My classmate felt that the emptiness of the field combined with the peculiar shape and texture of the structures made my piece have a mysterious and exotic feeling. The allusion to conspiracy theories invoked a sense of paranoia. They also felt that the documentation made the piece feel monumental, dominating the view.

What I learned from this project and the critique is that how you document the work greatly changes the impact. By carefully selecting the camera angle and lighting the installation looks much more foreboding. I also learned that the choice of material is very important. I could have went with any cheap material but my classmates responded very positively to the fact that it tied into my chosen location.

• Installation art doesn’t treat the viewer as a spectator but as an agent in how it defines a place: This means that viewer interaction is crucial and that we should consider the implications of the location

• It’s impossible to have a definitive history of installation art as communities and cultures are constantly changing
• Understand where the viewer should be located and what they are seeing
• It’s interesting that the article references the Baroque period when talking about trompe l’oeil because I just learned about that in my art history class. A lot of paintings on ceilings or walls created the illusion of space with arches or columns that did not actually exist.
• Sometimes the extent to which a viewer activates a work goes beyond the artists control
• Installation art puts emphasis on the potential of social change and experiential outcome
• The site of the artwork is the studio
• “…highlights how temporal experiences call attention to the precariousness of systems of representation.” I’m not sure what this means- what are systems of representation and what are some examples?
• Consider urban public spaces as a living, changeable, and shared- urban art installations often reference both past and present
• Think about how we hear, touch, and smell the installation

I decided to make my structures a simple pyramid shape as I think it will highlight the unusual texture of my material. My classmates responded positively to this and they drew connections to both crop circles and Egyptian pyramids. This gave the work a ‘looming presence’ and my peers felt that the camera angle and lighting emphasized this. Because of the amount of time I have to do this project my work is a bit smaller than intended so that I can stay on schedule. I purposely tried to document my work in a way that made it seem larger and more imposing than it is, so I’m glad that came across.

My classmates seemed to think my idea to use popcorn as a material was original. They also responded positively to the idea of bringing a manufactured material back to the place it came from. Their favorite transformation of the popcorn was the one where multiple pieces were glued together. I think this is because they create a gestalt wherein together they are viewed as one structure and lose their representation as individual pieces. A peer suggested that I could spray paint my structures in order to contrast with the cornfield. I am considering this but I think it requires a balance because I want the structures to have an unrecognizable and unusual texture to them. I’m afraid that by painting over the popcorn it will lose its definition and just look like plaster.

I know that I want to use popcorn as my main material. It is something that is cheap and can be manipulated in multiple ways. I am thinking of putting my installation outside. Because I live off-campus I will be taking advantage of the fact that I have access to more scenic locations. Since my material is popcorn I am thinking of installing my work in a cornfield as I the idea of putting the manufactured material in its place of origin has strong conceptual potential.

ter 13:

• Time plays a key role
• Photographers/film maker/performers use time directly while painters/sculptors use it indirectly
• Building blocks of film: frame, shot, scene, sequence
• shot is continuous group of frames, can be related graphically, spatially, temporally, rhythmically
• cut, fade, wipe, and dissolve are common transitions in film
• sequential arts/comics use these transitions also: action to action, scene to scene, subject to subject, non-sequined
• Six major elements of time design: duration, tempo, intensity, scope, setting, chronology

Chapter 14:

• express complex ideas through multiple-image structures
• photographers, printmakers, and book artists use group, series, and sequence
• filmmakers and playwrights use beat, scene, and act
• establish boundaries when making stories
• establish who’s story it is, how long it takes place and where, why it is occurring, etc.
• opening and closing, perspective, and characters are crucial for filmmakers when making a story
• tv ads are complete ideas in 15 seconds: hard-sell, soft-sell, rational, emotional, serious, realistic, humorous, exaggerated
• non narrative approaches: categorical, rhetorical, abstract

Chapter 15:

• visual book is an experimental structure; conveys ideas, actions, emotions in integrated or independent format
• combine 2d composition with 3d structure, mix of words and images
• be deliberate when choosing text, consider rhythm and meaning of words
• Installation is an ensemble of images and objects presented in a 3d environment
• viewers should be surrounded and engaged
• Installations can vary in their use of space and time; context can add to or subtract from meaning
• Consider scale and viewer interaction
• Performance art is live art designed by artists by combining qualities of theater, music, art, and dance
• time is used deliberately to expand ideas and blur boundaries between art and life

I think that 4D art might be artworks that utilize all of our senses along with time and space. 4D artworks might appeal to your sense of sound, ability to perceive space, and the passage of time in ways that is unobtainable with 2D art. I would assume that 4D and 3D art have a lot in common. 4D design is a new concept to me and I am unfamiliar with it. I am expecting to have to think carefully about the location of upcoming projects. Sound will also be important in immersing viewers into the work.

I think I struggled overall with the fast pace of this class but I managed to pick myself back up towards the end of the first project. In the future I need to work on my time management skills so I do not let work snowball into a problem.

As for the course material so far, it is a lot different than I expected. When I think of sculpture my mind immediately jumps to clay or stone. Because of this I initially struggled with using the cardboard to construct my piece. I was stuck in the mindset that sculpture was something mold-able or carve-able. By being pushed to use different materials I gained a better understanding of sculpture and just how flexible the definition is. I also had to think a lot about the concepts of my work and the meanings they create. Making art with meaning was not something I was familiar with until last semester, so I enjoyed being pushed to think more about how I want viewers to interpret it.

Notes:

• sense of tension -> burns, ayssymetrical balance, precarious
• positive reactions to form -> podium structure, drapery
• child-like, nostaligic -> bright colors, patchwork
• liked the contrasting colors
• could use more visual interest on bottom steps (maybe more drapery?)

Overall I was very happy with this critique and the reactions from other students. I only had a vague concept behind the piece but I loved hearing different interpretations of the meaning behind it. I was able to make a piece of art that made the viewer think, which is something that I have struggled with in the past. My classmates also commented on the tension created by the precariousness of the structure which I am glad came across. I do agree with the criticism that the bottom steps need more visual interest. They’re fairly simple geometric shapes so in the future I may add more texture and drapery to those layers to balance things out.

On a separate note- I used a different material in my final work than I had chosen in step 6. I started out using paper from old textbooks. I intended to paste the paper onto my cardboard and apply the pulp over top for texture. This process ended up taking up way too much time and I realized I needed to switch gears in order to finish on time (and it looked kind of boring too). I think the fabric was a good choice not only because it was quicker to apply, but also because it was more unique and emotionally impactful. Our clothes are very personal to us, and the contrasting colors and patchwork textures seemed to conjure nostalgic feelings from my peers. My classmates (and family!) who had seen the process of this decision showed a lot of support which I am very thankful for. It goes to show that oftentimes our first idea is not the best one.

I tried to use various methods of altering the cardboard while constructing my models. I attempted scoring it in order to crate corners, folding it, rolling it, and stacking layers on top of each other to create 3 Dimensional shapes. I found that scoring the cardboard was a pretty efficient way of getting the shapes that I wanted but was not very sturdy. Rolling the cardboard created a more solid figure but was difficult to keep in place. Stacking individual layers of cardboard allowed for the most variety in shape. It gave me the most control but took an extremely long time to cut out and put together. I decided to mostly score my cardboard during construction as it would work well with the block-y structure of the design I had chosen.