Friday, May 21, 2010
Assignment 1: Ephemeral/ Site
I felt the ambient audio was very important to this work so I attached it to this posting. The work created was inspired by River and Tides and Andy Goldsworthy. I took natural pieces from my natural surroundings to create this Ephemeral/Site. I had nothing in mind, as this was created from the subconscious, stimulated by environmental noise. What I ended up with is a structure of some sort, with the base being the focal point of the piece. I am not sure why I chose to build up with the three twigs, as a majority of the time I was working flatly. I also added a stone to the middle of the piece, as I felt it needed some weight and stability.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
May 20th Walk 2: Deadwood, South Dakota
There is nothing more desirable to mankind than that of the sounds of clanking chips permeating from a brightly lit casino. For this "desire lines" walk, I was fortunate, or one could say unfortunate, to be in Deadwood, South Dakota; famous for being the place where Wild Bill Hitchcock faced his fate with the "deadman's hand", a hand I basically faced myself. Walking the streets, in and out of casinos, loosing black jack hand after black jack hand, it was very apparent what the desire lines of this area were. As my chips (desires to win) were fading away, my dad who was down to his last two chips, with the intent of just calling it a night, turned his shortcomings into a miracle.
The human fascination with gambling goes hand in hand with that of desire. The street designers of Deadwood, lining both sides with casino after casino, tapped directly into the human psyche for this purpose. Without having to think, the gamblers path is set for him/her. Subconsciously the visitors of Deadwood follow this path, blindly spending upwards of thousands of dollars to fulfill their desire; this being the fantasy of walking home with riches.
I felt this was a perfect place to experience the lines of desire. My own desire ended up costing me $100, but I still had a good time. Below are pictures of my father and I's experience with these lines, teaching us both a lesson that Hitchcock himself learned. Desire, if too abundant, can lead to despair.
The human fascination with gambling goes hand in hand with that of desire. The street designers of Deadwood, lining both sides with casino after casino, tapped directly into the human psyche for this purpose. Without having to think, the gamblers path is set for him/her. Subconsciously the visitors of Deadwood follow this path, blindly spending upwards of thousands of dollars to fulfill their desire; this being the fantasy of walking home with riches.
I felt this was a perfect place to experience the lines of desire. My own desire ended up costing me $100, but I still had a good time. Below are pictures of my father and I's experience with these lines, teaching us both a lesson that Hitchcock himself learned. Desire, if too abundant, can lead to despair.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
River and Tides Analysis
Because Goldsworthy works in nature, using it as his media and as his location, he must rely on conditions that will allow him to construct his works. Often times, nature does not play nice, such as all of a sudden the area becoming too windy, or an increase in tide, in the case of some of his works. This results in a destruction of his pieces, making him either redo them, waiting for conditions to be right again, or giving up and moving on.
There is going to be commonality at all of his locations; common trends of the way the landscape is formed, nature works, etc... These patterns are common in a specific location, as well as locations compared. He knows this because he learns from trial and errors, making new observations about nature with each project. But, he also understands that nature is also delicate, diverse, and unpredictable, allowing for unfamiliarity; due to change over time or location, affecting condition. He embraces the familiar and accepts the unfamiliar, as that is the essence of nature.
Andy Goldworthy’s excitement for potential is referencing the potential for the unexpected. At this part in the movie, he is creating an ice sculpture and then realizes how it has become illuminated by the sunset, unexpectedly. Nature works this way with its synergy of the elements, physics, and most importantly, of time. These moments, I feel, are the key to the beauty in nature and I think Goldsworthy would agree. When one is pleasantly surprised, it adds a whole new level of experience and emotion to what you are witnessing.
Goldsworthy is obviously referencing the circle of life with his statement when saying that the very thing that can bring something to life, causes its death; Live by the sword, die by the sword, to be cliché. What is most being referenced I feel here is the key element and theme of his work, and that is time. Time allows for the environment to become what it is at that moment, working with nature, forming these locations and the life forms that live within them. Again, things grow over time, but then reach a certain point and die over time. In this particular seen he references water and its traits within nature and time. Water can be liquid, it can be solid, or it can be gas. The changes from these forms to each other can be seen as a rebirth or a death. Ice is water that has been frozen over time. Eventually time, affecting temperature, will turn this ice back into liquid water.
