Project Description:
I wanted to create a touch object/sculpture that relates to the feeling of being trapped while searching for freedom. I wanted to capture feeling burdened or held back or caged. I portrayed the wings to symbolize freedom and the rocks to symbolize burden/circumstances. The woman is supposed to be the person who is being oppressed. She has a veil covering her eyes and most of her body is stuck in the rocks so she cannot move. She is completely controlled by the person in power.
Documentation:
Process
This was my initial idea. To me, it looked too much like a palm tree and wasn’t indicative enough of what I am trying to say through my art. In this piece, the “roots” of the plant of freedom were being weighed down by the rocks, so the wings could not grow and eventually fly. I went ahead and started thinking of my new idea.
I started by finding a black box and adding black rough rocks in there. These rocks symbolize the oppression and control from the person in power.
I used an aluminum wire to create a hanger shape and I hot glued it to the back of the wings. I used this hanger to hang from a nail I added to the wood. The person interacting with this piece gets the opportunity to take off the the wings and “wear” the wings themselves, because we all have some sort of privilege/freedom that others wish for. It puts the participant in this position of power.
My next step was to grab a silicone mold of a woman’s head, and pour resin and white dye into it to make a resin mold of the woman.
This is what it looked like when I poured in the resin.
After 24 hours, the resin finished hardening, and the model came out successful!
I put the woman between the crystal rocks. She is the person being oppressed. Her eyes are covered by cloth and her body is stuck in the rocks. She is not able to see or move. She seeks freedom but is not able to have it. She is completely controlled by the person in power.
This is what she looks like from the point of view from someone in power.
Visual Description:
My intention was to craft a tactile sculpture that evokes the sensation of confinement juxtaposed with the yearning for liberation. The sculpture aims to encapsulate the weight of burdens and the feeling of being held back or confined. Symbolically, the wings represent the aspiration for freedom, contrasting with the heavy rocks symbolizing oppressive circumstances. The female figure embodies the individual subjected to oppression, depicted with a veil obscuring her vision and trapped amidst the rocks, rendering her immobile.
To interact with the sculpture, begin by exploring the rough texture of the rocks, feeling their weight and density. Among them, you’ll discover the resin sculpture of the woman, representing the person trapped by oppression. Once you’ve located her, guide your hand to the edge of the box where you’ll find a piece of wood. This wood holds the feathery wings, symbolizing freedom. By picking up the wings, you can gain insight into the power dynamics at play and empathize with the longing for freedom experienced by others.
Reflection questions:
What is the theme of the work? What is it you aim to express?
The struggle in the search for freedom. The power imbalance of the oppressor vs the oppressed.
How is that theme particularly expressed through the modality of the week?
Capturing freedom and oppression as a touch object was my goal of expression for this week. I wanted to express freedom as soft feathery wings, since wings often symbolize freedom and independence. I wanted the opposite rough texture of the rocks to symbolize the oppression that’s going on. I also placed the woman in the middle of the pile of rocks to symbolize the oppressed person being stuck in the oppression.
Which elements of the work are beautifully/wonderfully/perfectly expressed through the modality?
I hung the wings high on the wooden board to symbolize how far out of reach certain types of freedom and privilege can be for people who are oppressed. I also used the wire hanger of the wings as an extension of the participant who is interacting with my sculpture. The participant is able to pick up the wings by themselves and feel themselves in a position of power. Normally, people find being in a position of power to be a positive thing, but with my sculpture, this is to evoke emotion and empathy for people facing oppression everywhere, because when you’re holding the wings, all you can see is the woman’s freedom being farther and farther out of reach for her while you grab it so easily.
Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?
I felt as if my touch object/sculpture looks incomplete. I could not find the the box with the right dimensions. I struggled with finding the right size of the wooden board too. It looks a little incomplete because of this.
Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work? Who is this modality not accessible for?
People with physical disabilities who may not be able to physically pick up any of the pieces may struggle with the full experience of this interactive sculpture. Additionally, I have not added a description in braille of what my sculpture means, so this would make it harder for people with BLV to fully understand this without me explaining it.
Now that you’ve identified who is excluded, what is one way you could remix this piece to include another population? (You don’t have to make this part, but think about it and write about it)
In order to be more inclusive, I may have to may it more interesting through sound. Maybe writing and recording a poem about oppression would be one idea to enhance this. Also, a description in braille would be very helpful.
Additional Modality:
For my second assignment, I decided to add the modality of sound, as well as captions, to provide description for my touch object. My sculpture had multiple objects to interact with and overall big themes. I believe adding a video that would describe the large themes of the sculpture would make it easier to understand the sculpture. I also included some text animation in this video. For example, this animation spaces out the letters, which show an emphasis on the words being said.
This one shows rotated text, which is a metaphor for an unbalanced scale:
This one shows different colors being used. The black text is used to emphasize those specific words:
Overall, I used different text animations and colors to my words in order to create a video that helps describe the themes and interactions of my touch object. Using sound and captions as a modality is a useful addition to people who may have a hard time seeing the sculpture and to people who are able to see it, but not understand it on their own.
