damianacottspatialart

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Final Images

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Task 3 - Site and Work Digital Visualisation

Reflection:

When creating this work i felt like the task itself was very challenging. I was constantly playing around with the shapes, shadows and sizing. Warping the images to then distorting, skewing and finally playing around with the opacity, shading and blending qualities. Although i did feel like this task was a challenge i also felt like it further developed my photoshop skills. I found it quite hard picking a site that best suited what i wanted to create. Initially i wanted to do something totally different to the final piece.

The initial thought process was to make an abstract piece that used similar materials seen around the site. However i found that creating something that opposed this was more exciting and interesting. The concept i came up with for this task was how i could best explore the relationship between nature and manmade materials.

I wanted to show a very distinct contrast between two materials but at the same time successfully keep the feel of the environment alive. The warped planes of sheet metal represent the winds felt as i interacted with the site. The cool breeze shifting through the trees creating new patterns in terms of the scattered debris. Using the sheet metal commonly used for roofing i wanted to show the contrast against the natural material (this being the wood). In doing so i found that this work was also speaking on an indirect theme i have been exploring. This being the impact of humans on the natural world. I personally feel that by planting these structures in the environment it pushes the nature and surroundings into the limelight.

Artists: Robert Smithson and Walter De Maria

Robert Smithson was another artists who i found interesting. I liked how his works were fully embodied in its surroundings and how he embraced the environments conditions. Alongside this i felt particularly moved by his interest to create awareness of Man's relation with the natural world. Another artist i am interested in is Walter De Maria. I liked how he was able to direct the audience's attention to the limiting aspects of galleries whilst also sparking bodily awareness in individuals.

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Task 2 - Plane + Balance + Site

Reflection:

When creating this work i decided to focus on how i could best communicate literal balance. As i started to brainstorm i decided to use off cuts of plywood. In doing so i felt like the work contrasted against the site which was a concrete bench. Sticking to the theme of scrap material and materials made for a specific purpose i opted to create something abstract. During the assembly phase i wanted to balance the materials on top of each other to explicitly show balance.

Although i feel like the work could be better in terms of visual aesthetic i think the work speaks more onto the visual harmony. The angular and sharp but slick feel of the work coexists with the plain background. Stacking the pieces of plywood on top of each other made me consider visual and literal balance. The pieces are physically keeping the others from falling over. This was something that grabbed my attention. Playing around with literal and visual balance is something that i would consider experimenting with.

I specifically liked how i got lost when viewing the work. The different planes and crevices made when piecing the work together was unintentional yet i felt like it added an extra bit of that wow factor to it.

Artists: Ursula von Rydingsvard and

Ursula von Rydingsvard was an artist whose work inspired me to consider revealing the human mark on nature and presenting it to the audience in the most obvious way possible. Another thing that i found interesting was how she utilises the natural forms of the material and altering them slightly to create a new work.

David Brooks was also another artist who i liked. His ability to question how nature is perceived through his sculptures was a new and exciting process which suited my interests. I also liked how he was able to communicate how humans perceive the natural world.

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Task 1 - Fundamentals of 3d

Reflection:

Throughout this task i tried to create something that was unique but still conveys the tasks parameters. I decided to create a spiral type structure much like a spring. Breaking off from this starting point i decided to create multiple springs to then attach to each and have the wire create its own movement. At first i wasn't to engaged with the task however as i began to create i felt total freedom in the terms of creation. When assembling the piece it felt like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

Although in my opinion the work created was successful in sticking to the parameters when creating i wasn't too concerned about the site it was to be placed in. Placing the work in the garden near the workshop in my opinion was a success. The nature surrounding the work masks the wire structure which in turn causes you to look closely. I specifically liked how the structure was reliant upon all other pieces. During the assembly phase the movement of twisting the springs into each other felt natural and free.

Throughout the whole process i felt very much engaged with the work. Although i did think about creating more to create somewhat of a garden of springs i feel like the individual structure was quite good. The structure to me feels like an intricate path to an unknown destination.

Overall i am pleased with the final outcome. The simple approach paid off.

Artists: Andy Goldsworthy and Gabriel Dawe

Andy Goldsworthy was a specific interest of mine. I liked how he is able to utilise line which in turn creates movement. In his work Wood Line he was able to fill a natural void with fallen trees. In doing so he created this visual symmetry between the path and surroundings.

Gabriel Dawe was another artist that caught my attention. I was specifically interested in how Dawe's work was able to dictate the audiences eyes when they viewed his work. Alongside this his ability to link the human body and nature by using just one material.

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Task 5 - Barrambin Site Design Sketch

Reflection:

Throughout the Barrambin nature walk i was heavily immersed in the nature around me. Walking through park i was met with thoughts of my home in Port Moresby. At first i wasn't really clear on what the task was however further walking and meditation around the park i felt like i was undertaking a wonderful sensory but also mental experience. When walking around the park i noticed a pond that was very much appealing to my eye. I noticed how the pond itself did not look like it was man made or even affected by man made objects. Considering this i wanted to play on the man made artificial area to compose a work that interferes with the pond on a man made scale but is embodied by the its natural environment. The nature walk specifically at the pond alongside the meditation was the most inspiring of the whole task.

When designing i decided to go for an artificial structure that resembles a water lily or any type of flower blooming. When brainstorming i realised that going for a structure like this was not what i was looking for so i opted for a vine like structure blossoming out of a spherical object. This led to my final design. When designing i kept in mind the feel of the environment when i walked through the site. Keeping in mind the qualities that made up the emotions felt when walking through i tried to convey this into the design as best as possible. Qualities like; free-flowing, untouched, peaceful, infinite and rich in terms of nature were observed.

