Reused Rummage

When I asked myself to describe an installation, I decided that I feel an installation is some form of art that is in a location that compliments the subject matter within the piece. The piece can be interactive, 3D or 2D but it should give the viewer a feeling of some sort, almost an involvement or memory that they can carry away with them.

In this final project, I decided to continue from my previous 48 hour project and make it a month project. I collected all the wasted materials and vinyl that we would normally throw out at work and my coworkers and I collaborated the waste into a work of art. It was more fun than I expected and it was a lot more interactive than any project that I have ever conducted before. I think this project was a huge step for me and my “safe bubble” that I usually create for myself and my artwork until it is complete. 

The Space: The space I chose is important because it reflects the origin of the material that I used for the project, and the fact that it is where the wasted material is usually taken and discarded made it even better. 

Goals:  The goals I had in mind for this project was to in a way, capture time, use a material or materials that would be wasted if not used for this project, and also to collaborate with other artists in a group project who happened to my co-workers. 

Artists:  The artists that I have researched for this project all have to do with either reusing materials or they create art with the same materials that I used for this specific project. 

Michelle Reader creates sculptures that usually incorporate mechanical elements. These elements include old working parts of toys and clocks. She finds her material in the city, on this side of the road and in thrift shops.

http://www.michelle-reader.co.uk/Home.html

Tim Noble and Sue Webster are a duo that makes what they call, Shadow Sculptures. They create a giant heap of trash that they find from anywhere and everywhere and after light is projected upon the trash, the shadow that is projected creates an incredibly detailed images of profiles of the two artists, landscapes, animals, and much more. Most of the time, the trash that is collected resembles the concept of what the shadow that is projected entails, such as in their “Dirty White Trash (with Gulls)” piece, the trash consisted of the remains of everything they needed to survive for the entire six months that it took them to create the sculpture itself.

http://www.timnobleandsuewebster.com

Jim Lambie is well known for his colorful tape patterns that he arranges on floors of galleries and museums. He sometimes uses vinyl material because of its shiny appearance and the bright colors it brings to his work. He tries to transform “a quiet gallery space into an energetic and emotional space of sensory pleasure.” Lambie hopes to achieve rhythm that vibrates and pulsates and even sometimes confuses or disorients his viewers.

http://www.antonkerngallery.com/artist/jim-lambie

Materials Used: The materials used for this project are intermediate, reflective, translucent, and etch vinyl and corrugated board (coroplast). 

Boundaries/Structures

The objective of this assignment was to create an installation that explored the concept of boundaries and structures while utilizing a 9′ x 60″ piece of paper. 

Trying to find one’s personal boundaries and structures can either be easily utilized, or it could become a very abstract idea.  I found my thoughts of my own personal boundaries and structures to be hard to perceive in a large detailed drawing, and if it were rendered in a drawing, it may of made sense to myself or to my family, but I found that the concept would have been very hard to understand from a viewer who didn’t really know me or my background.

I wanted to show that my boundaries and structures are all within an “invisible frame” because they are boundaries and structures that are not necessarily visible. They are things such as going to college and getting a good degree, but they are not actual rules that you have to follow, people and society just do.  

I decided that since I had such an abstract idea, that it would only be right to make the project itself abstract.  I took the large sheet of paper that we were given to work with and cut many organic shapes out of it and arranged them all on the wall to get a feel for what I wanted the finished product to look like. 

After I made the shapes the sizes I wanted, I drew lines on them and wrote on the backs so that later, I could match them up and place them back on the wall as they were before.

To make my idea a reality, I made the shapes that were within the frame “cool” colors; green, blues and purples. I then showed the shapes that made it out of the frame warm colors; red, orange and yellow, to show that those were the things we aren’t “supposed” to do.

I am happy with the way this project turned out.  I really enjoy the abstract composition along with the organic shapes.  

 

 

 

“Old Drawing”

The objective of this project was to create a drawing that was inspired by a previous drawing or piece that we did and transform it into an installation.  To take a two-demensional drawing and turn it into a three-demensional installation.

My personal definition of installation is that the piece needs to give you an experience that you can be apart of.  It could be interactive, it could be something that changes or moves, or it could even be something that changes over time.  It has to be something that you cannot capture in two-demensional form.  I feel like you should be able to walk away with more of an experience than just an observation.  

One of my last projects was a self-portrait that I drew of me sitting under a tree sketching.  I put a lot of time and detail into myself, but the tree in the piece didn’t get enough attention to detail as it should have.  I felt like I could redeem myself by taking that tree and transforming it into it’s own piece.

