Sensory Cube Ideas Presentation

He is a link to some research I did for the sensory cube!

-Riley

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2IFUWhJEOhAM1pYeG5ENFdDOUk/edit

Walls Sky Floor- Leonardo Drew

Leonardo Drew

“Leonardo Drew is known for his dynamic large-scale sculptural installations. On the one hand, Drew’s sculptures can be seen as exercises in formalism rooted in the very experience of looking. On the other hand, these works explore memory by employing a wide range of material to evoke common elements of the human experience and of our diverse histories.” – Sikkema Jenkins Gallery

In his studio, 2008.

No. 8 1988

 

Detail, No.8, 1988

 

No. 43 1995

Each sculpture starts on the floor with a grid of some sort, white squares, for instance. He works on one section at a time, and as he does he keeps a television set (also drenched in rust-hued dust) going in the background. "I always have something on," he said. "It charges me. It gives me the sense that I'm connected to the world."

Close Up, No. 64, 1998.

“The immense, wall-sized 64  is composed of hundreds of small square boxes, each of which is stuffed or covered with bits of fabric, batting, threads, and scraps of lace and what might once have been quilts or rugs. As the full-scale photograph represents, from across the room, it appears like a huge, compartmentalized drawer for classification of small things. It's in your grandfather's workshop; in the dusty shop of an ancient someone selling sewing notions, trims and buttons. Unlike the dynamic works we've seen above, this piece actively casts off a sense of age. It's flatness is part of it and the fact that the material that protrudes from its surface is without suspense. It's filthy; it droops and hangs.”  

“The artist often ages his found and fabricated materials, employing a process that is physically and conceptually steeped in memory, history, and the passage of time. These disparate materials are often composed within a grid that organizes the chaos into an ordered structure. Deeply informed by the theory and practice of mid-twentieth-century abstraction, post-minimal and process art, Drew's emotionally-charged abstract compositions are evocative and carry both a metaphorical and historical weight. To encourage personal interpretation, Drew titles his works sequentially and explains that "the works in themselves should act as mirrors."

Number 26, 1992.

“Following the work as it weaves through space, the viewer must duck under an overhang to access its backmost iteration. Experienced from the inside, the structure becomes both a shelter and an obstruction: the relic of some portentous event past.” – Courtney Fiske, Artforum

No. 161 2012

 

A tutorial on moss

“got shade? Grow moss.”

-moss acres

Acrocarpous and Pleurocarpous

Acrocarps are usually unbranched and erect, forming a mounded colony. Acrocarps are slower growing than Pleurocarps.

Pleurocarps tend to grow in a freely branching fashion.

 

Acrocarps do not regenerate from fragments as quickly as pleurocarps, and due to the thickness of Acrocarp mosses they are less prone to weeds.

Pleurocarps quickly regenerate from broken fragments. 

Pleurocarps quick attachment to stone and growth rate makes them better for colonizing hard surfaces. Maintenance of Pleurocarps is easier due to their matting tendencies and low even profile, blowing debris off of them is easier. Pleurocarps can be used as a nursery for Acrocarps, once an area is colonized by these pioneer mosses, the slower growing Acrocarps can more easily spread.

Steps for growing

1. Remove any existing plants/ debris that are unwanted, (particularly weeds and grasses)

Grade and contour

 

2. Mosses are not particular about the type of soil they are planted in, but to ensure a successful growing rate and high reproduction mosses need to be able to attach to the soil and move across the surface easily.

Divide and fragment  

4. The tearing and shredding to divide or fragment signals the moss to begin new growth. The first order of business for the divisions or fragments is to re-anchor themselves to the surface.

Water and walk

-Spread the fragments onto the prepared and lightly scratched soil.

-Water to wet the first inch of soil and then press firmly to provide good contact.

-Water fragments 1-4 times a day and walk on top of plantings to keep their contact with the soil.

watering schedule

Months 1 and 2–water daily for up to two months to promote

growth.

Month 3–water every three days for one month.

Month 4–water once a week for one month.

Month 5–water twice a month then until the area is fully covered in moss.

