Museum Project, To Have and To Hold, Project Guidelines

Each student is required to design and construct a display case. The display case will house original objects made by the student.  The content and meaning of the objects will be derived from research conducted at the St. Augustine Historical Society Library. Ideas about display will come from time spent looking at the many display options at The Lightner Museum. Display cases will be designed so the structure is easily movable. The display cases will be on view at The Lightner Museum. Dates and locations TBA. Each student will produce an artist statement that introduces their research and discusses their concept.  

Objective:
Expose students to the processes of research and group discourse to develop an idea. This approach to art making will provide students with an opportunity to make work that has meaning and content. Utilizing local resources provides opportunity for a site-specific project. 

Step 1:

Class field trip to the St. Augustine Historical Society Library. Discuss the need and desire to collect and document images and objects from the past. 

Step 2: 

Each student conducts their own, individual research at the library. At least two hours required from each student. 

Step 3:

Present research to class for discussion. 

Step 4:

Visit The Lightner Museum to gather ideas about display. 

Step 5:

Present display ideas to class and decide on a format. Display cases will be similar in size and design so that materials can be purchased in bulk. 

Firm up individual ideas for objects. 

Step 6:

Mold Making Workshop. Russell Maycumber, MFA candidate, Jacksonville University, will demonstrate how to make molds. This process may be of interest for producing small scale objects for this project. Discussion - artifacts, reproduction, mass consumption, souvenirs, the significance of objects, Venus of Willendorf. 

Step 7:
Begin construction of display case and objects.

Step 8:
Complete required reading and write a one page personal response. A hard copy of the reading will be given out in class. 

Required Research: 
St. Augustine Historical Society

Link here to view website.

Lightner Museum

Link here to view website.

Additional Reading and Research:

To Have and to Hold: 

An Intimate History of Collectors and Collecting 

by Philipp Blom

The Hare with Amber Eyes 

by Edmund DeWaal

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder 

by Lawrence Weschler

Museum of Jurassic Technology
Los Angeles, California

Link here to view website. 

Kevin Mahoney, Student Work

“And to see the world is also, at the same time, to experience oneself as visible, to feel oneself seen”

David Abram, Spell of the Sensuous

Separation
Chapter 2, Section II

With this work I’m attempting to separate myself from the image of myself with tracing paper.

Wood, photograph, tracing paper, 18" x 24"

Kevin Mahoney, Student Work

Natural History of the Senses

For this project I set up a microphone going through a loop pedal going through an amplifier. All of this was covered with a red velvet curtain to add a layer of mystery. So as the business of the Molly Wiley Art Building happened each day, the sounds of it’s inhabitants would be reflected back into the building. Each time the sounds would loop they would loop back on top of eachother, building up into a sea of feedback. I placed a mirror behind the curtain so that nosy viewers would be able to see that it was, in fact, them making the music. Unfortunately I faced problems with people not wanting to listen to the music and I also faced problems with the microphone on my camera not picking up the sound as it truly happened. I feel that this piece would be specific to whatever site it was installed in and I feel that it operates more as a physical experience that does not lend itself very well to documentation.

Research:
John Cage

Research/Inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjeRCsoufII

Michelle Behling, Student Work

The sense I chose was hearing:

"Sea robins, drum-fishes and many others make sounds with their swim bladders; croakers grunt loud enough to keep China Sea fishermen awake at night; Hawiian triggerfish grind their teeth loudly ; the male toadfish growls; bottlenose dolphins click and squeak like badly oiled office chairs..." (198)
Diane Ackerman, Natural History of the Senses, 1990.

This part of the chapter made me think a lot about the natural sounds in our environments. When I go to sleep at night, the sounds I hear are the refrigerator and other electrical humming sounds. I wanted to respond to the abundance of mechanical sounds that can be heard throughout the day. Often I think we tune out these sounds and then blend into the background. However, in most building these sounds are present. I think it's interesting that often lights and machines buzz more and more with time as the parts wear down, making them impossible to fabricate.

I wanted to interfere with the space and create mechanical noise in the background to alter the sense of hearing.  I tested several types of lights using an electronic dimmer, a common cause of humming lights, to test the volume and sound of the hum. Although this experience has visual sensory information, it is primarily meant to be felt as an auditory experience.  I attempted to partially shield the visual aspect of the light with a curtain in my installation.

Ultimately this project was my first experience with lighting and sound. At first, I was unsure if I could even produce humming lights, as they are considered a problem meant to be solved. It seemed as if this project was the backwards solution to a problem- a solution created through a reverse process. 

Research:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/fix-humming-incandescent-light-fixture-34036.html
https://www.smarthome.com/sh-solutions-why-do-lights-buzz-when-using-dimmer.html

Andrew Hollingsworth, Student Work

Installation in response to an excerpt titled the Painter's Eye 

from Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses.

Emily Lowell, Student Work

Touch Chapter
From the book A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

Maja Hydbom, Student Work

Chapter - Smell, A Natural History of The Senses by Diane Ackerman

Metal, tights, ceramic, petals, lace and a red light

I created this site-specific installation after reading the chapter on Smell in A Natural History of The Senses, by Diane Ackerman. The chapter was interesting mostly for the informational part, such as; learning that children likes all smell until they are taught differently, smell is the most direct of all senses, women are not drawn to men’s natural scent, humans like smelling flowers because they have an energetic sex life and that is a plausible reason why we spray ourselves with fragranced perfume- to feel desirable. I wanted to create an installation that would endorse the idea of scent, but not actually smell of anything. I created a crucifixion of the female sexuality as it is commonly portrayed as something sinful, although it being natural. The crucifixion has been turned in to a drainage, hence the pipe like support, that stands to capture the infamous sexuality.

My research for this project includes the works of Robert Gober. See below.