Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Random Scultpures and Installations




Wire Sculptures











Use of mirrors in Indian Architecture

Indian Mughal architecture adopted the use of mirrors in certain rooms. I have provided pictures of what these rooms decorated with mirrors look like. These mirrors are adorned on the walls in conjuction with very intricate floral patterns. It is said if a person entered these rooms with a single candle the entire room would light up because of the relfections off the mirrors.

These pictures are from Mughal structures in Lahore (Pakistan) and Jaipur (India).











These are some videos showing some rooms decorated with mirrors. ("Sheesh Mahal" literally means palace of mirrors.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9vKztIuxeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H2Hwa1E1j8

http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm?uid=019PHO000752S15U00022000&zoomimage=1

Research on Installations

I did a little research on a famous installation artist by the name of Claes oldenburg. Claes often partnered with Coosje van Bruggen and was famous for creating large scale sculptures representing everyday objects like clothes pegs or spoons.

I noticed something very interesting while going through their art that a lot of these sculptures were positioned in very precarious positions, making them look like they were almost about to fall, this aspect is wat made the sculptures even more interesting. Some examples where this is evident is in the "Shuttlecocks" and in the "Spoon and Cherry" sculptures. In the spoon and cherry the cherry is places right at the tip of the spoon making it look like one nudge to the spoon will make it roll down to the bottom. By choosing the objects "in motion" rather than just stationary makes the overall sculpture look a lot more dynamic.

One of my favorite art pieces is the "buried bicycle" where certain parts of the cycle are chosen to "protude" from the ground making it look like a real bicycle has been buried in the park.


Flying pins; Intersection of John F. Kennedylaan and Fellenoord Avenues, Eindhoven, the Netherlands


Bicyclette Ensevelie (Buried Bicycle); Parc de La Villette, Paris


Shuttlecocks; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.


Spoonbridge and Cherry; Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

To view more of their works visit: http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/lsp.htm

Another famous designer is "Christo" who works with his partner "Jean Claude". Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born both on June 13, 1935. Christo was born in Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude in Morocco. Christo studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia from 1953-56. Jeanne-Claude studied in France and Switzerland, and earned degrees in philosophy and Latin from the University of Tunis. They met in Paris in 1958 when Christo was commissioned to do a portrait of Jeanne-Claude’s mother.*





* http://christojeanneclaude.net/eyeLevel.shtml (visit this site to view more of their works)

New Final Concept

After a lot of thinking I have decided to change my idea from the "dome" to something more practical financially and physically. The concept will be more or less the same in terms of the "insecurity" or "confusion" this time. Instead of an installation I have decided to make a sculpture.

My name is Deviyani and many people often call me "devi" for short. In hindi the term "devi" means "goddess" and I thought I should play on the idea as it makes the entire project more personal than the dome. Also since it is a sculpture it will be an easier target to reach. Indian goddesses are often depicted with many hands often 6 or even 8 too. I would like to mention that this does not mean that the goddess "actually" has so many hands...but rather each hand signifies the qualities that she possesses or roles that she plays.

As a young woman I can kind of relate to that as I also feel Im also balancing/ juggling many things in life, mostly emotional, in terms of family, friends, personal and professional fronts. There are so many things we all haveto deal with at any age..and I am at a turning point in my career..where I need to decide "what next". I have completed my education and have to decide what to do now; work?..further education? or marriage?....most likely it will be the first. Also as we grow older our responsibilities increase, we make more family ties and are answerable to many more people than you can imagine. I feel I have so many expectations to meet, everyone has a different perspective of me. I am different as a daughter, as a sister, cousin or niece. I have realised that it is crucial to maintain a healthy balance between all the people, duties and important aspects in my life to remain happy...and WHERE to strike that balance is what the question is all about. As a result I feel I am juggling more things I can handle but as we grow older it isnt really a matter of "choice" anymore but more of a "responsibility".

So far the materials I have decided to use are wire for the main sculpture depicting a form much like the goddesses they show in India. However I wont give the face any distinct features and am planning to keep the eyes closed. Just the feeling of closing my eyes will make all my worries go away, or more like closing my eyes not wanting to face the world at times. Just like sometimes when you want to just shut off and disconnect from everyone and everything for a while. The sculpture will also have jagged pieces of mirror placed all through the sculpture to represent how all these decisions and "balancing act" has made me very sensitive or "fragile" per se. Some parts of the wire will also poke out to represent that sometimes being "touched" by someone (emotionally not physically) could hurt and that once in a while we do have outbursts and let out a bit of our confusion or frustration on others.

The sculpture will be empty from the inside so you can see through the sculpture. This represents two things; firstly it represents how "empty" we are from inside as we lose ourselves in the process of proving ourselves to people and living upto their expectations. Secondly the wire also acts like a cage that "cages" all my emotions from the outside world. The barbed wire effect with the few protrusions are kind of like the same idea like "barbed" wire to kind of steer people away from getting to know the real me..or what kind of a person I really am. I am sure a lot of us can relate to this at some stage or the other. Not all of us can come off as open books immediately and dont necessarily portray or show our TRUE selves for different reasons. Most often because its something that we arent too proud of or something you dont want people to know you by.

So far this is what I have. I am working on a few experiments and if I can work well with wire I will most likely go ahead with it. IF I find that this material is virtually impossible to handle then I may switch to plaster casts; but it does not deliver the same effect as does wire. I may add a few other materials such as light, glass, clay or net but I am not sure about that as of now.