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WEEK 13: FINAL MODULE 

Here, I captured my final module on video. I swapped my hand from side of side in an attempt to emulate the wind. I wasn’t entirely happy with my final piece as I was limited to particular materials - the rattan bamboo in the workshop was too thin. It didn’t make the sound that I desired and it was hard to tell that each piece decreased in size in an orderly fashion. 

If the module was converted into an actual installation, with larger native bamboo, the sound would be a lot more pleasant and strong.  

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WEEK 13: FURTHER EXPLORATIONS

Following the our speeches, I made an effort to experiment more with different ideas and materials. I first experimented with some basic formations using paper - although i knew the inclusion of this material would not be appropriate in my outdoor installation, I still wanted to play around with creating linear shapes and patterns. I moved on from this idea quite quickly though.

My second attempt was an exploration of linear form, plane and balance, using clay to create a throne-like shape. I first rolled the clay out into long logs. i then curled them into a spiral shape and attached them vertically from a spiral piece of clay at the base of my piece. I liked how the clay formed an organically shaped structure - it was difficult to create a rigid piece that held solid. As more spirals were added and the piece got taller, it began to lose balance.

In my third iteration, I again made some logs form clay and attached them to a base plane. The linear logs formed quite a dense mass, as the weaved between one another. I likely how the piece seemed almost alive, or that it had a mind of its own. 

I knew that I couldn’t use clay in my final iteration - I was certain that it wouldn’t hold up in the weather conditions. It would either crack as it drys in the heat or somewhat disintegrate in the rain. Although I wasn’t overly successful in my attempts, it was still a great learning experience. It proved that I was really set on using plywood and bamboo in my final piece. 

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WEEK 13: ARTIST RESEARCH 

This week, I stumbled upon Impy Pilapil’s interactive sculpture ‘Chime Halo’. This piece was incredibly similar to what I had envisaged my installation to be - only difference is that Pilapil’s is shaped as a halo, rising from the ground, and mine is cone-shapes, suspended from the surrounding trees.

The “Chime Halo” of hanging bamboo also invites discovery. The instructions read: “Make your own sound path by going through the hanging bamboo from different points. The sounds they make are believed to attract benevolent spirits whilst driving away malevolent ones. The percussive tones also harmonize one’s energy by relieving stress and ‘emotional blockage.’ Enjoy the calming sounds and experience the liberating and ‘loosening’ of your physical body as you commune with nature and spirit.” 

This is the exact purpose of my piece - coming back to nature as a way to practice mindfulness. The additional soundscape allows participants to tape into this meditative state and ground themselves.

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WEEK 12: SKETCH UP ITERATION 

Building on from my previous sketch up model (video below), I decided to play around with interval and repetition. I really liked how this looked - three installations connected between the tree canopy. However, as I am not exceptionally experienced using sketch up, I felt limited in what I could achieve. I had multiple ideas that I just couldn’t create using the program. I think I prefer working more with my hands, so I will put these ideas into practice when I next enter the workshop.

I found that the organic structure of the bamboo was really hard to recreate in the app. I will consider 3D scanning of the model then upload into SketchUp Make because what I have at the moment does not look the same as what I envisaged. It is far to structured and man-made. Although, it does give me a relatively good idea about how this type of installation would look in practice.

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WEEK 12: INTIAL PHOTOSHOP PLAY 

Last week, I decided to explore my design using a digital medium (photoshop). I used online images to compile an installation that represented my vision. I also explore adding native air plants and orchids on top of the piece, as these plants need minimal soil to grow. I also tried and tested different ways of positioning the work i.e. rotated and mirrored. Although, I wasn’t entirely happy with how this turned out. The design looked chunky and unrealistic. It was had to visualise what this would actually look like in real life. 

I thought I would try taking a photo of my module then importing that into photoshop and scaling it to the correct size. This proved a lot more difficult than I anticipated - the bamboo was far too narrow so I struggled to select/erase the correct parts of the photo. I will try an alternative method next week.

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WEEK 13: THIRD SITE WALK 

Following the critiques that I received after my speech in week 12, I realised that I needed to explore my intended site further. My aim for this site walk was to really refine my design and purpose of my work. At this stage, I was tossing up whether to have only the single structural wind chime, or multiple. After my walk, I decided that multiple installations would be more noticeable than one singular wind chime.

