this is my resolution: final set up

This is the final set up for this is my resolution
I am quite pleased with the way that it has turned out. It is effective in its simplicity.

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this is my resolution: artist statement

Whats Mine Is Yours

Artist Statement

Tara Rowhani-Farid

A shower is most commonly a place of privacy, where the naked body is exposed and washed; a place that is warm and safe. The stairwells of the Dorrit Black are a harsh opposite. They are exposed and cold; they are accessible by students, teachers and visitors. They are not a destination but a means to it, a transitory space. The drains in these stairwells are thus easy to overlook. They are simply a hole and a cap, there are no pipes to collect any potential wastage and they are not connected to a system that works to relocate anything that might enter into them. Their purpose is confusing and their presence strange. However, they quietly create a connection between the separate floors; if an individual were to stand on the top floor and look down they would be able to see through each level and to the bottom. Their absence therefore determines their presence. 

It was interesting to discover that many individuals had never noticed these drains, particularly when so many of the people accessing this building were doing so by the stairs. Through the installation of these simple props, a shower head and a pair of taps, the space is changed. The choice is obvious, the drain looks particularly like that of a shower cubicle. The focus is no longer on reaching a destination but on the platform straddling in the middle. The props will draw attention to the drain, a construct that has quietly been there all along. The presence of the drains might be questioned: have they been installed as part of this work? This however is not the reason that I was drawn to install these items. A long and difficult day is often remedied by a hot shower; I have cried in the shower, tears of fatigue, sadness, anger. The relief is immediate, issues feel as though they dissipate through the act of ‘washing your troubles down the drain’. In this case however, the drain connects to the shower below, the concept thus changes to ‘washing your troubles down the drain’ onto somebody else. 

These drains explore a transfer; a transfer of shame, hatred, pain, frustration. They explore the quiet realities of inner conflict and the ease with which privacy can be attained to hide it; more importantly the showers explore the absolute interconnectedness between human beings, a connection that is often overlooked or disregarded, just like the drains themselves. 

this is my resolution: set up test

Set up to test out the adhesive be it velcro or double sided tape

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It was possible to see the showerheads from the street but this photo is not clear enough

this is my resolution: artist notes- urs fischer

Artist Research

Urs Fischer
You
2007
Installation

http://www.ursfischer.com/searches/you/images/72157

http://www.ursfischer.com/searches/you/images/72157

The work was created through the drilling into of the gallery floor and excavating the soil and rubble that was underneath before boxing the room in with new walls. There is a ledge around the walls that the viewer is able to walk on, but they are also welcome to enter into the rubble. I found this installation to be very interesting in the sense that I am wanting to add an element to draw attention to an existing thing, the drains, whilst Fischer has removed an element and exposed an existing thing. I like the idea that the viewer is confronted with their surroundings in a strikingly direct manner. Fischer is not alluding to the existence below the gallery floors but is ripping the floors out and directly exposing what is underneath.

I am drawn to the idea that the floors will eventually be returned to their previous state and the visitors of the gallery will walk on them with the awareness of what is beneath their feet. The past exposure of the space thus influences the way that it is experienced in the future. 

this is my resolution: artist notes- robert gober

Artist Research

Robert Gober
Drains
1990
Cast pewter
3 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.

http://finearts.illinoisstate.edu/galleries/images/rep_install2.jpg

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/news/decker/Images/decker11-18-10.jpg

The drain feels mundane. It has a very loud domestic presence but this is not trumped by the potentially suggestive; the works evoke the intimate bodily processes of personal hygiene. The drain is made from cast pewter and is then sunk into the gallery wall. The act of doing this immediately strips the object from its purpose; it acts as an almost ready-made that references Marcel Duchamp. The drain is associated with eating and bathing, it can be seen as an emblem of purity and cleanliness. The drain is thus able to trigger a number of associations within the viewer. The work is additionally positioned at eye level, giving the viewer a sense of apprehension or inquiry as to what is behind the drain cap itself.

