DRAFT 1
NAME :
DEIRDRE DOWLEY
Proposal : Call 3 – Sited/Off site
‘Art work that takes from the everyday...is it an act of salvation to save the mundane from the negligence that surrounds it.’ (Highmore, 2002 p24)
The aim of this project is to create an Upcycled sculpture in a natural outdoor setting built entirely from discarded commodities sourced from a different environment. My intention is to give these objects a new narrative that will elevate them ‘out of the quagmire from which they came.’ I would like this sculpture to reflect and integrate into the natural beauty of its surroundings despite the fact that the objects used clearly do not belong to it.
One of the questions the piece will raise is what do we presume to be natural? In our everyday lives many people have come to regard consumerism and materialism as naturalised, an unchangeable, inevitable condition for civilised society. We see thousands of objects in shops, houses, and in our media and they seem necessary, natural. When we see these objects as a sculpture placed in a rural environment as opposed to a studio, building or street it highlights their man made quality, however we also need to question our presumption that the outdoor environment is in contrast natural. The National Park is a managed environment subject to man's rules, regulations and economy.
This will be the 5th ‘BIG’ project I have been involved in with either Kensa Rescorla or and Jess Young where we push and challenge ourselves over a period of time and record our individual and group experiences as a way of exploring art practice, communication, endurance and site specificity.
PLAN
The intention behind the next in this series is to drive together to the Gower Peninsular in Wales where we will explore on foot the national Park in order to find a site where we will spend two days creating our individual artistic responses to the the chosen environment and the off sited element of artist call 3.
The first part of the journey will be getting to the destination by car during which I will collect the materials for the work. They will be man made items I find discarded on the roadside. When we arrive at the Gower we will be continuing on foot so the amount of materials I can carry onwards will be limited.
REQUIREMENTS
Car
Camping gear
Food and water for 2 days
A small selection of tools.
A manageable quantity of road side detritus.
Camera, dictaphone and artist materials to record and document various aspects of this process. From this body of work I will select the appropriate documentation for presentation.
Sunday - April 29, 2012 3:20 PM
Re: D.DOWLEY - Proposal : Call 3 – Sited/Off site
Hi Didge
Nice proposal.
Feedback would be think about 'audience' - are you and your collaborators the audience as well as the makers?
What would you wish for curatorially? Documentation will be key, apart from representing this in the Lobby, how else would you see it operating? Publication? series of drawing, photo's? I am thinking of Simon Starlings project of cycling across the desert and using the water from his hydrogen powered bike to painted the local flora with...
and how truly does the work change, if you methodology is the same form internal space to external.
This can all be captured on the reflective document.
Best
Steven
Exciting stuff! I know it's not all that you want to do this weekend, but I can't wai to see you at work... constructing a rural/urban aggressive exciting loveable plastic (?) Gower beast!
ReplyDeleteThats a great comment The Gower Wee/BIG Beasty. Yes that resonates very well. I am imagining that in the centre of a stretch of beach there will be a palm tree from which I can hang and wrap this lovely, loveable plastic rubbish as if caught on its way to a tropical Island in the South Pacific...x Would you be willing to capture shots, Sophie Calle style for me right from the start?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I'd love to! Really can't wait- though palm trees might be sparse in the Gower; It's not PLYMOUTH ya know! xx
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