I loved the organic shapes created by the tree in the first photo. When gazing up at the sky, the is a clear linear pattern projected by the branches. I love how the paper bark tree has long, flowing vine-type leaves. I sat underneath the one pictured and noticed how the branches softly swayed in the wind. This ties in directly to the overall aim of my soundscape piece. It almost emulates the movement created by the paper bark. This further connects to the Indigenous context of the site - I remember reading that Aboriginal people would use paper bark to build huts and shelters in Barrambin.

I thought that I would note some of my interactions and experiences being immersed in the site: 

Features 

- Open

- Breezy

- Empty 

- Flowing/rolling hills 

- Humid/hot sun 

Function of intended site 

- The trees were deliberately planted in two rows - I’m not sure what the purpose of this was for, but it could have been to direct golfers in the right direction i.e. towards the next hole and away from the road

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WEEK 12: INCORPORATING NATURAL ELEMENTS 

This is a more organic exploration of altering the top planar form of my wind-chime structure. This exploration god me thinking - what if the top of the installation could be used as a vertical garden of some type?

This could be tricky to suspend a garden in a tree canopy, so I started looking into different air plants. It turns out that no air plants are native to Australia. So I researched different epiphytic plants that are native to Australia.

The elkhorn fern, or Platycerium bifurcatum, is an epiphytic fern with a distinctive and decorative form of growth. The fern grows from a collection of plantlets, which attach to the host tree. Each of these smaller plants has a central nest frond, and this central nest sends out long antler shaped fronds. The plant can become quite large as it grows new plantlets. Elkhorns are native to coastal Queensland and NSW (Pemberton, 2003). 

What if the planar circular form was actually an old up-cycled tree stump, from which the elkorn fern could attach to and hang down from? This could have  have a positive impact on air pollution and temperature regulation within the park. It would also give back to nature in a unique way.

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WEEK 12: PLAYING AROUND WITH DIFFERENT SHAPES AND CONFIGURATIONS TO HANG BAMBOO FROM 

After our speeches today in the workshop, I reflected on different ways that I could manipulate my design and conceptual ideas to increase public participation in the work. These are all drawn from a birds-eye view. The first design is modelled from Su Chen Hung’s piece that I spoke about earlier in my blog. I really like the idea of keeping them with the spiral formation. The second is a more rigid structure - I’m not sure this fits with my intention behind the piece as much. The third is multiple circular planes, modelled from my original piece.

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WEEK 12: SKETCH UP ITERATION

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WEEK 12: ARTIST RESEARCH 

Singh’s ‘Knock On The Sky Listen To The Sound’

Triggered through participation, a multifaceted deconstruction and reconstruction through sensations of sight, sound and experience. The physical experience of exchange activates the wind chimes as the work transformed from one cohesive large-scale work to a series of multiples, gifted as single parts. The constantly changing artwork saw the gallery fall silent again as all the wind chimes were relocated to the tree at the Dowse Museum after being decorated by the audience, linking the artist run space with the Museum.

This process helped to re-examine the division between ritual space and productive space.  As means to initiate inquiry into ways which cities understand their boundaries in relation in commercial and sacred space. The work aimed to emphasise the interconnection of sacred and political realms, and carry forward the understanding of polis not just as a collection of buildings, inscriptions, governmental procedures, or historical events but also as lived experience. The offering the initial wind chime as a gift, alludes to an anthropological, economical, psychological, and utopian ideal of object and service, material and non. Where the ‘giving’ and the outer gift can become a vehicle of culture. This methodology can be applied to examining our current immersion in the market economy whilst attempting to create an alternate economy, as we collectively engage in social arts practice.

The physical work reflects the aforementioned criticality as it sets forward a motion a social intervention achieved by the community.  Creating a work that is beyond duality, encompassing a greater whole.  As inclusion of process makes the work evolutionary in a literal sense, the audience becomes the maker shaping the works form and ultimate result. As the term Botanical Dichotomy suggests a mode of branching by constant forking, as in some stems, in veins of leaves, essentially a form of growth. The overall artwork is an attempt to harness the energy of potential, whilst leading to a more cohesive, involved and invested community.

https://tiffanysingh.com/knock-on-the-sky-listen-to-the-sound/

Dixon’s ‘Chimecco’

Dixon’s sculpture is a giant, playful wind chime. With the aid of assistants, the kinetic sculpture was constructed on site over the course of an entire month. A rustic red wooden bridge hangs between two high points over a deep ravine, surrounded by rich foliage.  Below, Dixon has dangled oversized chimes of varying sizes. Made from gold anondized aluminum, the bevel cut pipes hang in formation, coming to a point in the center, which almost touches the ground below.

