I would like to note that some photos are missing on this post due to a missing CD, they will be uploaded later. They are from the desert, swimming pool, and the parking garage.Untitled Portable Sculpture One
This title of this piece is Untitled Portable Sculpture One. As I sat reflecting on the current process of this piece I came upon the realization that this piece is not yet finished. If I were to account for the life of this piece it is still a young child, It has been through so little has such few stories to relay back to viewers who as of it's lifespan. I do not think it is proper for me to officially name this sculpture, for I do not know it personally- and I may never have the privilege to bestow upon it a name suited to its preferences. It seems odd to speak of an objects preferences, but as I mindlessly added wood to the piece, with only an idea of a general shape-unaware of any ramifications my own actions would have on the inanimate object- I became aware of the life of the piece. The piece moves in its own fashion, and in every type of light shares with me a unique voice- I am only inches from understanding its inaudible murmur.
Untitled Portable Sculpture One was initially and remains to be a site-specific sculpture, making it's environment crucial to it's well being. My initial reasoning for this was that items in different environments consequently obtain different meanings or purposes, and I wanted to explore the meaning that an object would acquire if it were to be significant to several environments- or if several environments were significant to the object. The piece has been to several places in it's short lifespan, all of which ideally either intrinsically altered the sculpture or represented another point of view for both the viewer and sculpture to gain importance from. Another idea that I wanted to explore was the idea that as an object constructed of organic materials, such as metal and nails, when subjected to the elements would experience some sort of change or begin the process of decomposition, including rust. This piece was also about the exploration of a process of building itself. I would in no way ever claim to be a good builder, describing myself as fair at best. However, despite my lack of skill or experience building I wanted to take materials that once served a purpose useful to society and essentially make them appear purposeless. To achieve this I used wood that was from palettes that I deconstructed into the component boards that the palettes gain their useful qualities from. I then constructed a circular form that was too large to carry with ease, with too many sharp edges and splinters to touch sensually, too small to live within, and was not water tight. I then took this object, that at the time I felt uncomfortable in movement with, and placed it in my car.
Once the sculpture was in my car it began it's life cycle, this time spent in waiting was only a short incubation stage necessary for my personal development of the sculpture. It was at this point that a true questioning of what I regard as an originally minimalist approach to my piece, and I realized that the problems that I was having internally in approaching the piece were existent because I was attempting to not give the piece meaning myself. To me this piece is nothing, simply a process that I have gone through, a learning experience- and in this itself the piece has not only gained a meaning but perhaps a purpose that I did not anticipate or strive for. For example, in order to document the cycle that I introduced to this piece I decided to learn how to use a manual film camera for documentation. I liked the qualities that film intrinsically have, although it would have been easier and perhaps more conducive to the classroom to have used digital photos. Film, in order to be altered, must be altered by hand, there are skills involved- while digital photos can be manipulated easily by anyone with only a few clicks on a screen. I also felt that taking the photos myself is what truly made the documentation process of the piece viable as a part of the artwork. So, perhaps the photos took longer, and are not as good as they could have been had I let somebody else be the person to push the button exposing the film to light and recording an image of what their eyes saw.
In closing, this piece is to me as a child I am simply overseeing. I have no true emotions towards it, except for a longing to understand it- which I do not yet feel qualified to do, nor do I feel that the piece is ready for somebody to understand it fully. This piece is changing, and in front of our eyes it is telling us it's story visually, as an elderly woman tells her story by the wrinkles on her skin. In reflection I have found that it is not human to resist metaphor, and therefore I will try my best not to lend false meaning to Untitled Portable Sculpture One- whose purposeless nature may lend to it a purpose all along.
