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Week Twelve - Research and Development
The timber veneer we ordered arrived and Flynn and I were able to experiment with its material properties.
We tried soaking the veneer in water, shaping it with PVC pipe and drying it in the sun and with heat guns, and each process was successful in altering the shape of the veneer sheets.
We cut the sheets in half and soaked them in the large sink.
We used a variety of methods to alter the shape of the veneer, including twine, cling wrap and skewers.
We are trying to modify the timber into the shape of this design:
We should be able to use craft knives to cut the veneer into different shapes to achieve this look.
This design was inspired by the Indigenous sewn bark canoe, this image was sourced from: Edwards, R. (1972). 'Archeology Branch' Department of Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement: Build Your Own Canoe. Brisbane Retrospect.
I have created an indication of what the installation might resemble on SketchUp.
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Week Eleven - Budgeting & Sourcing
This week we are completing the budget template provided by QUT to manage our funds for the creation, management and installation of our proposed design.
Design, Materials and Fabrication
I have sourced an Australian company, Top Veneer, that sell timber veneer sheets at reasonable prices and source their timber from Australia, though they are looking to import more exotic timbers in the future. Flynn and I agree that the veneer would be a very effective product to use for our installation work.
We have chosen to use Grey Ironbark veneer as it is endemic to Barrambin and First Nations people used bark stripping as a way of building their canoes for travelling over water and for fishing.
This article is printed in a research module from Struber, B. (1978). 'Archeology Branch' Department of Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement. Brisbane Retrospect.
We would like to use natural branches or sticks that have fallen from trees as the binding joists in our forms as it will have a natural appearance and provide a contract between the thin, smooth veneer and the rough, misshapen sticks.
To adhere the work, we will require industrial glue guns and glue sticks, and for hanging we have chosen a natural jute rope.
Our aim is to create an aesthetically pleasing work that speaks to the history of the Land and pays respects to the Traditional Custodians without compromising the environment or becoming too complicated for a short term, ephemeral installation.
Installation
To tie the works at a height, we will require an extension ladder and personal safety equipment for installation. A ute is required to transport the ladder to site, and I have included all of these costs into our budget.
The labour for installation will be the artists time in kind and we will endeavour to find some willing volunteers to ensure that safety is paramount and there is always a secondary person securing the extension ladder to the ground.
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Week Ten - Site Specific Development
Flynn and I have been looking at iterations of our work and perhaps designing something more abstract in shape.
Working towards assessments two we will begin working on our PowerPoint presentation including:
Overall rationale for the work and its relationship to its site.
Impressions of site
History of site
Ecology of site
Design iterations
Final conclusion
How it in some way acknowledges/respects/accords with aspects of the indigenous history/context of the site and/or its broader general locality.
Indigenous relationship to Country
Lands being seeded and drastically modified and damage done to the environment
The original use for the land and its ecology
Acknowledgment of traditional owners
Any additional social/ecological context (above)
Reintroduction of water
Provides urban cooling
Drainage and habitat for reinstating wildlife
Attracts and allows for reintroduction of native birds and aquatic species.
Rewilding the reinstatement of flora and ecosystems that pre-date European settlement
Photoshop image(s) of the work, in site
Still(s) captured from a 3D model of the work, in site
An eco-material analysis of the proposed artwork when fully scaled for the site
Practical details of how you would realise the work on site in ways that are safe, practical and durable for a short run (e.g. 2 weeks)
Suspension from trees is out of reach of the public.
Use of soft, ecological materials prevents any sharp edges or dense products that may cause injury.
Works secured to hero tree with rope/jute that will not damage the tree and can be easily removed at the end of the installation period.
Resources:
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Week Nine - SketchUp and Photoshop
Flynn and I have been using SketchUp and Photoshop to provide a mock up of our proposed work.
I did find it difficult to create the right shape I wanted on SketchUp so I am going to create a PNG image of the larger prototype and load it into SketchUp as an element. I watched a YouTube tutorial to learn how to do it.
This is what I created in SketchUp using an imported jacaranda tree
Flynn created these images in Photoshop
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Week Nine - Presentation and Iteration
This week we presented our research and development to the class and watching the other groups presentations was inspiring and informational as well.
I have borrowed some literature from a course on Indigenous culture from the eighties and it has been helpful in providing much needed information that I haven't found elsewhere.