Chimecco can at first go unnoticed to the passing visitor; hidden below the bridge, it only wakes up when it clangs with the passing wind.  Dixon wanted visitors to discover his piece, stumbling upon it as a surprise, either by awakening it with movement or with the force of nature as the wind blows. After discovered, visitors are encouraged to interact with the sculpture, using each pipe to create their own music, or to walk across the bridge above where there are interactive nodes.

Dixon plays with the fusion of music and interaction as a means for humans to interact with one another and to play.  

https://inhabitat.com/gorgeous-wind-chime-sculpture-sings-splendidly-with-the-forest-winds/

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WEEK 12: DOCUMENTING CONSTRUCTION 

Last week, I began constructing a module of my proposed installation. It was essentially the same design as the final proposal, although much smaller in scale. I opted for the bamboo/rattan that was already in the workshop, rather than having to find my own native bamboo. I cut the bamboo to different lengths, leaving approximately 2cm more after each cut. The circular planar form is made from plywood. I then drilled holes in the plywood in a spiral formation. I proceeded to thread fishing line through the plywood, then through the bamboo - I drilled a hole through the top of each of these pieces. 

Reflecting on my module, I realised that I may seek to add a few rings made from either metal or wood around sections of the bamboo poles, so they had something to knock against when the wind blew them. This would create a more distinctive sound than if they were to just knock against one another. So I went to Bunnings and tested which made the best sound when colliding with a bamboo pole - wood or metal? To my surprise, the wood sounded more intense than the metal. I think the rings of wood are a good addition to my proposal for this reason.

I wanted to be sure of my final design before beginning construction on my module. I didn’t want to hinder it’s eco-materiality by wasting unnecessary wood and bamboo. My first attempt is definitely something that I can also build upon and modify if I want to expand my idea further.

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WEEK 12: REFLECTING ON THE INSPIRATION THAT I DREW FROM THE WORLD AROUND ME 

I just wanted to make a quick blog post about how the world around me influenced my decision-making and conceptual design process in coming up with my installation. I found myself noticing art pieces in shopping centres, streets, parks and galleries. I would have never looked twice to examine these installations in detail but for our project in KVB222.

I was super interested in the notion that public art brought people together. I really wanted to capture this in my planning process. You don’t need to look far to see the impact of art in public spaces. Art can connect us to place and record history as it unfolds.

 COVID-19 is just one example of a period of shared adversity when our connection to the arts has flourished. The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated inequalities that were already present. But there has also been engagement and social solidarity e.g. Black Lives Matter, the Indigenous Land Back movement and support for unhoused people. Those who have the privilege not to pay attention are finding this option less viable. This engagement arguably comes with its own set of problems, but it is a momentum that can be built upon to imagine and do the work needed to create better futures for society. My proposed installation seeks to explore these nuanced and contemporary issues, whilst acknowledging the long Indigenous history of Barrambin. As we each search for meaning throughout our intensely local and geographically limited lives during the pandemic, public art finds, creates and shares the beauty, joy and solidarity that can be found in public spaces.

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WEEK 11: VICTORIA PARK HISTORY 

To gain a more in-depth understanding about the social/historical context of Victoria Park and my proposed site, I decided to do some further research. It was so eye-opening to me - especially the housing commission that was built in the park in 1953.

History

Victoria Park covers an area of 27 hectares of undulating land bordered by Gregory Terrace, Bowen Bridge Road, Herston Road, Queensland University of Technology (Kelvin Grove campus) and Victoria Park Road in the suburbs of Spring Hill and Herston. Named for the reigning British monarch at the time, Queen Victoria, the park was gazetted in 1875.

Founding

Herston was first settled by Europeans in 1859 although the area was being utilised from as early as the 1820s for major industrial activities such as brick-making and timber getting. This resulted in the denuding of the land, the sullying of the water and dispossession of the local Aboriginal people. Victoria Park initially spanned an area of 130 hectares. The land set aside for the park was slowly encroached upon over the succeeding years. The suburbs such as Herston, Bowen Hills and Spring Hill grew into the park, as housing development, schools, hospitals, golf courses and show grounds were permitted to be built on the park land.

The site was originally utilised by the Indigenous 'Turrbal' or 'Duke of York clan' as a campground. They called this area "Barrambin". During the early colonial period, the British named it "York's Hollow". During the 1840s up to 400 Turrbal people would reside around the waterholes at York's Hollow. In 1846 police constables dispersed this major campsite killing at least 3 people, while in 1849 British soldiers of the 11th Regiment conducted another dispersal wounding several. York's Hollow was also utilised as a site for brick manufacture and by 1860 it appears that Aboriginals were no longer able to reside in the area.