Destruction is more subjective than that of mutation, shift and evolution. In that, destruction can be seen as the creation of another event, or object. I feel it is a matter of opinion. For example, the rain forests are being cut down. Those cutting it down see it as a new life for the space, a new use for the space. Whereas an environmentalist is horrified that the natural habitat is disrupted, causing its destruction. This also occurs with that of life and death. The start of life itself can be seen as new beginning, a new birth. Whereas another could see it as the start of a death or the start of consumption, often associated with destruction. Like life, death has this duality. It can be seen as the end of life, referencing destruction, or it can be seen as a rebirth into the Earth and nature, replenishing the land of which you lived off of.
Mutation, shift, and evolution are objective. These reference a change; whether it be a change over time, a change in physicality, or a change of emotionality. Change is increase or change is decrease. It is a mutation of an original specified state; the evolution of an object or a feeling or an event.
With ephemeral works, you have to accept creation and destruction. This is also to be said with life. You have to accept change, and mutation and evolution. This is all because of time and the way it works within natures boundaries, or I guess the way nature works within times boundaries. We can do all we can to try to stop the inevitable, but nature does not allow for that to happen.
Time allows for experience and observation. This is what learning is. And in reference to place, time allows for a gaining of familiarity of your environment, its elements, and its happenings. The more time you have experienced, the more you have observed, the more you have failed, the more you have succeeded, the more you have learned. But, nothing is infinite, thus nothing is all knowing, allowing always for growth of experience. If you have this understanding, then you should never expect anything to be exactly as you wanted it to be, as there are always conditions that are out of your control. This, in reference to art, allows for a certain randomness; a surprise; a change of the original thought or idea or object or happening. The acceptance of this is the key to an expanded creativity in art, as you can never be disappointed if you accept what time and nature has controlled.
The unfamiliar is the only way one can learn something new. This is obvious. If you always succeed, you know what you are doing, and you are never learning. A mistake allows for time to rethink, to redo, to change approach, whilst still wanting that final result. The failure tells you that this not the way to go about things; that this incorrect and adjustments must be made. Childhood is a great example of this natural growth in nature. A kid touches a hot flame. He burns his hand. He either chooses to do it again, having the same results as the first time. Or, he never touches a hot flame on purpose again. Either decision, unless the kid is an imbecile, allows for a lesson, an experience to be had. Some of us get it the first time, the second, the third or the fourth. But at some point, if failure continues than a change in behavior must be made if it is your goal to progress as a human being and continue learning. Without failure, there is no such thing as success.
I feel that place is very important with Goldworthy’s works and a museum takes away from this. As it is a controlled environment, the museum does not allow nature to have a part; evolving or destroying his work. The museum takes away nature and it takes away the element of time, at least in their natural states. The museum forces him only to work with his previous knowledge, not allowing him to grow and experience, succeed and fail; the purpose of his journey and the purpose of his art.
Preconception does not allow for objective truth. With preconception, one already knows what they want to take away from an experience, thus defeating the purpose of the experience itself. This diminishes learning and knowledge and the journey we must take to achieve these things. Keeping an open mind, an unimpressioned mind, will allow for a person to take in an experience for its natural truth, allowing for a full understanding, giving a person the entire lesson to be had. As far as the sheep go, to gain the true reality of the sheep, we must remove our own associations and uses of the sheep. We see the sheep as a dumb animal that we use for wool production, or meat, or milk. We do not respect the sheep for its actual being, its own life and maybe how we affect it rather than it affects us. Humans are often selfish, thinking only about themselves and not the perception of others.
Before referencing Joe Sternfel’s “On This Site” I am going to comment with my own experience. Time is change. Change leaves a trail; a difference. There are always signs of what once was, a natural historical marker. Whether it be layers in the dirt, mountains formed by moving water and glaciers or even a tree stump, the negative space of now fills in the positive space of the past. Joe Sternfel’s work documents this negative space, this offness as we perceive it. The term site of tragedy is used and tragedy is perceived negative change. But, change is not always a bad thing, as change can also improve. By taking away, something can also be added; a new observation or perception or understanding.