There is a definite lack of research and peer reviewed papers on Barrambin and its history, so I have begun researching Tom Petrie, an English settler in Australia who grew up amongst Aboriginal people and traditions and learned the Turrabul dialect. His daughter Constance wrote a book titled 'Tom Petrie's Reminiscences of Early Queensland' (1904) that is rich with information about Meanjin.
Further work on our installation idea continued in the workshop where Flynn and I experimented with different materials.
We decided that we would like to create multiples of canoe shaped works that are suspended from the hero tree.
The canoe shapes will be hung vertically, so as not to be too literal in their boat form.
We want to pay homage to the waterland / swap that Barrambin was before it was ceeded and drained for a golf course. It was a land rich in wildlife and endemic plants that was destroyed by colonisation, the creation of a municipal dump and a golf course.
We used bamboo and rolled up kraft paper to create boat forms for experimentation.
I think the canoe's on the string are too literal to the form of the traditional Indigenous canoe, so we went with something more abstract.
This is crumpled kraft paper cut into the shape of a leave and bent down the centre. It has been secured with toothpicks at either end with hot glue so that it holds its boat shape.
This is a much larger scale version, more suitable for installation, we used twigs from the trees outside the workshop to secure the ends.
References:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/petrie-thomas-tom-4395
Petrie, C. C. (1981). Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland. Lloyd O’Niel for Currey O’Neil.
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Week Eight - Tree Installation Inspiration
This photo was taken by Chris Pommier in Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States of a large tree installed with long, billowing lengths of fabric.
The fabric is weighted down by large boulders on the ground and the top is anchored by a simple timber dowel that is thread through a hem and secured by a triangular rope join.
I find this work appealing because of the way the fabric encases the base of the tree, it swells around it and catches the breeze.
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cpommier/2504709523/in/photostream/
“Deep Breath” thread installation by Anastassia Elias - found on Pinterest.
Image source: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/68257750574013587/
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Week Eight - Artists Research
Steaphan Paton (b. 1985, Australia)
Paton is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist was born in Mildura, Victoria. He is a descendent of the Gunai and Monaro-Ngarigo peoples, and grew up in Gippsland, Victoria.
Paton’s practice focuses on colonialist disparities from an Indigenous perspective and his multidisciplinary approach to materiality lends to his diverse range of works.
His work, ‘Yours Faithfully the Sheriff, The Magistrate, The Officer in Charge’ (2016) consists of three cloaks assembled using paper, archival glue, oil pastel and synthetic polymer paint on canvas.
For installation, these works are hung ceremoniously on a simple wire stand that when wrapped in the work, resembles the human torso.
The cloaks are not made of traditional First Nation's material of possum skin, but photocopies of infringement notices.
Paton has stitched the tickets together like a quilt, the notices are for multiple unpaid council fines and infringement penalties (such as driving an unregistered vehicle) as well as outstanding warrants for arrest.
Paton is cleverly eluding the the Sovereignty of the State, Jean Bodin states in his book 'Six Books of the Commonwealth' that “the principal mark of sovereign majesty and absolute power is the right to impose laws generally on all subjects regardless of their consent" (Bodin, J. 1967).
Considering that Australia is Aboriginal Land and their cultural practices date back thousands of years, far before colonialism.
Placing Indigenous peoples in a political economy that makes them subject to penalties and threats of imprisonment for not conforming to municipal laws is inconceivable, and yet, that is the world in which we live.
The cloak is a powerful tool in this work, it is a crowing symbol of Paton reinstating himself as a rightful sovereign.
References:
Knezic, S. (2017). Sovereignty - ACCA, Melbourne - 17 December 2016 – 26 March 2017. Artlink Magazine. https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4563/sovereignty/
Bodin, J. (1967. (trans. M.J. Tooley). Six Books of the Commonwealth. P 25. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. (first published in 1576).
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Week Eight - Developing Site Specific Work
Flynn and I have site two, the ‘hero’ tree, for our site of installation. This large jacaranda tree is said to be over 100 years old and its branches have grown so low that the council have built stainless steel supports to stop them drooping onto the ground. It is currently not in flower, but in the next month or so, its purple plumage will emerge.
Our first thought is to design something that suspends from the branches of the tree. Considering the public access to the park and ensuring the installation is free from vandalism, placing our work above the ground would provide additional safety aspects.
Flynn and I both agreed on the following elements for our work:
A canoe, or leaf shaped design, woven work, rope or papyrus.
A visible spine, or central structural element, inspired by the spine in a leaf, it provides the nutrients from the centre.