During the mid 1800s, Brisbane was faced with an influx of immigrants due to the New South Wales Government's immigration schemes. As a result, areas of York's Hollow (the name prior to Victoria Park) provided a settling point for various immigrant camps. The arrival of John Dunmore Lang's pioneering emigrant ship Fortitude in Brisbane in early 1849 is recognised as one of the landmark events of Queensland's history, and York's Hollow on the edge of the new township was put to good use for their accommodation. According to the Moreton Bay Courier, immigrants were permitted "to form a temporary village on some of the slopes running parallel to the chains and waterholes in the neighbourhood of York's Hollow". During this time 'York's Hollow' included the area to the east of the park that is now the Brisbane Showgrounds in Bowen Hills. Many recent immigrants to Queensland in the mid-1800s stayed in these temporary camps. As Herston and the surrounding area became a popular urban development, these camps were deemed unhealthy and its residents "moved along". Several beautification projects of Victoria Park were undertaken during the late nineteenth century. This included planting avenues of trees.

When Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, the Queensland Government made a concerted effort to provide recreational lands for the people of Brisbane, then and for the future. It was believed that the fledgling society would benefit from having open spaces included in the infrastructure. At a time when industry was choking many of the large cities in Britain and Europe, the Queensland Government did not want the same fate to befall Brisbane. Terms such as "lungs of the city" and "breathing space" were used to describe established parks in Brisbane. A Board of Trustees was created at this time to manage Victoria Park; they "expeditiously drew up a code of by-laws which provided, not only for the protection and good government of the park, but also laid down the rules for raising revenue for the improvement of the park". This revenue raising included leasing arrangements for the park.

Early 1900s

In 1913, Victoria Park played host to a globally significant scientific experiment carried out by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The purpose of the experiment was to study the earth's magnetism, and the magnetic variation from "true" north and "magnetic" north so as to eventually gain accurate bearings. 

The park was again reduced by the construction of Victoria Park Golf Club. In the 1920s, municipal golf courses were being established throughout Australia and in 1922 the Queensland Golf Association proposed to the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, William Alfred Jolly, that a municipal golf course be established in Victoria Park. In 1926 the proposal was accepted. The eighteen hole golf course was laid out by the surveyor Stan Francis, who was an ardent golfer. It was constructed during the Depression by men employed in the Intermittent Relief Scheme . The Victoria Park Golf Course was opened in 1931. The first Victoria Park Golf Clubhouse was designed in the Spanish Mission style by Alfred Herbert Foster and was built in 1931; it is now listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Other work was undertaken during the Depression for unemployed persons including landscaping and reclamation, notably Gilchrist Avenue constructed in 1931. The Avenue caused some adjustment of the site of the golf course. It was lined with Silky Oak and Poinciana trees as part of the beautification of the park at this time - my installation is proposed to go in between rows of Poincianas and Gum trees.

Proposed development and connection to Aboriginal History 

Many Aboriginal people once knew Victoria Park as ‘Barrambin’, the windy place. Later, it became York’s Hollow before being renamed again in honour of Queen Victoria. This significant Aboriginal camping and gathering site sat within a broader Indigenous landscape that included the greater Brisbane and Moreton Bay area.

Aboriginal cultural heritage and connection with the landscape will be celebrated in multiple ways. Artworks, discovery trails, performance and interactive learning experiences all offer possible vehicles to enhance visitors’ understanding of Indigenous cultural heritage and make Victoria Park a hub for Aboriginal cultural education and heritage experiences.

Opportunities to preserve Aboriginal cultural heritage have been the subject of discussions with traditional owner representatives. Council will continue to engage with the traditional custodians of the land to further explore and develop these ideas.

This is why my installation must acknowledge the Indigenous history of Barrambin. I am aiming to achieve this by connecting my own experience, being in nature, with the way Aboriginal persons have a deep connection to country. I, in no way, wish to appropriate Indigenous culture, so I feel the best way to accord with aspects of this Indigenous history is to convey my own experience being in the site.

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WEEK 11: PROPOSED SITE 

This is a map of my proposed installation site - in between the tree canopy circled. The ‘X’ indicates where we all sat on our walk. I explored further on my second trip down to the waterholes when I was alone. These two symmetrical lines of trees seemed like the perfect place to install a hanging feature.  

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WEEK 11: ARTIST RESEARCH 

This week, I am focusing on refining and finalising my module. I thought that I would do some final artist research to help myself conceptualise the piece to scale and in the Victoria Park Golf Course.

