The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram

Assignment guidelines and evaluation criteria posted on CANVAS.

The Spell of The Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World

David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment. He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with passion and intellectual daring.    Source goodreads.com

Long Term Interior Installation Assignment Guidelines

Assignment:

• Create an environment that immerses the viewer in a sensory/intellectual/emotional experience.
• Strive to create an environment that offers opportunity for the viewer to investigate. Therefore, concepts for the viewer will unfold over time. 
• Keep in mind an installation is a temporary art form that allows space, time, materials and concepts to exist in one environment. 
• Read the text below to acquaint yourself with installation art. In class I will show installation artists and discuss the art form and process further. 

Guidelines:

• The content of your installation will fall under one of the following categories - Social Commentary, History, Math, Science.
• Select one of two spaces in the art building. You are required to use the walls, floor and ceiling in a meaningful and thoughtful way. 
• Avoid predictable solutions/imagery/symbols/cliches. Strive for metaphors, irony and mystery. 

Preparation:

• Very Important - Understand the space you are working with. Does natural light fall on the space? If so, when/where/how long? How many surfaces do you have to work with and what are the characteristics of these surfaces (walls, floor, ceiling)? How can artificial light be manipulated? Do any sounds exist in the space? What are the dimensions of the space? How will you overcome/incorporate unwanted qualities of a space (air vents, light switches, pipes, baseboards, etc...)?
• You and the space have to work together. Spend time with the space. Listen to the space. 
• After you have spent time with the space, complete a Research Packet (I will post on CANVAS). 
• As a class, we will discuss the ideas you discovered while completing the Research Packet. 
• Select one idea from the Research Packet and prepare a small scale model out of foam board. Bring to class for presentation and discussion. 
• Materials and processes are your choice. Some of you may want to use sound, scent, projections, kinetics and/or performance to communicate your ideas. 

What to put on your blog:

• Professional Images
• Title
• Artist Statement

Difference Between Sculpture and Installation
At first glance, some installations may resemble traditional craft based sculpture or the more modernist assemblage art. But this is an illusion. Installation art effectively inverts the principles of sculpture. Whereas the latter is designed to be viewed from the outside as a self-contained arrangement of forms, installations often envelop the spectator in the space of the work. The viewer enters a controlled environment featuring objects as well as light, sound and projected imagery. The formalism of the composition remains of secondary importance - it is the effect on the spectator's spacial and cultural expectations that remains paramount.

Definition & Characteristics
Installation art is a relatively new genre of contemporary art - practised by an increasing number of postmodernist artists - which involves the configuration or "installation" of objects in a space, such as a room or warehouse. The resulting arrangement of material and space comprises the "artwork".

Because an installation usually allows the viewer to enter and move around the configured space and/or interact with some of its elements, it offers the viewer a very different experience from (say) a traditional painting or sculpture which is normally seen from a single reference point. Furthermore, an installation may engage several of the viewer's senses including touch, sound and smell, as well as vision.

Above all, installation is a form of conceptual art - a genre in which "ideas" and "impact" are regarded as being more important than the quality of a finished "product" or "work of art". (Remember, an installation is a purely temporary work of art. Unless it is photographed or documented in some way, there will be no evidence of its existence.) If a traditional work of art allows us to appreciate the craftsmanship of the artist, an installation allows us to experience the "artwork" and perhaps even rethink our attitudes and values.

Text source link here. 

Nancy Holt, American, 1938 - 2014

Sun Tunnels, Great Basin Desert, Utah

Sun Tunnels is an artwork by Nancy Holt, completed in 1976, consisting of four large concrete tubes, laid out in the desert in an open X configuration. The nine foot diameter, 18 foot-long tunnels are pierced by holes of varying size that correspond with the pattern of selected celestial constellations. There is a tunnel for Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn. The tunnels line up with the rising and falling sun of the summer and winter solstices. The Center for Land Use Interpretation Database

Dark Star Park, Arlington Virginia

Arlington's first major commissioned art project, Dark Star Park features large spheres designed to resemble fallen, extinguished stars. One section of the park contains spheres and poles with shadow-images inset in the ground. Each year on August 1, the day (in 1860) that William Henry Ross acquired the land that became Rosslyn, the actual shadows align with the shadow-images at 9:32 am.

Site Specific Public Art Project

Assignment:

• Create a site-specific art-work. 
• The concept for the work will be based/connected to the history/geography of the site. 
• Read the below information to get acquainted with site specific work. In class I will show artists who make site-specific work as well as discuss the art form and process further. 

Guidelines:

• The art-work can exist as a tangible object, a performance, a projection, a sound installation or a community event. 
• Work must exist for a few hours during First Friday Art Walk in April. 
• All concepts and details for the artwork must be approved by the site owner before the student begins constructing idea. 