Something that would incorporate the wind, perhaps a kinetic element.
Incorporate eco materials, with very little to no non-biodegradable elements, perhaps sourcing from the park itself.
Iteration One
A simple prototype dictating the branch of the tree and half leaf shaped elements that are woven or light enough to react to the wind.
Secured to the tree by a simple loop of twine, for a larger work, perhaps a jute or natural rope.
We then wove hessian strips and pinned them in place to suggest how the work would look using a natural element.
Papyrus reeds can be cut into strips and woven when wet, and dries into a translucent like paper/bark.
The gaps between the weave would allow breeze through and the elements would react to the wind.
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Week Seven - Site + Country
Our walkthrough of Barrambin gave me perspective on the natural elements of the area and with my research into the past, I discovered that Barrambin was a rich wetland that would have inhabited many species of wildlife and plants that likely don’t exist there anymore.
The council are focusing on ‘re-wilding’ the space, trying to return it to its former state by looking at indemic species of trees and plants and also investigating the wildlife that inhabit the park now and how to support their habitat.
Indigenous Australians no doubt chose Barrambin as a central meeting place due to its location from the Brisbane river and also its richness of resources.
When the land was developed into a municipal dump, years of waste accumulated beneath the soil, which was partly excavated in an archeological dig for the preparation of the Inner City Bypass in 2000.
The elements of the natural environment and the points of inspiration that we are focusing on are:
Water, the wetlands, the water table, movement, flow, direction
Hydroponic plants (reeds, papyrus, moss)
The natural breeze that tunnels through Barrambin, ‘lungs of the city’ - thinking about the human body and its reliance on oxygen provided by trees
The term ‘re-wilding’ - rebuilding a historic habitat
The cyclical nature of the Indigenous culture, time is non-linear, ancestral spirits inhabit the land, the desire to co-habitate and not dominate, respecting the earth as a living being.
Dr Danielle Hromek
Danielle’s talk was very informative and I have taken away the following points:
The history of the land is important, as is the place name - it encompasses meaning and pays homage to Country.
If you want to know more, traditional avenues of research are often unfruitful (as I have discovered) and it is best to find the Mob from the area and implore further.
The geology and soil of the land is part of the dreaming and creation process, pay attention to this.
The water and its origin are highly significant, is it fresh, salt or bitter (a combination).
Always consider your design respectfully, do not appropriate or cause offence.
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Week Seven - Assessment 2 + Indigenous Perspectives
Workshop - Barrambin Walkthrough
This week we walked through Barrambin with two gentleman from the Brisbane City Council to gain insight into the transformation of the space from a golf course to a public park.
Barrambin is recorded to have been a meeting place for not only the Brisbane Aborigines, but for large groups of travelling Aborigines within the Moreton Bay Region. It was a place to camp, hunt, meet and fight.
Barrambin (Victoria Park) has been a golf course for approximately 90 years, and before that, the land belonged to the Indigenous Aboriginal people from whom the land was ceded by British colonisers. In 1931 the land was repurposed and a nine-hole municipal golf course and clubhouse was opened by the Brisbane City Council.
An interesting piece of information is that in 1999, the golf course was leased to the new owners (the Bickle family) of the business under what is referred to as an Peppercorn Lease for $1.00. Peppercorn leases are leases where the lease payments do not reflect the fair value of the property being leased. In other words, the consideration paid by the lessee is significantly less than the fair value. (https://www.bdo.com.au/en-au/accounting-news/accounting-news-may-2017/nfps-to-recognise-peppercorn-leases)
Old Victoria Park Golf Clubhouse (later known as Pink Palace) 1931. Image source: Lost Brisbane Facebook Page
Image source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/591d35bf1b10e3036133256f/1539042155600-MDLG4MMNXX3HYGO1U82D/Victoria+Park.jpg?format=750w
After World War II (when Barrambin was used as a military base) the Brisbane Housing Commission built accommodation to house homeless returned service men, war widows and Indigenous Australians. It was referred to as a slum, the houses crowded closely together and not well maintained. I found a lot of people on Facebook who remember living in this housing with their parents after the war.
Image source: Lost Brisbane Facebook Group
I found this wonderful photograph of Barrambin that displays its original wetland geography, it is estimated to have been taken in 1900.