After that, water only when rain has been absent for three weeks or more.

  

Manifesto

MANIFESTO OF 20 MINUTES & A MILLION BRICKS, 2014.

1. A place that gives new meaning to 20 minutes.

2. A place where there is a new consciousness of time

3. A place where time is of the essence; fluid and subject to change.

4. A place for 20 minutes of time IN the OUT

5. A place where forms of beauty arise unexpectedly, unintentionally; where the wind sings, the light paints, and the air smells wild.

6. A place that is uniquely functional.

7. A place that draws on particular and special dimensions; the slanted afternoon sunlight, the warm chilly wind of the fall, the color of blue green mossy bricks, the echo of street cars, the crinkle of empty Pringle bags, the scatter of pigeons and the drone of the ancient furnace.

8. A place for elevated imaginations and microscopic sensitivities to what has always been (and what will always be).

9. A place that defines feet time vs. seat time

10. A place that creates a new movement of “good behavior”.

11. A place that reveals itself over time.

12. A place that allows to be loved, adorned, and altered to suit specific needs, desires and dreams.

13. A place for revelations and revolutions of the “standard”.

14. A place that thrives on control and chaos.

15. A place in which play is survival.

16. A place that is sustenance for the imagination and for creative oppositions: the experience of forgetting and remembering the world.

17. A place for secrets and performances.

18. A place for stories told and written.

19. A place for emotional rejuvenation and physical exhaustion.

20. A place inducing pride and salubrity.

SIGNATURES OF THE PRESENT COLLABORATORS:

Assignment 3: Garden Cube - By: Alex and Tess

This presentation was presented in class by myself and Tess along with two 3D models. The models displayed a green roof on the existing sloped roof and a "cube" with multiple different features described in the slides below.

Assignment 4: Painting the West Side Courtyard - By: Alex and Tess

This presentation was presented in class by myself and Tess.

Vik Muniz

This is Vik Muniz. He is a Brazilian artist who lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Some of his famous works include:

·      Skull with Clown Nose

·      Stone Joy Stick for Atari

·      The Last Supper (Chocolate)

·      Entire Encyclopedia Britannica for Travel Purposes

·      Half tombstone For The Almost Dead

·      Sugar Children: Portraits of Sugar Care workers (made out of sugar)

·      Bouquet of Flowers out of wire

·      Wasteland: The People of Jardim Gramacho

This is my favorite work by Vik – The Last Supper (Chocolate):

According to Vik, the image is not intended to be a critique of Christianity, nor is it intened to be funny in the slightest. Instead, it is intened to be clever, unusual, and thought provoking. Indeed, in much of his works, like this one, Vik challenges the viewer to think accept familiar materials being used in unfamiliar ways. Resourcing materials is also important to Vik, he wants the art to be in conversation with the material, not just use the material to make art.

In this example, the viewer originally thinks chocolate is a satisfying, sugar-y food, indulgent even. Vik here paints with chocolate and challenges the norm of painting with conventional materials. Vik also emphasizes being creative and having fun with his work. In an interview I watched, he discussed “play” as something that his work is about.

Ideas I thought about while trying to think like Vik:

I thought of some ideas for objects that could be placed in the space of the Courtyard. The key theme of what I thought about is how important materiality is to Vik. My ideas would have to represent the materiality of the space. These ideas included:

·      Trash in courtyard becomes bench/chair (repurposing objects)

·      Found Desk/Cabinet/Drawer becomes planter (repurposing objects)

·      Trash in courtyard becomes Garden (dirty and clean)

·      Bricks on the ways painted as modern buildings (old and new)

Below is an example of something Vik might create in the space. It’s a desk in a planter, incorporating the old and the new, using familiar objects (desks) in unfamiliar ways (garden)!

