Room with a View
Destination
Size: 51cm x 20.2cm
Medium: Cardboard and Basswood
April 2017
Size: 51cm x 20.2cm
Medium: Cardboard and Basswood
April 2017
EXHIBITION TEXT: The goal for this piece was to create and display a structure design that could be built in Lake Michigan for the public to interact with. Having never worked with architecture, I turned to Richard Serra for inspiration and ideas. Richard Serra strove to evoke feeling in the viewer when encountering one of his pieces. Similarly, my goal was to have the viewer engage with my piece and guide their attention to the lake in order to have them appreciate its beauty.
PLANNING
Artistic Inspiration:
Richard Serra – The Hedgehog and the Fox, 2000, photo via artmuseum.princeton.edu |
Sculptures made by Richard Serra alter the viewers' perceptions of space and proportion. His works focus on centralizing the space available in different ways and changes how people move in relation to that space.Serra seeks to create works that engage viewers in movement, taking in his large-scale sheet-metal pieces by navigating the space around them. I chose Richard Serra as my inspiration because his site-specific works challenge the viewers’ perception of their bodies in relation to interior spaces and landscapes, and his work often encourages movement in and around his sculptures. To be able to do that with huge pieces of steel is absolutely amazing.
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Richard Serra – Backdoor Pipeline, 2010, exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, photo by Mike Bruce, via gagosian.com |
EXPERIMENTATION
The first time I was assigned to come up with 8 sketch photos for the "Room with a View" project, all eight of my ideas were rejected because I was too focused on the design and aesthetic of the piece. The major emphasis of the project was on the issue of 'composition" or visual dynamics. The goal of this area of investigation is to imbue forms with meaning by creating forms that engage in a kind of conversation, that both respond to site conditions and to one another and through such means speak to us as well. After taking that into deeper consideration, I came up with 8 more different photo sketches:
In the end, I went with the second design from the first column that featured three "wall' elements. An angled but straight wall to the right would approach you as you enter. The design includes a shorter concave curved wall in the center and another longer arced wall to the left. I found out that these three forms responded well to one another and created engaging paths leading its audience down towards the lake.
Planning Questions
1. How does your work create a relationship between land and water?
In most of my works, the water is connected to the land via platforms that extend into the lake. For the structures that don't have a platform in the water, they are connected to the land via the walls placed on the land. Through manipulation, I will have my viewer end up at the point where the water touches the land. This scene will essentially be what connects the viewer to the land and lake.
2. What feelings will people have upon seeing,entering,walking through your structure?
For my first structure idea, people entering the structure will be met with a solid, tall wall that will force them to walk around it if they wish to enter the structure. Once they reach the middle of the structure, the viewer has three options on which way they want to go. I want my viewer to take control of which way they want to go in contrast to the entrance of the structure, where the solid wall made the choices for them. If the viewer decides to go on ahead, they will experience a sense of claustrophobia caused by the curved walls inching closer to each other. Upon exiting this tunnel, the viewer is again met with two options. To the left and right, they will be able to see a glimpse of the lake. I planned on having a wall at the center to block their overall view of the lake as way to have the lake be revealed as a surprise. The viewer eventually ends up in this wide platform above the water and will come to fully understand the vastness and openness of the lake without having walls constraining their view or telling them where to look.
3.How does your structure relate to our world physically as well as with our mind?
As I mentioned with my first structure idea, the sudden change from walls closing in on you to a wide platform above the lake will give the viewer a deeper understanding of the vastness of the lake.
4.How does your structure embrace the lake?
My structure embraces the lake's beauty by having it be the last destination in my structures.
5.How does your structure use the fundamental architectural components of path, portal, and place?
My structure uses walls to create paths. Sometimes the viewer is allowed which path take, other times, the structure decides for them.
6. How does your structure embody meaning?
My structure embodies the meaning that one can never truly understand how beautiful something is until it's taken away from them. By having people be enclosed by huge walls and then let them out to be met with the lake, it changes their perspectives.
7.Describe at least 3 meaningful decisions:
In most of my works, the water is connected to the land via platforms that extend into the lake. For the structures that don't have a platform in the water, they are connected to the land via the walls placed on the land. Through manipulation, I will have my viewer end up at the point where the water touches the land. This scene will essentially be what connects the viewer to the land and lake.
2. What feelings will people have upon seeing,entering,walking through your structure?
For my first structure idea, people entering the structure will be met with a solid, tall wall that will force them to walk around it if they wish to enter the structure. Once they reach the middle of the structure, the viewer has three options on which way they want to go. I want my viewer to take control of which way they want to go in contrast to the entrance of the structure, where the solid wall made the choices for them. If the viewer decides to go on ahead, they will experience a sense of claustrophobia caused by the curved walls inching closer to each other. Upon exiting this tunnel, the viewer is again met with two options. To the left and right, they will be able to see a glimpse of the lake. I planned on having a wall at the center to block their overall view of the lake as way to have the lake be revealed as a surprise. The viewer eventually ends up in this wide platform above the water and will come to fully understand the vastness and openness of the lake without having walls constraining their view or telling them where to look.