Image source: Lost Brisbane Facebook Group
It is very difficult to find peer reviewed information on the Indigenous Australian's history on this land and their connection to it. There is not a lot of documentation other that what has been recorded post colonisation. I have reached out to Dr Ray Kerkhove who works for UQ and is also an independent consultant who specialises in reconstructing Indigenous site histories across southern Queensland. I am hoping that Dr Kerkhove will be able to assist me with some questions about the lands geographical history.
References:
Ginn, E.G., Harris, J. Coroneos, C. (2004). How to dig a dump: strategy and research design for investigation of Brisbane’s nineteenth-century municipal dump. Iss 22(2004). P 15–26. ustralasian Historical Archaeology : Journal of the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology.
Moore, T. (2020). 'Really rich Indigenous history': Victoria Park's future to celebrate its past. The Brisbane Times. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/really-rich-indigenous-history-victoria-park-s-future-to-celebrate-its-past-20201211-p56mue.html
Moore, T. (2020). 'We are behind the times': Lord mayor promises $1m for cultural centre. The Brisbane Times. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/we-are-behind-the-times-lord-mayor-promises-1m-for-cultural-centre-20200825-p55p80.html
Website: https://www.oldmuseum.org/post/traditionalstory
Website: https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/blog/leases-peppercorn-leases
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Week Six - Artist Research
STUDIOKCA
Skyscraper, 2018. Plastic. 11.4m tall.
Image source: https://www.thesculpturepark.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Skyscraper-by-Studiokca-Plastic-Waste-Whale-Eco-Art-2019-1.jpg
Brooklyn based group 'STUDIOKCA' constructed this astonishing work using blue and white plastic that depicts a blue whale breaching the water, and its scale is life size to this beautiful mammal.
Using 5 tonnes of coastal plastic waste in it's construction, it was displayed in 2018 Bruge, Belgium.
It hopes to draw awareness to the amount of plastic waste within our oceans.
I feel this work relates to our eco principle from this weeks task, 'reuse' - the artists who constructed this work recycled plastic waste that would otherwise end up in our oceans or landfill to create a visual reminder of our impacts on the environment.
"Despite weighing it at over 5 tonnes, the plastic used in this piece represents little under 0.0000003% of the estimated amount of plastic pollution found on coastal regions and beaches globally" (https://www.thesculpturepark.com/eco-art/).
The plastic used in the piece was collected by hand over 4 months from beaches in Hawaii, and from the canals in Bruge themselves.
STUDIOKCA are an award-winning architecture and design firm led by Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang based in Brooklyn, New York with projects ranging in scale and complexity from lighting fixtures and interiors, to public installations, sculptures and buildings in New York, Vermont, Nevada, Wisconsin, Brazil, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea.
References
Website: http://www.studiokca.com/projects/skyscraper-the-bruges-whale/
Website: https://www.designboom.com/art/studiokca-whale-plastic-waste-bruges-triennale-ocean-pollution-installation-06-27-2018/
Mark Reigelman
The Reading Nest, 3.9m tall x 10.8m wide
Image source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56cbba8e746fb9f440c99f34/1456870270997-151PL1YNLW2EM6Q86FLU/readingnest-14.jpg?format=1500w
The Reading Nest was created with over 10,000 discarded wood boards found throughout Cleveland. Using materials that have been obtained from various Cleveland industrial and manufacturing sources.
New York based artist Mark Reigelman studied sculpture and industrial design at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, OH and product design at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design in London, UK. Mark is passionate about creating dynamic public installations for his hometown.
The Reading Nest acts as a visual intermediary between forest and fowl. It symbolizes growth, community and knowledge while continuing to embody these mythical roots.
This collection process reinforces the notion of community and highlights the Cleveland Public Library as a resource for everyone.
The nest is coloured in hues of gold, inspired by the legendary Griffin. This king of beasts, with the rear body of a lion and the head of wings of an eagle, is said to have made its nest of pure gold which it then had to protect ferociously.
The Griffin is regularly seen sculpted from stone and standing guard at the entrances of civic buildings including The Cleveland Public Library.
References
Website: https://www.markreigelman.com/new-page
Website: https://www.designboom.com/art/mark-reigelman-builds-reading-nest-from-10000-palette-boards/
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Week Six - Object and Site
This weeks task involved choosing two materials from the allocated list and adopting an eco-material term to formulate a work that embodied both elements in relation to one another.
I was running late to the class and so I ended up in a group of three students including Dom and Alana. As they had already begun work, I asked them about their approach and ideas and we began working as a team.