The first image pictured is  Doug Aitken’s, Sonic Mountain (Sonoma), a work that mimics an ordinary wind chime. When researching, I found a very interesting quote from Aitken. He said, “I wanted to create a living artwork, a piece that would change continuously and be performed by the natural environment.” This is exactly the purpose of my piece. Watching videos of his piece in action, it was evident that the two concentric circles dangling polished steel rods emit chiming sounds - the hypnotic work contrasts nicely with its earthy, aboral surroundings. Billed as “a living and interactive artwork,” Sonic Mountain (Sonoma) opened  with a performance by multimedia artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha who gathered 20 musicians together to activate the sculpture for a nighttime inauguration. This was super interesting to watch. It could be a possible way to open my proposed piece. 

See the videos here:

https://vimeo.com/342137852?utm_campaign=5370367&utm_source=affiliate&utm_channel=affiliate&cjevent=6201c6672a2e11ec83b001280a1c0e11&clickid=6201c6672a2e11ec83b001280a1c0e11

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2M54wAA_1U/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I love how the second piece forms this flowing spiral formation. San Francisco based artist Su Chen Hung created this sculpture. Nowadays people are used to having earphones plugged into their ears all the time, but as an artist, Hung wants to remind people of the beauty of surrounding ambient sound.The installation is constructed of bamboo, a very important crop around the town in which the Shisanhang Museum of Archaeology is located and where the installation is installed. Its spiral pattern, frequently seen in prehistoric civilizations, has also been widely used by the aboriginal communities in Taiwan. In the bright sunshine of a Taiwan summer, the shadows cast by the installation dance around creating an ever-changing pattern on the ground. Whenever stirred by the slightest breeze, the hanging bamboo sticks knock against each other producing a fluid cascade of hollow chimes. As visitors walking inside the spiral installation sweep their hands through the hanging bamboo curtain, they along with nature’s breezes become the composers and musicians in this outdoor sound installation. I was thinking of incorporating this idea into my proposed piece, making sure the longest central handing piece of bamboo was long enough so that visitors can push/pull it so that the hollow chimes knock together to create sound.

http://www.suchenhung.com/gallery/public/lightsound/02.html

The fourth photo is a piece designed as a symbolic tree that responds to the movement of the air and makes wind music. The leafage is made of 324 wind chimes of different lengths hanging at the crown of the tree. Air motion generates sounds of varying heights, the tonality of which depends on the length of the chimes and which together create symphony of air. Sounds are caused by metal discs, which are swayed by wind catchers depending on wind speed. The air catchers are shaped as coats of arms from various cities of Northern Latgale, and inclined for better wind capture. Adding air catchers could be a great addition to my own module.

http://www.dja.lv/projects/Air/

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WEEK 10: INITIAL SKETCH UP DESIGN 

Here, I drew up a basic model on sketch up of my proposed idea. I opted for a wind chime type structure - I thought this would be the best way to create a piece that made sound in the wind. The idea is that there is a wooden, circular plane hanging from the tree canopy. Hanging from this wooden plane would be large pieces of native bamboo on wire that have been threaded through the wood. They would be threaded in a spiral formation. The pieces of bamboo on the outer edge of the spiral would be the shortest, gradually getting longer as they reach the centre of the piece. This forms a really visually appealing cone shape and creates a sense of movement - as if the bamboo is symmetrically falling from the outside to the inside.

I did some research into different hollow bamboo that would effectively hit together in the wind, producing a pleasant sound. I want to use local material to reduce my environmental impact - I would ideally use steel, although this is not very eco-friendly. Australia actually has 3 species of native bamboo plants. The first being Bambusa arnhemica. Second is Mullerochloa moreheadiana. Third we have the Neololeba atra. All of these native species are from northern Australia. 

Being 12cm in diameter, I thought the Bambusa arnhemica would be the most  suitable fit to create a structure of the size and scale that I envisioned. It is hollow and large enough to make a robust sound. I would have to cut the bamboo in a similar way to the wind chime pictured, so that when they hit together, the sound is prominent. 

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WEEK 9: DESIGN

Here, I have drawn up anther possible design in procreate. The idea is that there is some sort of wire or steel harnessed between the tree canopy. The circular forms flow through this line of wire/steel to create a sense of flow and movement. The wind would move these circular forms so that they turn in different ways depending on the direction of the wind. However, I am not entirely happy with the materials that would be required to create such an expansive piece - the longevity of wire/steel is not particularly eco-friendly, something I must keep in mind moving forward with my design process.