momentarily bound & those before and after
‘Momentarily Bound’ asks that the response to site stem from a slowing down and appreciation of existing conditions. Taking visual cues from the surroundings allowed for a series of moments to be identified and amplified via subtle shifts to the surface, employing mediums of gloss and light. The project intends to frame these moments individually and to collectively create boundaries for the eye that indicate the constrast between intervention and site.
T
he forthcoming body of work intends to disect the thinking that has occured throughout the semester, lending particular attention to the production of a final project, ‘Momentarily Bound’. The installation at Cromwell Manor not only allowed for a testing of ideas and queries leading up to the creation of the piece, but also allowed for a period of observation after the projects completion. This time was taken to reflect on ideas surrounding site specificity and to observe the encounters that took place between spectator and the installation.
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introduction
contents
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i. introduction 1 - 5
the frame
6 - 9
an intuitive process
10 - 15
a process of layering
16 - 19
the encounter
20.
final words
21. bibliography
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contents
the
A
frame
lready having an interest in the notion of the frame, it didn’t take much influence to bring this idea into the forefront of the project. Elizabeth Grosz’s Chaos, Territory, Art was this influence. Speaking of the way that “framing creates the very condition for the plane of composition”1, Grosz was a significant influence on initial ideas of using the frame as a device. A process of masking was explored as a way of applying a temporary frame to a surface before applying paint.
continued in an exercise ‘painting with water’; allowing a frame to be applied to an existing site rather than a material in isolation.
Grosz also talks of a “rhythm”2 and suggests that the surface of the Earth is something to be choreographed on or for3. The initial experiments appeared to be slightly forced rather than rhythmical and alternate methods of framing - involving a process of finding frames within existing sites - were to be explored.
This masking technique was
1. Elizabeth Grosz, Chaos, Territory, Art, (Columbia University Press: New York, 2008), 18. 2. Grosz, Chaos, Territory, Art, 19. 3. Grosz, Chaos, Territory, Art, 14.
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the frame
Previous: Application of yellow paint to a single material using a masking method. This page: Application of paints and stains to single materials using a masking method and applying a frame to an existing site using masking tape. Next: Tests completed on site, using the form of the stones in the concrete as an existing frame
the frame
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frame
cromwell street
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omentarily Bound asked that the notion of the frame be explored via finding frames that already existed in the site. Initially drawn to a crack in the concrete as a frame, the location of the intervention was to be centred around this point. From this point, several other physical phenomena such as the end of concrete slabs, the wall of the car port and the drain pipe began to inform the shape of other boundaries to be painted.
the frame
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Previous: Site plan @ 1:300 of Cromwell Manor, indicating proposed area for intervention in pink. This page: Perspective of portion of proposed site. Elevation shows line taken from pipe fastening to form the top of the framed area. Pink areas indicate application of varnish. Images are of propoed site.
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the frame
Material tests with calico spoke of an intuitive process; gaining an understanding of the material and removing threads where the fabric allowed.
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an intuitive process 7
It was found that the process taken in order to complete watercolour paintings was quite an intuitive one; especially when observing scenes in a more abstract fashion. At this point it was interesting to consider Henri Bergson’s writing on intuition as being a process that exists without translation or representation4. Producing watercolour studies on site was successful in encouraging a slower encounter with the space. While the first intervention into the site following the organic form of the paintings was abandoned, the slower way of working was not. This intuitive, slow encounter ultimately allowed the existing frames in the site to be identified.
4. Henri Bergson, An Introduction to Metaphysics, 3.
an intuitive process
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Previous: Watercolour studies completed on site, observing the surface of the concrete. This page: Perspective view of the East side of the property. Pink indicates masking of the shadow over time.
W
hile working in site it became clear that the expression ‘existing frames’ may be better communicated by the term ‘moments’ as this allowed for a discussion of boundaries that were both stationary and fleeting. This also meant that connotations of the frame being only about external limits were removed as the project was focused on the surface as a whole.
the fleeting phenomena. Working in such an intuitive way and allowing the site to dictate form meant that there was no need for traditional methods of measurement as the site itself became a device with which to measure and form boundaries.
Finding temporal moments involved masking shadows during which a constant process of observation was required in order to capture
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an intuitive process
a process of layering A
ttention was first drawn to a notion of layering when reflecting on watercolour paintings and charcoal drawings. Thought of as something that builds on top of itself in order to generate a narative, these layers also began to speak of a duration you could see how many times a painting had been re-visited and worked over.
Although Momentarily Bound was to be constructed from a process of additive layering and the application of a gloss varnish onto the existing surfaces of the site, there was an intent to do so in a considered and subtle manner.
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a process of layering
Previous: Watercolour study as an example of a physical layering. This page: Charcoal drawing as an example of physical layering and paint colour cards embodying this notion. Image of bleached concrete found on site. Next: Perspective of East side of property, the intervention as a collective.
a process of layering
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R
ather than working on top of a single area repetitively, Momentarily Bound took on the notion of layering in a slightly different form. Influenced by the repetition of bleached squares of concrete appearing in the site, a translation was made from a physical layering - as shown in earlier investigations - to something that occurs multiple times.
began to speak of a duration. The number of painted interventions directly related to the amount of time spent working in the site. A short length of time would have meant there would be fewer interventions and vice versa. Image courtesy of Rosie Scott
Having multiple interventions within the same area allowed for them to speak to one another and be seen as a collective. This kind of layering also
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a process of layering
Plan of intervention as a collective @ 1:50. Pink areas indicate application of varnish.
a process of layering
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Image courtesy of Rosie Scott
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I
nitial thinking about the encounter was very literal and categorised it into two. The first view being from a distance, seeing the intervention as a collective; and a second, closer encounter that looked at the intervention in its isolated parts.
project was often overlooked. It was almost as though the process of slowing down was required in order to enounter the work. The speed or duration of which the work was encountered determined how much the spectator actually saw.
Studying Nick Kaye’s Site Specific Art offered an insight into encounters with site specific art in general and sparked thinking about the contrast between the site and the painted surfaces. The subtlely of Momentarily Bound perhaps toyed with with notion of contrast as it was sometimes difficult to tell if you had in fact seen the installation in its entirety.
Finally, it was interesting to watch the work begin to perform in that surrounding shadows seemed to be highlighted by the presence of the work. This suggests that perhaps the project could have influenced those that encountered it to continue to search for other ‘moments’, following the processes that were followed in the creation of the work.
Observing the encounter uncovered the fact that the
Previous: View of the installation from a distance, as a collective. Image courtesy of Rosie Scott
This page: Encountering the project in isolation.
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the encounter
the encounter
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Previous: Image of the installation going unnoticed. This page: Presence of the project highlighing shadows within the site.
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While it was interesting watching the notions of frame, intuition and layering manifest themselves in a physical form, the final installation of Momentatily Bound became most intruiging when thinking about what could be taken from observing the ‘finished’ product. Witnessing the encounter between spectator and intervention allowed for further thinking surrounding the notion of slowing down and what it takes to actually encounter something. The project became something to talk to in regards to ideas surrounding site specificity in general, and this further thinking is perhaps what is most exciting about realising a 1:1 project.
Alana Fahey S3381221
final words
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Bergson, Henri. An Introduction to Metaphysics. G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1912. Grosz, Elizabeth. Chaos, Territory, Art. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Kaye, Nick. Site Specific Art; Performance, Place and Documentation. London: Routledge, 2000. Kwon, Miwon. One Place After Another, Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. USA: The MIT Press, 2004.
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bibliography