Preparation:

• As a class we will visit the St. Augustine Historical Library to learn about historical sites in St. Augustine.
• Select two sites to research.
• After you have researched two sites, select one site and make contact with the site owner/manager. You will be introducing yourself and the project. I will provide you with an outline of the project so the site owner/manager is aware of your intentions. Keep in mind, the site owner/manager can deny you using the site. If this is the case, move to your second choice.  
• Once a site owner/manager agrees to participate, you must spend time at the site. Physically put yourself in the location and observe lines, shapes, colors, textures, sound. Our public art project taking place during the evening in April. What will the natural light be like on this day? Take photos and notes. Use this information to complete a Digital Proposal. Upload all info on your class blog and present to class. 
• What to include in the Digital Proposal:
• At least four photos of the site. In addition to photos, can include a video. Do not rely on a video, must have photos, video documentation is additional. 
• Your notes from visiting the site. Can be a photo of your handwritten notes or you can type up notes. 
• Your notes from the Historical Library
• Images of research from the Historical Library. Speak with the library staff to receive permission to take photos and post on your blog as part of class project. 
• Two site-specific artists who inspire you for this project. 
• Due date for the Digital Proposal and foam board model announced in class.
• After you present your Digital Proposal and foam board model to the class, make arrangements to present to your site owner/manger.
• All concepts and details for the artwork must be approved by the site owner before the student begins constructing idea. I will provide a paper agreement so student and site owner/manager are clear about the process. Be prepared to make adjustments to the artwork as the site owner/manager may not approve all of your ideas. 

What to put on your blog:

• Professional Images of the final solution. Make sure you have enough images so the person viewing photos can clearly understand your idea. Assume person looking at images did not see the piece in person. 
• Title AND location (be specific)
• Artist Statement
• Research. Includes notes and images. You will already have all or part of this information from the Digital Proposal. 

Excerpts from the essay ART/SITE/CONTEXT by Gillian McIver

The term “site-specific art” is still controversial because there is dissention as to whether it applies to work made specifically for a site (e.g. a public art sculpture such as Richard Serra’s works or Gormley’s Angel of the North or the Trafalgar Square Empty Plinth initiative) or to work made in response to and encounter with, a site. Or is the term applicable to both?[1] This may seem like a semantic point, but the art works that result are profoundly different. In this case, I am going to discuss the second, which am calling “site-responsive” art. 

Site response in art occurs when the artist is engaged in an investigation of the site as part of the process in making the work. The investigation will take into account geography, locality, topography, community (local, historical and global), history (local, private and national). These can be considered to be “open source” – open for anyone’s use and interpretation. This process has a direct relationship to the art works made, in terms of form, materials, concept etc. Of course, artists, like anyone else, respond to these “raw materials” in individual ways.

Along with installation, site-responsive art sometimes incorporates a live art or performative element. Since most site-responsive work is temporal, existing in its original form only for the duration of its public exposure in the site, live art’s temporal nature fits well in this context.

One of the most problematic aspects of using non-art spaces to create art is that the spaces themselves are difficult to get and often lack even a basic infrastructure. Part of the challenge of making the project is the process of getting and utilising the space. Sometimes spaces become unavailable at the last moment – forcing a rethink of the project.

Transformation of spaces/communities/locales over time – Related to “social use,” this aspect considers not only the site, but the locale and the population in time. Here an investigation into local history and interaction with local people can be invaluable. Here the artist has an 

opportunity to bring real depth to the project by collecting stories, rumours, legends and other data about the locale in past and present. In other cases, the artist might be responding to disappeared communities, in which case archival and anecdotal information can be useful.

Above all, site-responsive art is an engaged art form. The artist is interested in what is happening, what has happened, in the place. Working in this way implies questioning, possibly rejecting, the irony and “cool” relativism of certain strains in contemporary art. The artist cannot avoid coming into contact with social, economic and cultural realities during the course of the creative process. Siteresponsive art is not necessarily making any direct comment or “telling” the audience what to think, but instead invites them to engage with the very real relationship between place and work, and inviting them to draw their own conclusions.

Sachiko Abe, Artist

Japanese artist Sachiko Abe sits atop a building in a white gown, cutting countless sheets of A4 paper into thin, wispy strips. The performance piece known as Cut Paper is both calming and mystifying. Abe sits for hours on end meticulously shredding paper whose cut feathery strands measure a mere 0.5mm in width. She first began this practice while in a mental institution over 15 years ago because it proved to be a calming activity–an alternative form of meditation.

The performance artist’s serene depiction has a strong element of surrealism that makes the spectator feel like they’ve entered into an alternate universe. There is a pillar of fine-cut paper that looks like a fuzzy icicle and makes it seem like we’re all walking on the ceiling. From this tower, there is a trail leading to the artist, cutting away at her paper. Adding to the dreamlike effect of the live show, Abe’s scissors are connected to speakers that amplify the cutting sound as you draw closer to the artist.

The piece is reminiscent of Yoko Ono’s performance art entitled Cut Piece in which she invites spectators to cut pieces of her clothing off of her, though Abe’s art is less physically interactive with the audience.

