Aspects of Time:
Nature Intervention
Our first project was an experiment in intervention. We all selected a location, and we found some way to manipulate, change, and/ or intervene in our chosen area in a way that would be influenced and affected by time.
Having always been a bit nostalgic myself, I have always found the concept of nostalgia to be a peculiarly fascinating one. I decided to explore that concept a bit with my first piece. I selected a crab apple tree on campus. Because it was barely winter, the tree was bare, and there were fallen apples on the ground. I selected twelve apples, and I attempted to put them back on the tree. I then gathered some ice and snow from on the ground and packed some of it around the apples and branches.
As time progresses and the seasons change, the apples will shrivel and decay. I really wanted to represent the futility of trying to make something exactly as it once was. Life is lived forward. The past is only a tool to reflect on and learn from.
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Aspects of Time:
An Experiment In Sound
For this project, we randomly assigned two times during the day to observe. My assigned times were 7:00 A.M. and 4:00 PM. We were to take note of everything we saw, heard, smelled, touched, tasted. We were to think about how we felt physically, mentally, and emotionally at each of our time periods for approximately thirty minutes. Then, we created a sound file of our interpretation of our experiences. The following is my own:
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Aspects of Time:
"Roads Not Built" Proposal
Our unbuilt roads project was a way to exercise our artistic muscles without many of our usual inhibitions and restrictions. We were asked to write a proposal for an art installment, in which money, time, etc. was no factor. The following is my proposal:
When I was a child, like many kids, I loved to climb trees. I think that I must have spent about half of every childhood summer up in one. I wasn’t really particular either. I came home covered in sap several times, from climbing the big pine tree in my aunt’s yard. My Grandparents had an orchard. This meant fruit trees, which meant I didn’t even have to come back down to eat. The only real challenge was that sometimes, it was hard to find the right tree. Whenever I found a perfect tree- you know: the kind with low branches to hoist yourself up and big, strong, scooping branches to perch on, I knew I had found a rare treasure.
Now, as a grown-up, it’s a bit less…. socially acceptable for me to spend my days hanging from the tree branches, but I want to inspire this same joy in future tree climbers. My proposal is for the building of a park, which will use varieties of trees, vines, etc. as the main structures. Different kinds of trees and plants can actually be manipulated and trained to grow in certain ways. My plan is to plant a variety of trees in a park, and train them from saplings to grow in many creative and interactive patterns. Landscaping the surrounding areas should be done in a similar manner. We can also incorporate other man-made items in the mix, for the natural aspects to interact with. The idea is to create an interactive place for imaginative play. As the plants grow, the structures will form.
Images of Trained Tree Examples
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Aspects of Time:
48 Hours
As a continuation of our previous project, we were asked to modify or adapt our proposals into a piece that we were to finish in 48 hours. We were to incorporate what we felt were the key ideas and concepts of our original proposals.
I really wanted to keep the tree branch element of my piece, and even more so, I wanted to continue the theme of imaginative play. I decided to construct a small stick puppet theater, using (among other mediums) tree branches collected from my family's heirloom curly willow tree. This enabled me to keep my project as something which could be enjoyed by children, and I also kept a natural, and whimsical feel to it.
Stick Puppet Theater
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Aspects of Time:
Animating the Inanimate-
Great Eggspectations
In this final project, the class was instructed to "animate an inanimate object." This left some room for interpretation. I have always found eggs to be interesting mediums on which to create. So, using sharpies and a camera, I decided to create a pseudo stop motion video to tell a story about the (short) existence of a particular egg.
