Perspective and Context
One thing that stood out to me while reading The Century of Kinesthesia by Guy Brett is that the sensation of movement from an artwork does not come with motion but rather the technique that it uses to carry space, time and energy. Just like the author states “there may be an object which literally moves but is stultified and stale in its formal concep-tion; similarly there are works still done in art’s most ancient modes – such as drawing – which are more radical and dynamic in their formal structures” (5). Also, humans are constantly exploring the space around and the universe. Such curiosity is often satisfied by the work of art that offers the sensation of movement and space. For this project, I will be offering that sensation of movement and space through light composition along with the motion from the motor.
The first artist that I look up to for constructing this project is Marcel Duchamp and specifically his work on the “Rotary Glass Plate”. Although this work embodied a simple motion in rotation, it really magnifies the sense of optical illusion from the drawing on the plate. It affects our brain magically that we sometimes forget about time because we are so deeply intrigued by it, which Ponty talks about in his perception writing. It could relate to many things in our lives too such as air current, plane turbine, etc. It is also these things that are related to time and space which is why it has the power to satisfy human curiosity in exploring space and the universe.
Another artist is Bridget Riley and his work “Blaze”. This is a classic optical illusion art. This artwork is best described by Brett that the technique which is the pattern in “Blaze” can carry a force of power in movement and space without actual motion. This artwork has been made into a real moving device that follows the same zig-zag pattern in two pieces but rotates in a different direction. This magnifies the optical illusion even further.
In my project, I will keep my composition and the structure simple since all of these artworks that I looked up is minimalistic yet powerful enough to give that sense of movement and space. I planned on doing the rotational style motion for my project which I thought is more suitable for an optical illusion.
Project Description
I’m not totally sure what my project is going to look exactly. One reference or inspiration is this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SyrUV7sJ8Q. All of the motion is rotational and the shape is often the same may be a different size. However, the opposite direction of the rotation allows us to sense that movement because it gives that contrast of the same exact shape. The s-shape in the video reminds me of real-life objects and animals like the seagull flying in the sky.
I will most likely use el wire because I felt that I’m most comfortable using it and hope to continue on its usage with the motor. I will use at least two motors that rotate in the opposite direction. The overall size of the presentable project or the final product will be no more than around a meter.
Production Schedule
- 04/24 (wed) – Project Proposal Due
- 04/25 (thu) – Project Approval
- 04/30 (tue) – Designing
- 05/02 (thu) –Gathering Materials
- 05/07 (tue) – Prototyping
- 05/09 (thu) – User-testing, decorating and finalizing
- 05/14 (tue) – Pre-Final Critique
- 05/16 (thu) – Project 3 Presentation
- 05/23 (thu) – Project 3 Blog Post Due