Martin Puryear, American, b. 1941

LADDER FOR BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

1996

Wood (ash and maple)

432 x 22 3/4 (narrowing to 1 1/4 at top) x 3 inches

What excited me about [the piece] was that the length of it was such that you wouldn’t really be able to tell whether you were looking at something that had been manipulated or whether it was in fact truly receding into space through sheer length. — Martin Puryear

A master woodworker who studied carpentry, Martin Puryear makes expressive sculpture that often reveals a humble focus on human touch and the craft tradition of woodwork. The artist has created a number of works that relate to African American history, including Ladder for Booker T. Washington.

Washington, one of the most powerful and controversial African Americans at the turn of the century, advocated self-advancement through discipline and hard work. However, he rejected the pursuit of politics and social equality for black Americans in favor of developing vocational and domestic skills. Although he was well-respected within the African American community at large, Washington’s viewpoints were adamantly opposed by some African American intellectuals, who believed that without being politically active, significant equal rights and economic gains were unattainable. The ladder has multiple associations, and Puryear’s homage to Booker T. Washington might include several of these—ambition, hierarchy, or the impossibility of reaching the top.

themodern.org

Alois Kronschlaeger

Website link here. 

Sol LeWitt, b. 1928 , d. 2007, American

Inverted Spiraling Tower,  1987

The Location of Lines

Lines From The Ends of Lines 98

The Location of Lines

The Location of Straight Line not Straight Line and Broken Line 98

Working Drawing for Wall Drawing 937

1999

Blue Wall

Starting from the simple but radical new idea that an artwork's concept is more important than its form, Sol LeWitt helped revolutionize the definition of art in the 1960s. By the middle of that decade, LeWitt had rejected the dominant, psychologically charged abstract style of artmaking for impersonal, geometric forms. By repeating and varying a single principle, he created sculptural structures that were aesthetically satisfying even as their internal logic was pushed to the edge of irrationality.

LeWitt's procedure of repetition and variance is also the basis for his wall drawings. Each of these impermanent artworks consists of a set of the artist's instructions, something like a musical score, with the actual execution carried out by someone else.

Over the years, LeWitt's austere compositions gradually became more complex and sensuous, though they remained true to his original precepts.

sfmoma.org

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.