I chose to draw on the wall with pastel and add in grass, a blanket, some fruit and books to set the stage of an actual environment. I wanted to make the tree an actual environment, to make you feel like you could go and sit down and either sketch, read, or even just to give you a place to relax. 

The original piece was supposed to be an inviting and welcoming scene, in which the grass, blanket and food did just that.  However, the tree ended up transforming without being intentional.  It turned out to be a bit more eerie and unpleasant.  The tree branches took the form of an abstracted hand reaching up into the sky from the ground.  Despite the sinister look of the tree, I found that I actually liked it a little more than if it were all welcoming like it was originally supposed to be.

 It is almost like a trap; some books lying around on a comfy blanket with some food to eat, but here, next to it all, is a creepy tree that makes you want to reconsider even coming near. If I wanted to change the mood to become more approachable, I could have added some more warm color to the tree or even had some nice music playing in the background.  It could have more movement in the tree like a squirrel or birds and even a sky in the background could have changed the mood of the whole scene.  

 

With all the ways I could have “improved” the more important thing to me is; it didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to.  Somewhere in the middle of picking up the pastels and rubbing away with the blending stump, something happened.  Not something that I meant to happen, but something that was meant to happen.  

I learned from this piece, in more ways than one.  I am glad I was able to create an environment all on my own and it was something that I could have never accomplished with just a two-demensional drawing that would have been framed and hung on the wall. This piece made you feel like you were somewhere else, either a welcoming or creepy feeling, it still put you somewhere you were not before.  That to me, is what made it an installation. 

“One doesn’t arrive-in words or in art- by necessarily knowing where one is going.  In every work of art something appears that does not previously exist, and so, by default, you work from what you know to what you don’t know.  You may set out for New York, but you may find yourself, as I did, in Ohio.”  -Ann Hamilton 

 

Project 4: Craft

Fellers Company: Watch a tutorial of an actual car wrap!

The craft I would like to portray through this project is the craft of vinyl.  It is a newer material and craft, but it does take some sort of skill and a lot of patience and technique to be really good at it.  Anyone can take and apply a bumper sticker to a car, but how many people can apply a car wrap or even weed lettering, mask the image and then apply it well on a surface such as a wall, the floor, or a sign.

I chose this craft because it’s something that I have been doing everyday for almost 4 years.  It’s not only my job, but my dad taught me how to do this when I was just little, so it’s more than just work for me, it’s a family tradition, it’s memories.

This craft started mainly with bumper stickers. It is so popular because it’s easy to apply and it comes off well.  It has progressed along so far since the beginning and now almost everyone has some sort of vinyl decal on their vehicle window, and everyone has seen signs that take a lot of vinyl to make.

This craft is more or less showing progression from people just painting their own signs and trying to get every letter the right size and font.  Now it’s so easy for people to come in and personalize their business sign or vehicle and not only do they get what they want, but the people creating the designs get to test themselves and make things that have never been seen before.

Today’s thought:

” I have no special talent.  I am only passionately curious.” -Albert Einstein

Citizenship: What Does it Mean to be a Citizen?

I had no clue what I was going to do to portray how I felt or what it meant to me to be a citizen. This topic seemed very broad and I was very unsure about it. The class discussions really helped me after awhile though, as we talked about activists and witnesses I began to start thinking things through a little differently.

I don’t necessarily consider myself an “activist” I try to blend as much as possible actually. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have an opinion. I believe that everyone in their own way is an activist and a witness. Some people choose to stand up for what they believe in with full force and some of us who don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves simply keep our thoughts to ourselves.

If there is something posted on facebook or other social networks or blogs that I disagree with, I may or may not state my opinion about the subject. Even if I decide to keep my statement to myself, that does not mean that I couldn’t have argued or stepped outside the crowd to say how I felt about the matter. I just chose not to. I think that because of this, a lot of people only think that they are activists if they are out there on the street with a picket sign in hand, chanting out loud so the whole world can their opinions. I think that this is a great way to get the message out there, but what about those who are secretly on their blogs every night talking about the issues that they care or don’t care about. What about those who go help at shelters on the weekends or read to a preschool class every Friday? Just because you don’t have a sign in your hand saying in big letters what you care about, does not mean that you can’t or aren’t being an activist in your own way during your own time.

WIth this project, I decided to portray this whole idea of mine in a way that the activist is seen as a superhero. Not everyone in my pictures is a full fledged superhero, but in their own little way, they each have hint of color and “activist” in them to show that there is a little activist in all of us. None of them are shouting or handcuffed to some building in protest, but it makes you wonder what they will be doing or what they have done in the past that made that color show.