I think a key point and theme that Goldsworthy employs is to not only expect the unexpected, but to embrace it as it is just nature taking its course. What happens, happens because that is how time and nature intended it to be. Learn to be more observant of time and the elements of nature, and this will expand your own human experience on this Earth. Be mindful that you are not always in control of the final result.
There is going to be commonality at all of his locations; common trends of the way the landscape is formed, nature works, etc... These patterns are common in a specific location, as well as locations compared. He knows this because he learns from trial and errors, making new observations about nature with each project. But, he also understands that nature is also delicate, diverse, and unpredictable, allowing for unfamiliarity; due to change over time or location, affecting condition. He embraces the familiar and accepts the unfamiliar, as that is the essence of nature.
Andy Goldworthy’s excitement for potential is referencing the potential for the unexpected. At this part in the movie, he is creating an ice sculpture and then realizes how it has become illuminated by the sunset, unexpectedly. Nature works this way with its synergy of the elements, physics, and most importantly, of time. These moments, I feel, are the key to the beauty in nature and I think Goldsworthy would agree. When one is pleasantly surprised, it adds a whole new level of experience and emotion to what you are witnessing.
Goldsworthy is obviously referencing the circle of life with his statement when saying that the very thing that can bring something to life, causes its death; Live by the sword, die by the sword, to be cliché. What is most being referenced I feel here is the key element and theme of his work, and that is time. Time allows for the environment to become what it is at that moment, working with nature, forming these locations and the life forms that live within them. Again, things grow over time, but then reach a certain point and die over time. In this particular seen he references water and its traits within nature and time. Water can be liquid, it can be solid, or it can be gas. The changes from these forms to each other can be seen as a rebirth or a death. Ice is water that has been frozen over time. Eventually time, affecting temperature, will turn this ice back into liquid water.
Destruction is more subjective than that of mutation, shift and evolution. In that, destruction can be seen as the creation of another event, or object. I feel it is a matter of opinion. For example, the rain forests are being cut down. Those cutting it down see it as a new life for the space, a new use for the space. Whereas an environmentalist is horrified that the natural habitat is disrupted, causing its destruction. This also occurs with that of life and death. The start of life itself can be seen as new beginning, a new birth. Whereas another could see it as the start of a death or the start of consumption, often associated with destruction. Like life, death has this duality. It can be seen as the end of life, referencing destruction, or it can be seen as a rebirth into the Earth and nature, replenishing the land of which you lived off of.
Mutation, shift, and evolution are objective. These reference a change; whether it be a change over time, a change in physicality, or a change of emotionality. Change is increase or change is decrease. It is a mutation of an original specified state; the evolution of an object or a feeling or an event.
With ephemeral works, you have to accept creation and destruction. This is also to be said with life. You have to accept change, and mutation and evolution. This is all because of time and the way it works within natures boundaries, or I guess the way nature works within times boundaries. We can do all we can to try to stop the inevitable, but nature does not allow for that to happen.
Time allows for experience and observation. This is what learning is. And in reference to place, time allows for a gaining of familiarity of your environment, its elements, and its happenings. The more time you have experienced, the more you have observed, the more you have failed, the more you have succeeded, the more you have learned. But, nothing is infinite, thus nothing is all knowing, allowing always for growth of experience. If you have this understanding, then you should never expect anything to be exactly as you wanted it to be, as there are always conditions that are out of your control. This, in reference to art, allows for a certain randomness; a surprise; a change of the original thought or idea or object or happening. The acceptance of this is the key to an expanded creativity in art, as you can never be disappointed if you accept what time and nature has controlled.
The unfamiliar is the only way one can learn something new. This is obvious. If you always succeed, you know what you are doing, and you are never learning. A mistake allows for time to rethink, to redo, to change approach, whilst still wanting that final result. The failure tells you that this not the way to go about things; that this incorrect and adjustments must be made. Childhood is a great example of this natural growth in nature. A kid touches a hot flame. He burns his hand. He either chooses to do it again, having the same results as the first time. Or, he never touches a hot flame on purpose again. Either decision, unless the kid is an imbecile, allows for a lesson, an experience to be had. Some of us get it the first time, the second, the third or the fourth. But at some point, if failure continues than a change in behavior must be made if it is your goal to progress as a human being and continue learning. Without failure, there is no such thing as success.