3.How does your structure relate to our world physically as well as with our mind?
As I mentioned with my first structure idea, the sudden change from walls closing in on you to a wide platform above the lake will give the viewer a deeper understanding of the vastness of the lake.
4.How does your structure embrace the lake?
My structure embraces the lake's beauty by having it be the last destination in my structures.
5.How does your structure use the fundamental architectural components of path, portal, and place?
My structure uses walls to create paths. Sometimes the viewer is allowed which path take, other times, the structure decides for them.
6. How does your structure embody meaning?
My structure embodies the meaning that one can never truly understand how beautiful something is until it's taken away from them. By having people be enclosed by huge walls and then let them out to be met with the lake, it changes their perspectives.
7.Describe at least 3 meaningful decisions:
- The variety of closing and openings in my structures
- The limited independence of the viewer when it comes to path options
- Having the platform extend into the lake
PROCESS
When I wanted to glue down the wood walls, I came across an obstacle. The wood strips I had were hard to bend. I need them to bend to form the curves in my building structure. When I bent the wood to far, cracks would begin to show. Eventually, I came up with the solution to soak them in water for about five minutes t to soften them up. |
After the five minutes, the wood was much easier to bend. Now I needed to figure out a way to have the wood keep the curves. I wrapped the wood strips around everyday household items such as a sanitary wipes container and a bleach bottle. I used hair ties to hold the wood in place. I waited for about 25 minutes for the wood pieces to dry. |
I cleaned up any excess glue from the walls to maintain clean craftsmanship. For decoration and to give a sense of scale to my model, I glued on little tree figurines I had bought at Michael's. The set up of the trees was random. I added some food colored salt on my board to represent the sand for added aesthetics. |
REFLECTION
MEANING:
My structure embodies the meaning that one can never truly understand how beautiful something is until it's taken away from them. By having people be enclosed by huge walls and then let them out to be met with the lake, it changes their perspectives. A meaningful decision I came up with for my structure was to limit the independence of the viewer when it comes to path options. Through the set up of my structure, I can have the walls create paths. Sometimes the viewer is allowed to decide which path to take, other times, the structure decides for them. My structure embraces the lake's beauty by having it be the last destination in my structures. In fact, in the beginning, my structure blocks an individual's view from the lake. In order for one to have full access to the lake, they must maneuver around the walls for the lake to be revealed in all its glory. Through manipulation, I will have my viewer end up at the point where the water touches the land. This scene will essentially be what connects the viewer to the land and lake.
ACT RESPONSES
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
Serra's artworks have taught me that each wall has a meaning and opened my eyes to architecture. I used to believe that buildings and rooms had no meaning, just a purpose. By observing Serra's methods for creating wall sculptures, I developed my own ideas for building structures and poured my newfound knowledge into my piece. I had to experiment a lot with this project because I had never encountered the problem to create a room that expressed some type of meaning.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach from the author of my research is that of fascination and admiration for Serra's works. The author claims that Richard Serra is a "celebrated American artist whose art has graced numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world." The author writes that Serra’s colossal and strangely balanced pieces have explored and redefined man’s relationship with the surrounding world. The author mentions that Serra's works does not only occupy space, but also radically seeks to discover its essence and purpose. I know that the author admires Serra because he even goes as far as saying that Serra has become a beacon of inspiration for those creatives who examine the vast field of urban interventions and installations.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
While I was researching more about Serra's sculptures, I discovered the idea that site-specific structures should be self-supporting and reflect the nature of its material. Through my research, I learned that a building structure should not only occupy space, but to also seek to discover its essence and purpose. In doing so, you're left with an amazing piece of art.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my inspirational research was of
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading my research, I inferred that many people simply can't understand the meaning behind a building structure. This was evident in Serra's commissioned piece by the federal General Services Administration, which was an installation named Tilted Arc.The installation was presented at the Federal Plaza on Foley Square in Lower Manhattan and was positioned in such a way that did not allow people to simply ignore it. They had to interact with the piece, walking around it just to cross the plaza. Because of its massive and demanding nature and aspect, in 1985 a special jury voted 4 to 1 in favor of removing the sculpture. Tilted Arc was important and creative in the way it was created and its implied themes and materials coming from the Abstract Expressionism movement.
Bibliography
- Zwirner, David. "Richard Serra." WideWalls. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2017. <http://www.widewalls.ch/artist/richard-serra/>.