fabacademy

Final Project Proposal

I am intrigued by light and the effects it has on all living beings, as well as aesthetically in our environment. I have grown plants all my life and like watching the changes that light and the light source trigger. In my project I would like to make a sculpture that would allow me to explore light sensitive materials and experiment within art-science-technology, including light sensors, light sensitive materials and sound or even movement. I am not yet sure of what form this creation might take, but an inspiration might come from flowers or sea creatures that react to light and open and close like can be seen in this video. I am interested in being able to create a prototype, with the possibility of making multiples at a later stage in limited editions, that can either vary slightly in design or be united in a single operational artwork.

Multiples in art have been in the discourse since early on in the 20th century, but I consider it still to be a challenge to an artist to find ways of realizing an idea in this context that can be repeated time and again. A part of that challenge is to research new methods and sourcing new materials, like we have an opportunity to do in FabLab. In fact, this might bring about collaborations between an artist/researcher and other makers or fabricators, when new materials and techniques might be sought.

Ready-mades, Mobiles and Kinetic Art

Spurred on by Marcel Duchamp’s “ready-mades” the multiple became a subversive art form early on in the 20th century and Joseph Beuys took the multiple idea further later on, channeling energy from everyday objects and imbuing them with new power and meaning. Late 20th century and contemporary artist have also experimented with this form of art. Kinetic art has its origin in the late 1800s impressionist artists who originally experimented with accentuating the human movement on canvas, but early on in the 20th century artists, like Naum Gabo, Jackson Pollick and Max Bill, increasingly explored dynamic motion in their art. Calder’s, Rochencko’s and Tatlin’s mobiles are also well known. To look to contemporary artists Arthur Ganson and Rube Goldberg (who was frequently inspired by games) spring to mind. A number of works of Arthur Ganson can be found in the MIT Museum. Recently an exhibition of artist's multiples Multiplication was organised by The Arts Council of Great Britain.

Contemporary Work

I am aware of the fact that other people have created some brilliant art work involving multiples, where mechanical, electronic and digital technologies have been harnessed in order to achieve new, creative combinations and impact. One example is: Una Lumino, a kinetic sculpture comprised of robotic flowers, with metallic buds made of acrylic and stainless steel, by the Korean artist Choe U-Ram: https://vimeo.com/46800745.

My Research and Experiments

I still have to research and acquire the technologies for the project. So the immediate tasks would be to:

1 Making sketches and designing parts and structure
1 Create the mechanical parts for the project, by cutting or casting
2 Do research on light sensitive materials
3 Find out about light sensors
4 Study electronically techniques for operation of the project

Documentation of the Final Project

The work on the final project is documented in a separate webpage and in the development notes that accompany it.

A presentation slide of the project was also made that illustrates and describes the project in short.