I feel that place is very important with Goldworthy’s works and a museum takes away from this. As it is a controlled environment, the museum does not allow nature to have a part; evolving or destroying his work. The museum takes away nature and it takes away the element of time, at least in their natural states. The museum forces him only to work with his previous knowledge, not allowing him to grow and experience, succeed and fail; the purpose of his journey and the purpose of his art.
Preconception does not allow for objective truth. With preconception, one already knows what they want to take away from an experience, thus defeating the purpose of the experience itself. This diminishes learning and knowledge and the journey we must take to achieve these things. Keeping an open mind, an unimpressioned mind, will allow for a person to take in an experience for its natural truth, allowing for a full understanding, giving a person the entire lesson to be had. As far as the sheep go, to gain the true reality of the sheep, we must remove our own associations and uses of the sheep. We see the sheep as a dumb animal that we use for wool production, or meat, or milk. We do not respect the sheep for its actual being, its own life and maybe how we affect it rather than it affects us. Humans are often selfish, thinking only about themselves and not the perception of others.
Before referencing Joe Sternfel’s “On This Site” I am going to comment with my own experience. Time is change. Change leaves a trail; a difference. There are always signs of what once was, a natural historical marker. Whether it be layers in the dirt, mountains formed by moving water and glaciers or even a tree stump, the negative space of now fills in the positive space of the past. Joe Sternfel’s work documents this negative space, this offness as we perceive it. The term site of tragedy is used and tragedy is perceived negative change. But, change is not always a bad thing, as change can also improve. By taking away, something can also be added; a new observation or perception or understanding.
I think a key point and theme that Goldsworthy employs is to not only expect the unexpected, but to embrace it as it is just nature taking its course. What happens, happens because that is how time and nature intended it to be. Learn to be more observant of time and the elements of nature, and this will expand your own human experience on this Earth. Be mindful that you are not always in control of the final result.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
May 18th Walk 1: Colorado Springs Airforce Training Academy
Today's walk was taken at the Colorado Spring's Airforce Training Academy, as it was a destination on a road trip my father and I are taking back to Ohio. Walking through the academy, I had my SLR and a Voice Recorder in hand, mapping the experience I had. Posted below is a satellite image of the base, that I obviously did not take, but it is there to give an general idea on the size of this location.
Also below is a PowerPoint presentation containing 200+ images I took while visually mapping this base. Below it is an embedded audio recording of over an hour, mapping the sound. Play the sound, then start the slide show.
It was a very strange experience as I had never been to such a location. My expectations were exceeded and under exceeded at the same time. When first arriving, they have you pull up straight to the visitor center, which is essentially just a gift shop. This bothered me to the point of frustration. I did not expect to see such commercialism at such a location. Thrown right in your face, prior to even seeing the complex, you are expected to spend money on worthless crap stamped with the air force logo on it, rather than first appreciate what is happening at the complex.
After leaving the "visitor center" I proceeded to take a self guided tour around the base. The surroundings were breath taking. Luscious green mountains, clean Colorado air, and a slight haze of fog.
The complex itself was enormous, thus it was a perfect place to take this mapping walk. Composed of dormitories, training facilities, and mess halls, everything you would expect to be at an academy was there. From viewing posts, we were able to see soldiers in training, reminding me of my marching band days; marching back and forth, saluting, the usual. After watching these guys and gals for a bit, and talking with a few of them them, I continued my walk.
What was most fascinating to me was the large religious building seated at the center of the complex. At first glance, this structure was beautiful. But when investigated, I found many problems with its existence. The church was made of four floors. The top, largest, and most decorated floor being for the protestants. The floor underneath for the Catholics; the floor underneath that for the Buddhist and the Jews, and a supposed fourth floor for Muslims, of which I was unable to locate after strolling around the building for about a half hour. I found this building to be one of the most offensive pieces of religious architecture I have ever seen, yet aesthetically it was beautiful. To me, it represented the religious hierarchy present in not only our military, but in our society. I was thoroughly discouraged at the unfairness that this building represented, to the point where it ruined my entire experience.
Overall, I would say this was more of a mapping of a personal experience by use of visual, audio and emotion. I was glad I was able to be at such an interesting place for such experience and I feel like I learned a lot about myself, as well as our military, and our country.
START THIS AUDIO: It takes a moment to load, so be patient.