These associations with drains are things that I have been feeling myself. I like the way that the drain begs to be looked into. Perhaps I could position something near or inside of the hole in order to try and get the viewer to really look into it. 

this is my resolution: artist notes- pablo valbuena

Artist Research

Pablo Valbuena
Para-site [6 columns]
Video projection on architecture
Site specific installation

http://www.pablovalbuena.com/files/gimgs/25_para-site[mattress-factory]_pablovalbuena_04_web.jpg

I particularly enjoy these works by artist Pablo Valbuena. He is simply outlining the dimensions and attributes of the building that exist in the exact same format but in doing so he is giving an importance to these aspects. I am particularly drawn to the way that the artist has chosen to highlight these areas through the use of light as a medium; he is ultimately shedding light on these architectural elements that might otherwise be overlooked. His works focus on time, space, and perception. The installation is site specific, responding directly to the perceptual qualities, physical conditions and also the surrounding influences of a particular space. 

The description of the work on the artist's website is as follows:

para- : at or to one side of, beside, next to, beyond (from gr. para)

-site : position, situation, location, state (from lat. situs)

http://www.pablovalbuena.com/

this is my resolution: artist notes- lynne harlow

Artist Research

Lynne Harlow
Slow your ride
2009
Chifon tape
Site specific installation 

http://lynneharlow.com/wordpress/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Slow-Your-Ride11-2009.jpg

http://lynneharlow.com/wordpress/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Slow-Your-Ride10-2009.jpg

http://lynneharlow.com/wordpress/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Slow-Your-Ride7-2009.jpg

This artist used a very simple idea of using chiffon tape to highlight areas that are otherwise basic areas that are generally overlooked. The artist explores space and perception. The gold is particularly effective in highlighting these areas and gives the concrete beams an especially different feel.

this is my resolution: ponderings 2

I like the idea of making an installation that will activate the space that it is in, particularly when the space might be considered a dead space or a transitory space. I like the idea that I can create something there that will reject the simple concentration on one object but rather focus more on the relationships between a number of different elements or even the interaction between things and the contexts that they are in. 

There is an article by RoseLee Goldberg from 1975 that is called 'Space as Praxis' and in it she has explored how it is this sense of space that is in a continuous dialogue with all of the objects and people that it contains that lie at the absolute heart of the subject.
This is an interesting thing to remember. The context of the space determines the dialogue that is had between not only the people within the space but also the other objects that will then create a dialogue between themselves. There is an implicit idea that a work actually constitutes a place, rather than merely occupying it. 

The piece by RoseLee Goldberg is linked below:
http://www.lab404.com/420/goldberg.pdf

this is my resolution: artist notes- anne mestitz

Artist Research

Anne Mestitz
Island home
2001
Metal rods, paint

http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/getattachment/422fcf23-82c0-4612-a086-73ca7e16f14b/Anne-Mestitz.aspx

I love this piece. I feel as though it really activates the space around it by defining the way that it is viewed. The viewer must then see this landscape in relation to the frame of this hollow caravan. The position of the piece into the natural landscape is essential to the effect that it gives, and had it been installed into an urban setting it would have not been as successful. I love the fact that the structure has one glass window. This, along with the hollow nature of the structure, demonstrates a temporality; a caravan is a temporary home and its place within these surrounds suggests that humans are only visitors to this earth.

this is my resolution: christo and jeanne-claude

Artist Research

Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Wrapped Reichstag
1971-1995

http://christo.vaesite.net/__data/e7cf09ae663f1184f236a85f7a5805eb.jpg

http://christo.vaesite.net/__data/f7049ac3a8ed42720c5240c93b4ba07c.jpg

I have been looking at Christo and Jeanne Claude because of the simplicity of their concepts and he drastic changes that their art makes to the space. For this work the Reichstag building was wrapped with fabric. This completely changed the way that the space was looked at. Additionally another interesting point is that the building was defined in a different way; rather than being defined in terms of aesthetics such as colour the building was not to be defined in terms of shape. I love the way that their works cause the viewer to challenge their mode of thinking.

this is my resolution: proposed space

Proposed Space:

West stairwells of Dorrit Black Building

The area is quite open aside from the concrete panels that are not very high

The drain that is located on the platform between the two stair levels

The drain is not connected to pipes and just goes straight down

The drains on the floor above from the lower platform

This is the view from the east side of the building whilst standing on the stairs beside the space.

This space is growing on me. I think that it has the potential to allow for a very interesting and engaging installation. The ease of accessibility is one such aspect that is appealing- there is quite a bit of traffic moving through this area.