-underwater photo shoot at the pool (3 hrs)
-editing photos (1 hr)
-thinking/networking about the future after John's talk (1 hr)
-looking at other artist's work (Beili Liu, Andres Amador, Tara Donovan) (1/2 hr)
Discovered: I want to thank Meg, Stephanie, and Erica for recommending artists for me to look at. I was definitely inspired by their work. I absolutely LOVED the aesthetic of this piece by Tara Donovan (Untitled, 2003, ACE Gallery New York):
It is made completely of styrofoam cups and hot glue. It mimics cells and natural structures, but it is also creating a type of synthetic landscape which I am becoming extremely interested in. I haven't found an artist statement yet, but I am wondering how much environmentalism plays into her work. I'm not sure that is a huge goal of hers because in her work I don't get the sense that she is using discarded materials. It seems really stupid to me that she would buy a bazillion styrofoam cups to make this... but it is something I need to look into before I make any statements about the work she is making. Regardless of that, I absolutely love the environment she creates with this incredibly mundane object.I also photographed underwater for the first time this semester!! Yay! It has taken me way too long to get to that point...
I am really happy with the results of my first underwater experiments with the plastic milk jug pieces (photographs in last post). I feel like there is a lot of potential to expand this project and really create an environment for me to photograph in the pool. A lot of what I accomplished in getting into the pool was getting reacquainted with my equipment. I needed to organize all of the camera gadgets I had making sure I had enough batteries, making sure I remembered how to hook up the strobes (underwater flash system) to the camera...etc. This was obviously not my favorite part of the experience, but it is really beneficial.
Once I was in the pool it was interesting to watch how my plastic experiments behaved. I tied the strings of plastic to bolts, which sank to the bottom and allowed the rest of the line to float to the top. It almost looked like seaweed/kelp. Other free-floating pieces began to move in very interesting ways. They almost come alive in the water...
I want to make more. I want to fill a pool or at least a part of a pool with these structures. For my final exhibition I could recreate the environment indoors so people could view it for a longer amount of time, but I really want to see this underwater and photograph it underwater. I am now starting to envision the final result of this project to be an installation with the plastic pieces in a physical space, but alongside the sculptures would be my images. I am also thinking about how projection could be used to show the images instead of photographs in static frames...
I had been thinking about this idea before seeing Beili Liu's work, but her piece Tie. Untie, 2008 has really inspired me to explore this idea more. She projected a video loop onto a pile of string on the floor. I think projecting onto a material other than a screen could work well with my ideas:
Do: I need to get serious about finding out if I can reserve a pool. I need to talk to contacts I have at Rec Sports. I also need to find out how much it costs to rent tanks, weights, and underwater lights from dive shops in Ann Arbor. I will need to be continuously making, otherwise i will not have enough to photograph... I am also going to compile a list of figures/statistics/quotes from my research which are the most important for me to discuss with this project.
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