THEN START THIS SLIDESHOW
Also below is a PowerPoint presentation containing 200+ images I took while visually mapping this base. Below it is an embedded audio recording of over an hour, mapping the sound. Play the sound, then start the slide show.
It was a very strange experience as I had never been to such a location. My expectations were exceeded and under exceeded at the same time. When first arriving, they have you pull up straight to the visitor center, which is essentially just a gift shop. This bothered me to the point of frustration. I did not expect to see such commercialism at such a location. Thrown right in your face, prior to even seeing the complex, you are expected to spend money on worthless crap stamped with the air force logo on it, rather than first appreciate what is happening at the complex.
After leaving the "visitor center" I proceeded to take a self guided tour around the base. The surroundings were breath taking. Luscious green mountains, clean Colorado air, and a slight haze of fog.
The complex itself was enormous, thus it was a perfect place to take this mapping walk. Composed of dormitories, training facilities, and mess halls, everything you would expect to be at an academy was there. From viewing posts, we were able to see soldiers in training, reminding me of my marching band days; marching back and forth, saluting, the usual. After watching these guys and gals for a bit, and talking with a few of them them, I continued my walk.
What was most fascinating to me was the large religious building seated at the center of the complex. At first glance, this structure was beautiful. But when investigated, I found many problems with its existence. The church was made of four floors. The top, largest, and most decorated floor being for the protestants. The floor underneath for the Catholics; the floor underneath that for the Buddhist and the Jews, and a supposed fourth floor for Muslims, of which I was unable to locate after strolling around the building for about a half hour. I found this building to be one of the most offensive pieces of religious architecture I have ever seen, yet aesthetically it was beautiful. To me, it represented the religious hierarchy present in not only our military, but in our society. I was thoroughly discouraged at the unfairness that this building represented, to the point where it ruined my entire experience.
Overall, I would say this was more of a mapping of a personal experience by use of visual, audio and emotion. I was glad I was able to be at such an interesting place for such experience and I feel like I learned a lot about myself, as well as our military, and our country.
START THIS AUDIO: It takes a moment to load, so be patient.
THEN START THIS SLIDESHOW
Walk 1 May 18th
View more presentations from Matt Shifrin.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Mapping|This American Life Analysis
The purpose of listening to this audio recording was to obviously open up our senses. Learn to use not just our eyes, or just our ears, or just our nose, or just our hands, or just our tongue, but to merge them all. Keeping all of our senses open will allow us as individuals and as artists to experience the world in new ways, giving us new perspectives that once were hidden.I found parts of this recording interesting as I had no idea of the world of maps beyond my own preconceived idea of what a map was. I myself am guilty of not going beyond the road map when thinking of what a map is and was absolutely astounded by the first act of the recording. As I just ended a road trip with my dad, I was so focused on the visual roadmap and nothing else. I had no idea that there were these people so interested in mapping every little detail of their neighborhoods and towns, not mapping for the sole purpose of just to get from one place to another, but to gain new insight of where they live; where certain things exist, how they exist amongst each other. The second act was also profound in that I am a musician and never opened my ears in this way. I have found myself in the past humming to the refrigerator but never expanded beyond that. I thought it was a weird thing I did personally. After listening, my mind was expanded. My ears were now more open. I went on to find the tonal mapping of my own kitchen and was astounded by what I heard.
Beyond these two acts, I didn’t find the rest of the recording that interesting, though I still understand its purpose. The electronic nose seemed a little pointless and seemed to vary away from the idea of mapping. The fourth act annoyed me as it was hard to pay attention to such a hypochondriac. I feel like the idea of mapping through touch can be expanded much more beyond than what was talked about. I wished they had interviewed a blind person to get their perspective of touch, as touch can indicate so many things. The last act didn’t make sense to me relative to that of mapping. It seemed like a food critic wanting to talk about what he enjoys and what he doesn’t. He is in the end using sight to travel to these places of taste; and only using taste to choose what he likes to and not likes to eat. Taste can map beyond this I feel, as it can map histories and cultures and experiences.
I will try to open up all my senses and gain new experiences, not necessarily those shared with the people in the recording, or those of you reading this, but new experiences of my own. I am glad to have been able to experience this audio recording and hope to use it in my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