Using plywood, bamboo and jute string combined with the ethos of 'reuse' we decided to create a figurative character that was returning to the earth, hoping to create a connection with the audience, that they may see themselves in the piece.
Dom devised the face of Felix onto a discarded piece of plywood that had remnants of expanding foam on it. I used the bandsaw (for the first time!) to cut out his face and Alana constructed arms using bamboo and string.
In an effort not to waste any of the excess materials we used to cut out Felix's face, we took them outside to incorporate them into the installation.
Looking at the site, Chauvel Place, it is long and rectangular, trees are planted at regular intervals and the area is divided into sections of seated areas and grassed areas.
By perching Felix in a tree, he becomes a voyeur of the space and those who use it. He draws attention to himself and the tree; and working on the connotation that for every tree the human race cuts down, we reduce our own oxygen intake, perhaps Felix will help us reconsider that we are in fact like the tree.
Felix's legs dangle from the tree, constructed of offcuts from the plywood board and strung together with twine.
We looped the excess bamboo we had around the tree branches and used the extra twine as hair.
Working with 'REUSE', we discussed the properties of plywood and how it is unsafe for landfill due to the urea-formaldehyde glue between the layers being toxic to the earth and the air.
This led to burying Felix in the garden bed as part of our installation, perhaps this gravesite is more poignant that Felix being perched in a tree.
Using the excess bamboo and ply we created a cage over Felix's body, this repetition of the curved lines resembles a rib cage, and this figurative approach to the work will hopefully incite a reaction from the audience.
It would be interesting to experiment creating more characters and burying them in the landscape at intervals in the space.
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Week Five - Artist Research
Jon Barlow Hudson (b. 1945 USA)
Jon Barlow Hudson 'Double Helix' (2008). Stainless steel. 2.4m high and 2.4m wide and 7.5m
Image: https://rs.wescover.com/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:eco,w_500/v1/wescover-user-uploaded/gbcki8cbfvzjo0d5jqqc
Image: http://www.hudsonsculpture.com/sculpture_usa/double_helix_sculpture_1.html
Jon Barlow Hudson is an American sculptor who designed two large sculptures for the World Expo 88, held in Brisbane.
He works with a multitude of materials for his works including steel, stone, glass, copper, bronze, water and light.
His work 'Double Helix' is displayed outside the Diggs BioScience Building at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. It is made up of 38 stainless steel dodecahedra (a 10 sided prism) welded together in two independent strands.
It is large enough to walkthrough and is a figurative depiction of a Double Helix strand, related to genomics, it is the physical structure of DNA. In relation to the site, the sculpture correlates directly to BioScience.
Hudson's use of identical dodecahedrons creates a repetition of design as it curls along its plane. The stainless steel is polished in a circular manner which also lends to the stylised twist of a double helix.
The negative space between the helix provides an interval between the two strands and the tail ends supporting the weight of the work give balance to the large structure.
The scale of the work is 2.4m high and 2.4m wide and 7.5m in length.
References:
Website: http://www.hudsonsculpture.com/sculpture_usa/sculpture_usa.html
Website: https://www.sculpturecenter.org/oosi/items/show/1506
Tudor, W. (1998). Jon Barlow Hudson: Standing Firm in Ritual. Iss 21(2). P 38. Columbus: Dialogue Inc.
Siavash "Siah" Armajani (b. 1939 Iran, d. 2020 USA)
Bridge Over Tree (in Brooklyn, NY) (1970). Timber and shingles. 27.3 metres long.
Image: https://media.architecturaldigest.com/photos/5cfec0bbb451b3bf601addbc/master/w_1920%2Cc_limit/GettyImages-1128984358.jpg
Siavash "Siah" Armajani is an Iranian-born American sculptor, he is well known for his outdoor sculptures.
His work 'Bridge Over Tree' was installed in Minneapolis in 1970 and not again until 2019 in New York. It is constructed of timber trusses and a shingled roof and has a set of stairs in the centre that crosses over the top of a small evergreen tree.
The sculpture was designed to force complete strangers to pass, interact, and cooperate with one another when passing the centre of the structure.
The stairs come to a point, with no landing and so this means that those climbing the stairs will need use of both their arms and legs to commandeer it.
The repetition of the cross barred trusses creates a look of uniformity and safety. The structure appears solidly built and provides safe passage.
The interruption of the point on the walkway creates an interval for the design, a pause in its continuation, and certainly a point of interest with the evergreen tree beneath it.