Throughout the process of creating and designing i sketched a piece that i thought would best suit the site in question. The site being a small pond surrounded by a bed of dirt, pebbles, stones and plants. The design represents an untouched piece that fits perfectly with the surroundings yet is not welcome. I designed this piece to fit in yet stand out. The work would rest on the water like a water lily but blossom out like a virus. I tried to show how this site felt untouched yet there was a heavy sense of human interaction altering the site.

Artists: Patricia Johanson and Gabriel Dawe

Patricia Johanson whose works often explore the relation between body and nature is another example of an artists that sparked my interest. The work is more than a sculpture. The environment around the sculpture interferes with the piece but also becomes the piece. This is something that is a particular interest due to the simplicity of the process in terms of interaction between site and artwork. The work is simply placed and overtime life begins to form in the crevices and so forth.

Throughout Gabriel Dawe's practice it is clear to see that he has effectively created an optical illusion in the sense that he has physically embroidered the air which in turn sets off the 5 senses. When looking at Dawe's work what sparked my interest was his ability to connect both body and environment and represent them visually. I also happen to like how each site varies from each other causing Dawe to create something new per installation.

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Task 6 - Object + Site

Eco Material Term: Embodied Energy

Material: Plywood

Reflection:

In the beginning of this task it was clear that we had undertaken a very literal approach to the term embodied energy. Focusing on the deconstruction of trees from a natural and free material to then being industrialised and infinite in terms of creating more stuff. At first this seemed on topic however i personally felt that this was not a great representation of embodied energy. We focused too much on the material and its energy rather than the environment around us the infinite energy surrounding our designated space.

During a brief reflective and brainstorming period we decided to use the energy of the wind, light and even the presence of individuals to create a new work. Scattering the work around our space allowed for the work to mimic what the wind could do for instance the wind blowing leaves, twigs and seed pods. Another embodied energy factor we looked at was the energy of the natural sunlight which in turn caused these intricate shadows seen on the grass as the sun set over time.

Overall, i feel like we explored our term successfully. Although it did take a second to step back and think about our surroundings and how these energies play a crucial role in the making and meaning of the work i felt that we did a good job. The task itself in my eyes was at first a bit different however taking a further detailed look into what we are supposed to be doing allowed for my understanding of the affects of the environment around us on an artwork.

Artists: James Turrell and Athena Tacha

James Turrell whose artworks often working directly with light and space to engage with the audience. His works magnify the limits of human perception and causes the audience to have an awakening of spiritual perception. This is something that i wanted to explore and tried to within this task. Turrell's ability to engage with human perception stood out to me when viewing his works. During the process of creation perception of the work was one thing that stood out from other formal qualities. The work created above much like Turrell's work Dhatu evokes a sensory experience whilst highlighting individual perception.

Athena Tacha is another artist who grasped my attention. Most known for her site specific sculptures Tacha's works often incorporated aspects of the moving body and rest. Tacha's ability to evoke and incorporate aspects of the moving body was something that i found interesting. Alongside this an interest in nature and the surroundings of an artwork placed in a public setting was something i wanted to explore. Tacha's work has caused my own practice to consider the surroundings of the work that has been placed in a public setting and also evoke these surroundings to create an impactful piece.

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Task 4 - Volume + Proportion + Site

Materials: Wire and String

Reflection:

When creating this piece at first i tried not to think so much about the material but more so about the site. i wanted to make something that was easily affected by the environment around it which could then be transformed into something else. Focusing on the effects that the environment could potentially create i opted for something minimal and invisible to a certain degree but also something that could stand out.

When creating i brainstormed how i could approach volume, proportion and site in a different way. By focusing more on the site and the conditions of the site i explored how volume is affected by the strong wind. By limiting the space (covering more area of the object with string) within the object the wind could then move the piece more frantically as opposed to an open object (no strings covering a large area). Installing the piece was also i guess an experiment. instead of tying the string to the tree branch i opted to wrap it around to allow the work to be embodied by the wind(if the work was unwrapped by the wind that was ok as i wanted the work to feel natural).

Overall i enjoyed this task. I felt like i was more aware of the site as opposed to the materials. I explored the site, noted characteristics and possible forms of installation first before creating which in a sense was a new but also refreshing approach.

Artists - Anish Kapoor and Robert Irwin

Anish Kapoor a world renowned artist whose works often transforms material to complex and perplex works. Kapoor's ability to harness the unique qualities of any material to then alter the form of it allows for a rich and abstract reading as well as an heavily involved work in terms of site. A great example of this would be Kapoor's work Cloud Gate. Cloud Gate is a large metal polished structure that resembles the form of a bean. The work is simultaneously interacting with the site as it is with the audience. The distorted and abstract reflections seen through the structure allows for the audience to look at the world and perhaps even themselves in a different lens.

I personally like how Kapoor's Cloud Gate is involved with the site. Placing this urban type structure in the middle of a city allows for multiple readings. Alongside this the ability to involve the audience so easily without any major sign or instructions to follow. Kapoor's ability to use form and scale is also another point of interest for me. Creating works that excel the traditional boundaries in terms of scale and size allows for his work to stand out and capture audiences.

Robert Irwin most known for his exploration of the affects of light through interventions in space and architecture. Irwins ability to transform a gallery just by utilising light and space was something i found exciting. Irwins work Thou Swell is a brilliant example of this. Irwin creates this work which responds to the specific site whilst shifting emphasis from the materials on to perception.

I found Irwins work really abstract yet distinct in the sense that his ability to shift emphasis from the materials on to the site the work is placed in and how the work is perceived. This was a particular interest for me especially due to the process of creation. Keeping in mind the qualities of the site i wanted to shift emphasis from the material to the conditions and qualities that the work was placed in much like Irwin.