Notes on Meeting With Alton Hicks

First Impressions:

My first impression of Al Hicks was that he was a good, relaxed guy that genuinely cared about his students and wanted this courtyard project to succeed. He took us into a science classroom on the first floor, all the while talking to us and introducing himself. Although he was very nice, he struck me as an odd character. In a school with tough students and a long school day, I expected more of a hardened individual. I expected hi to be more of a displinary figure by trade that has put too many students to count into detention. Towards the end of the introduction process, though, his demeanor started to make more sense. He told our class that it was only second year working at Blodgett. To me this means he still has that young fresh-out-of-grad-school energy and passion that wouldn’t be so present in an older figure. Anyway, after we introduced ourselves… the meeting continued…

Meeting Content:

Part 1: In the beginning of the meeting, Adam, Riley, and Jen, introduced the project while Dan set up the PowerPoint on the smart board in the classroom. Adam, Riley, and Jen gave an overview of who we were and what we are trying to do with this project. Specifically, Adam spoke first about how our group wants the space of the courtyard to be for learning and enjoyment. Adam continued by saying we want the space to be something to look forward to for the students and staff. Al Hicks jumped in by saying that that idea is exactly what he wanted to do with the space, too. He mentioned that because of the extended school day it would be nice for the people in the building to have a new space to go to or even see out the window. Riley jumped in and asked Al to tell our class what would be necessary in the space to represent the students and staff of Blodgett. Al responded with a few (grandiose) notes about the history of the school and how he hopes it can be not only a school, but also a community center-like place in the near future.

Part 2: After Al spoke about his vision of the school, Brian, Victoria, Ryland, and Dan took over this part of the meeting. Dan was in control of the powerpoint, while the others discussed the designs. They went through the PowerPoint that they had collaborated on, discussing a few design possibilities and how our design-minded students had thought about the space thus far in the process. The slides contained a few 3-D renderings of the space as well as images of illustrations of what could be in the space. The slides also contained our concepts about oru first installation – Brian discussed how our group wanted to cover the windows with paper and add mystery and suspense to what we were doing in the space. However, the most important part about this part of the meeting was how impressed Al seemed by all of it...especially when the PowerPoint displayed the pictures that Victoria had taken while in the school. I believed it showed Al that we really cared about this project and we had already gone to considerable lengths to think about the space. After Al spoke about the design possibilities, mostly nodding and agreeing with Brian, Victoria, and Ryland, Victoria asked that we were interested in repurposing some objects in the space. She spoke about the importance of material re-use and how it could bring meaning to the space. Al responded in agreement – saying that he knows that there are a few classrooms in the basement that cannot be used as classrooms because they don’t have emergency exits and that those rooms are chuck full with old desks and other materials that we could possibly use. Our nodded in agreement, but what Victoria was hinting at and what our class was really after was the objects in the condemned auditorium (particularly the old theater-style seats).

Part 3: Marion Wilson, our class professor, took over at this (crucial) part of the meeting. With the intent on gaining permission to repurpose some of the objects in the auditorium, she asked if there was any way we could gain access to the auditorium and take out some of those objects to use. Initially, Al Hicks was unsure. He said that he knows that the auditorium is condemned and that he also knows that some items in the auditorium may belong to other schools. But, he concluded with a positive note. He said he was talk to his maintenance staff and would communicate to us what exactly would have to be done if we were to take some of the objects out of the auditorium.

Meeting Conclusions: At the end of our meeting, the group iterated that we wanted to come in to talk to the teachers of the school about our project – specifically we wanted to introduce the project and hope to gain teacher and student help with the first iteration of the project – covering up some of the school windows that look into the courtyard. I believe that we all had in mind that the perfect time to talk to all the teachers at once would be during a staff meeting (especially after Mr. Hicks told us that the staff meeting happens at the same time that our class does each week!). Initiallly, Al did not want to rush the project too much and maybe have us meet the teachers at the staff meeting on March 12^th. But, Marion then told Mr. Hicks that many of the students in the class would be gone that week on Spring Break and that we would really like to meet next week if possible. Mr Hicks’ facial expression seemed unsure but then Marion informed him that we would only take five minutes of the teachers time and present just a couple images and a group email address for the interested teachers to contact if they wanted to be involved in the project. We left the room in good spirits and I believe we are excited for our quick presentation next week!