The site here is significant as the work was only ever once on display and at the time in 1970, it was not seen as a work of art.
This prominent location for Armajani in Brooklyn, NY means that the work will be passed through and appreciated by hundreds of thousands of people.
Its physical construction also mirrors some elements of the other bridges located in New York City and the work assimilates well into this environment.
References:
Website: https://www.publicartfund.org/exhibitions/view/siah-armajani-bridge-over-tree/
Website: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/11-most-fascinating-public-sculptures
Masters, H. (2020). Siah Armajani. Iss15. P66. Art AsiaPacific Almanac.
McGrath, K. (2019). Siah Armajani Restages His Seminal Political Work at the Base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Architectural Digest.
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Week Five - Virtual Homework
(Virtual) INTERVAL + SITE
This weeks virtual task was my first attempt at working off a plan in SketchUp and I quite enjoyed it. It was helpful to have set parameters to work off and recreate a space I am familiar with.
I enjoyed searching for trees, shrubs and other components in the SketchUp 3D online portal; I did find that there were items that weren't well constructed and so it took a little searching to find what I needed.
I had a few issues with edges connecting and then when I needed to adjust the scale of the plane, it would warp other areas.
I had difficulty importing materials for surfaces, I could not work out where they eventuated in the program, I watched a few YouTube guides but in the end I used materials that were already in the program. I will work on investigating this issue further in future.
The sculpture that I built is a series of circular marble discs on a granite platform.
The discs are in the process of leaning and falling, giving them a sense of precariousness and lends to the theme of balance in the literal form.
The repetition of concentric circles is aesthetically pleasing and brings a softness to the rectangular design of Chauvel Place.
The use of a hard and cool material such as marble and granite juxtaposes well with the softness of the appearance of the work and proposes to the viewer that even though the circles might appear gentle in their curves and supple in their shape, they are stronger than they look.
I deliberately included a toughened glass disc amongst the marble as an interval to the design, but also to serve as a metaphor for transparency.
I have also imagined this work without the granite base, with the discs seemingly "wedged" into the grass.
I imagine that viewers might walk between the discs, and this would be an issue of scale, which I can modify fairly easily within SketchUp.
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Week Five - Interval and Repetition
This weeks studio focused on interval and repetition in teams of two (or three!) with two randomly selected materials. I really did love the wheel of fortune online spinner, thanks Genine!
Dom and I had clay and plywood, two fairly solid materials we thought, and we spoke about the site we would install before we came up with any sculptural aspects of the work.
I put forward that I would like to work off the plane, all of the work I had developed in spatial art was situated on a plane and I wanted to challenge myself, Dom agreed and suggested we build a tree house.
We chose a tree that had a wide opening (like a hug) and enough area to build a base for our sculpture.
Dom and I devised a plan for a base that would support the structure. Without the use of fixatives, we had the challenge of making the clay as adhesive and supportive as possible and we shaped a clay and plywood bracket as a base.
Once we achieved balance of the base, we spoke about how we could create repetition and negative space, we had the possibility of stacking. It is apparent to me that we created our own plane in the tree, perhaps there is some comfort of this in creating sculpture.
We began by using balance to create a repetition in pattern and also negative space. The wind was against us and blew our triangles over, and instead of correcting it, we decided to go with the natural elements of the landscape and build upon the rhythm that the weather and our site was offering.
Our tree/bird house sculpture began to take shape, and we decided to add elements to create events along the central axis. In this case we had some clay balls that a student had formed and dried, and thinking that they may go to waste, incorporated them into our work. And then the wind came…
Again, working with nature, we built upon the fallen parts of our work, and perhaps this is another form of repetition within the design.
CHALLENGES
Certainly balance was a challenge for our work and we tried several applications until we found one that worked.
The weather (wind) was an issue, our entire structure ended up falling from the tree at the end, which gave the work an ephemeral element.
Weight distribution for aesthetic balance was hard to achieve, but I think once we started working with the elements instead of against them, we found it far easier.
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Week Four - Artist Research
Kyle Janzen (b. 1984 Canada) and Chris Burke (b. 1989 Canada) (JNZNBRK)
Behaviours of Light (2013)
Acrylic, fasteners, steel wire. Dimensions Unknown.
Image source: https://architizer.com/projects/behaviours-of-light/
JNZNBRK find inspiration in the ever-changing relationship between the physical environment and digital technology.