Historic Site(s) Specific

Below are a few projects completed for the Historic Site(s) Specific Project, Washington State, USA. 

More to see on website

sitespecificarts.org

ABOUT TRACES OF OBSOLESCENCE

Public artist Sarah Kavage will research the photographic history of the Duwamish industrial area to create and install standing framed steel and glass photographic images at the 8^th Avenue Bridge Landing site. This way viewers and passersby can see the translucent historic photos superimposed over the current view.

ABOUT THE ARTIST - SARAH KAVAGE

Sarah Kavage is a trained painter and photographer with a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from UW, both with 12 years of experience.

ABOUT 8TH AVE BRIDGE LANDING

The 8th Avenue South Bridge once connected Georgetown with South Park over the Duwamish. It was built in 1914-15, and later relocated in 1923. It was ultimately closed in 1937, before being dismantled. 

Today, there is a Port of Seattle park near the location where the southern landing of the bridge once stood. This park features large bridge gears painted a vibrant red – a homage to the history of the site.

ABOUT LAKE WASHINGTON PALIMPSEST/WINTER’S VEIL

This two-part project Lake Washington Palimpsest and Winter’s Veil will explore the connection between Winters House, the Mercer Slough and the lowering of Lake Washington and it’s impact on the landscape.

Lake Washington Palimpsest
Bellevue College Gallery Space
Building D, second floor, room D 271 (above the Library)
3000 Landerholm Circle SE
Bellevue, WA 98007

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:30 am-4 pm.
Opening reception: Wednesday, January 14, 4-7 p.m.
Special viewing: Saturday, January 24, noon- 4 p.m
Closing reception: Sunday, February 15, noon- 4 p.m.

Lake Washington Palimpsest juxtaposes lush landscape imagery with concrete traces of the historic alteration of Lake Washington, representing this transformation through black and white pinhole photographs, a sound collage of field recordings, and an innovative approach to wall text, creating an exhibition that is evocative and thought provoking. The large-format photographs circumnavigate the lake, recording places that were most significantly changed, while the soundscape places the viewer at the water’s edge: from the serenity of water lapping on the shoreline to the chiming of halyards and oarlocks clanking on a rowboat.

Winter’s Veil
Winters House
Hours: Tuesday, Thursday- Sunday 10 am-2 pm
Opening event: Saturday, January 24, 11 am- 2 pm

Winter’s Veil, two installations at the Frederick Winters House and the adjacent boiler building at the entrance to the Mercer Slough will take the viewer from this larger environmental overview to an intimate glimpse of the life and times of individuals who profited from this transformation.

Sollod has developed an original multimedia installation inviting visitors to experience the charms of the site and appreciate its history. She has transformed the Winters House breakfast room into a camera obscura—bringing the surrounding landscape indoors—and created an original audio installation in collaboration with sound designer Johanna Melamed. The audio combines archival radio footage with sounds of breakfast, weather, and household activities. Nearby, at the entrance to the Slough, a profusion of flowering bulbs, that Sollod has forced over the winter, will be installed in the remnants of the boiler building of the Winters’ bulb farm, referencing the building’s original use.

Complementing Winter’s Veil, Eastside Heritage Center will present an interpretive exhibit on site about the history of the lowering of the Lake, discussing its impact on the Mercer Slough property as well as other places, businesses and people in Bellevue and the surrounding area.

ABOUT THE ARTIST - ELLEN SOLLOD

Known for her large scale public artworks around the Northwest, multidisciplinary artist Ellen Sollod has also created a number of site specific installations that reference the history and character of the places they inhabit, including Jack Straw Foundation, Smith Tower and Pier 62/63. Johanna Melamed has designed sound for Porkfilled Players, ACT, True Colors in Atlanta and Willamette University theater. This is their second collaborative work.

VISIT ARTIST'S WEBSITE

ABOUT F.W. WINTERS HOUSE

Built in 1929 by Frederick and Cecelia Winters, the Winters House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1992 it was recognized by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation for its excellent restoration.

The Winters House is significant both for its distinctive architectural character reflecting the Spanish Eclectic style, and its association with bulb growing and the floricultural industry in King County and Washington State. It is one of the few buildings associated with the past agricultural activity in the Bellevue area that remains on its original site and has retained its architectural integrity.

The Winters settled in the Bellevue area in 1916, and purchased 10 acres along the Mercer Slough in 1917, where they established a wholesale floral business. By 1924, they had built several greenhouses on the property and purchased an additional 10 acres in the area in order to expand their business into flower bulb farming.

Rocking Chair That Knits

Damien Ludi and Colin Peillex, students at the University of Art and Design Lausanne, have come up with a rocking chair that knits as you sway back and forth. 

Called the Rocking Knit, the wooden chair has gears above your head that utilises kinetic energy to knit. Each swaying motion powers the gears, which sends yarn to a knitting round. The final product is a cosy red beanie made with minimal effort (so long, needles!).

The contraption was made as part of a program that encourages students to make a machine that creates both an experience and a material good.