separation, in a certain way, and I need a place of community. That's why I need that site- whatever that site is." (http://www.artnews.com/2017/06/26/constant-displacement-pierre-huyghe-on-his-work-at-skulptur-projekte-munster-2017/). In fact, it is contained inside an old ice rink, due to be demolished, but he has completely restructured its nature as a place by digging it up, reshaping it, and adding a vast array of different elements, from algae growing in ponds, a beehive (complete with bees) and a sea-snail, of which the pattern on its shell controls the opening of sections of the roof. From the moment of construction finishing, it was then left to grow on its own accord, and causing parameters o shift respectively.
Huyghe created a very complicated system, where different elements of the piece control and affect others. I feel that in this sense, he has created a maquette of planet Earth. He has summarised the different features of the world - life, growth, the weather/ other natural processes, and of course humans, and "confined" (although not really, in truth, this is quite an open system) to this derelict space. Hence one could argue that Huyghe views the world as abandoned and sentenced to destruction by the inhabitants that move the most through it and have the greatest impact on it (people). Furthermore, the piece had a lifespan - it was taken down after 100 days. Is this symbolic of how our planet is on a countdown to destruction? Quite possibly.
I enjoy how this piece changes with time, shaping its own future. Time, especially the notion of the future, is very relevant to the work I am making, but it is interesting to compare a work which it very dynamic to mine for which stasis is a key feature. Perhaps mine is more pessimistic, as I imply something has to give in order for something to change, whereas this work suggests change will happen on it own accord, in its own way.
Text
Being Human- 04/11/19
Yinka Shonibare, 'Refugee Astronaut', 2019, @ the 'Being Human' exhibition in the Wellcome Collection (visited on 01/11/19)
In this exhibition, the 'Refugee Astronaut' strides across the room in a beautiful printed space-suit, carrying along a net of it's possessions which seems to be hastily put together. Hence automatically, there is a sense of urgency here, a sense that this figure is running away from disaster. It describes a displacement, people being forced into the great unknown (comparable to space in this sense) to avoid the consequences of whatever is happening, in this case, the impacts of climate change:
"It is in one sense a warning. It's trying to imagine what could happen if we don't do something about rising water levels and the displacement of people." (a quote from the artist, found on https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/XYofFREAACQAp-Vl)
Furthermore, the patterns on the suit are very reminiscent to those created by many African and Asian cultures, a good number of which are coastal and/ or LICs (Low Income Countries). This suggests that climate change is going to affect the poorest in our society the most (which it will and is doing now), as it will destroy the livelihoods of local people as their land floods and soils become saturated with salt water in coastal regions, and land will become arid (desertification) in more inland regions. Either way these people need to escape, and this work is symbolic of their plight.
The space suit is perhaps the most interesting part of this piece of work, because traditionally they are symbols of curiosity and exploration, but by being used in this way, it has become ironic. There is no hope or joy in this adventure, it is forced and necessary for the survival of these people. In a way it mocks more developed societies, because they are so obsessed with the future and discovering new things to the extent that they lose focus of the current issues such as climate change and global poverty, and do little to help solve these crises.
This provides an interesting link with the work I am creating too. I am using ideas from physics (magnetism, electricity with the welding) as well as creating quite a robotic form to be a symbol for human progress, yet the object I will trap in the magnetic field will be held in stasis as a symbol for where we are in society: we are constantly looking forward, but neglecting the things that need to happen now.