Their work, Behaviours of Light physically examines light's inherent ability to reveal geometry, architecture, and space. I have certainly seen this in my own sculptural experiments when they are subjected to direct sunlight.
I chose this work to research as I think that the addition of light adds volume to the work and also lends to the second composition prompt on SketchUp where the work isn't adhered to the 2D ground plane.
Behaviours of Light is a transformable network constructed of thirty-nine identical acrylic triangles. The translucent acrylic was carefully chosen based on it’s embedded qualities to transmit and soften direct light.
In this image we can see that the refractive light expands in the space, giving the work conceptual volume.
Image source: https://architizer.com/projects/behaviours-of-light/
References:
Website source: https://architizer.com/projects/behaviours-of-light/
Artist website: https://jnznbrk.com/
'Analoging the Digital'. (2017). Vol 36(2). P15. Border Crossings. Arts Manitoba Publications Inc.
Lynda Benglis (b. 1941 USA)
Omega (1973)
Acrylic, enamel, glitter, and gesso on plaster and cotton bunting over aluminium mesh. 82.5 x 43.75 x 28cm
Image source: https://nwfc.pam.org/daily-art-moment-lynda-benglis/
Lynda Benglis transforms painting and sculpture into sculpted works that intertwine the two. She is a self-described "painter" (Art21 'Boundaries' segement 2012) and is well-known for her poured paint sculptures and installations.
Her work 'Omega' is what she refers to as a 'sparkle knot' where she has wound and knotted cotton that she has first adorned with colourful and sparkling mediums, around a mesh and plaster forms.
The work is reminiscent of something a child has discarded at their arts and craft table; an item that wasn't given a second thought, but has its own inherent beauty.
I think Benglis' work has a sense of volume that morphs and changes each time you reposition your view of the work. Your eye follows the lines (line + direction!) but it's folding and revealing of itself takes up space with its mass.
References:
Website: http://barbaraisherwoodarteducation.blogspot.com/2015/03/they-live-irresistible-art-of-lynda.html
Art21 'Boundaries' video: https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s6/lynda-benglis-in-boundaries-segment/#:~:text=A%20video%20pioneer%20and%20sculptor,perceptions%20of%20movement%20and%20gravity.
Richmond, S. (2019). Lynda Benglis: Beyond Process. I.B. Tauris, London.
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Week Four - Virtual Homework
Task 6 Volume + Proportion II + Site
Composition One
This is my rendering of a sculpture using timber and strengthened glass. It is housed in a dug out, basement style area, perhaps outside a gallery or architectural building.
The volume has been achieved by creating multiple facets to the design and also by creating an identical, smaller scale structure that is leaning on the larger, upright one. This increased the surface area of the plane and creates a larger sense of scale.
The viewer is looking at the sculpture from a platform and the depth created here will also increase the sense of volume to the audience.
Composition Two
This is my installation that is not locked to the 2D ground plane. I created a glass ceiling and wall behind so that the sculpture had a sense of place, but it wasn't necessarily overly figurative.
The elements I created allowed me to use the follow me tool, I watched a few YouTube tutorials on how to create pipes with bends, and how to change a tube into a cone prism using the pie tool.
The texture of my overlapping installation is a poured and raked concrete, I felt that it lent a sense of direction and line and also game the prisms are more voluminous appearance.
The spouts of "water" protruding from the bottom pipe are rendered with a water tool, and the multifaceted edges appear like a diamond shape, reflecting light at all angles. My goal was for this element to appear as though it was flowing down from the top of the sculpture.
Gravity and anchoring certainly aren't present here, the sculpture is free floating in its plane, appearing weightless though its formal properties imply a substantial burden on gravity.
CHALLENGES
I found that selecting an object that wasn't part of a group, but was physically connected was quite difficult, as the selection tool would pick up lines from another prism that I didn't want to copy or move. My solution to this would be to make all of the prisms separately away from my model and then drag them over and position them when I am ready.
I had some navigation issues where the program would zoom so far into my project that I was scrolling the mouse for quite a while to get it back to a normal view. I need to learn the shortcut to zoom back to regular view.
I enjoyed using the texture tool, though I found it hard to isolate colour in certain areas, I think it had to do with my grouping at the beginning.
SketchUp is the kind of software where you need to have an outline of what you want to achieve from the beginning because it isn't overly forgiving if you haven't organised your prisms into groups at the start. I will keep working with it to master it!
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