mapping K

Police Program

Installation

This is my proposal for an installation that involves the stacking/layering of boxes. These boxes will have photos inside them for viewing purposes.

Mapping

My Mapping displays the locations of the old and new photography of the campus. The old photography is represented by the red and the new photography is represented by the blue. This mapping indicates the directionality of the angles of the pictures as well as location of where the pictures were taken.

Dear All:

Any help finding more information on this Marcel Breuer embassy in

DeHague, built in 1956 would be wellcomed. Planns, Sections, recent controvercy etc.

Dan

Johanssen Embassy Dublin 1963

Dear All:

I would like to review this project in class for 10 min and attempt to

employ Nelson Goodman's terms for "Hoe Buildings Mean".

I hope you know who John Johanssen is. If not it demonstrates yet agai the kind of

institutional amnesia that Pratt suffers from. See you Tuesday.

Dan

Welcome

Lets get started !

Mapping and Installation

Contained within the Pratt Campus is a large variety of sculptures varying in size and scale. The placement of these seems to be a bit arbitrary. The presence of the sculptures at times delineate spaces around the campus, such as pathways, open areas (sculpture garden) and boundary condition to keep people off of certain areas. The question that automatically arises from the placement and use of the sculptures is the reason behind them. Yes, Pratt Institute is an art school and the public display of art helps emphasis the title, Art Institute. Being a “public” campus most of the sculpture work is on display for not only the student body but also for the surrounding neighborhood, only visible through a black silted fence.

On the website of Pratt Institute, the institute’s statement states that its intended to work for both the student body and the public. The message on the site says that the presence of it enriches the student’s lives as and creates an oasis the public. The institute controls the placement of the sculptures and what work is to be on display. About 75% of the sculptures are on loan from the artists. The others are either commissioned work or students work (alumni or current). The garden was established in the last 90’s and continues to grow.

Once on campus you can sense the overall presence of the sculptures due to the physical appearance of them. Walking through the campus, brick, concrete and paved walkways delineate spaces of travel from one point to another. The edge conditions of most pathways through campus contain a sculpture. The scale the sculpture varies based on the placement within the campus layout.

As I walked down the main pathway of campus, on “ Ryerson Walk” heading north I notice a number of sculptures, or are they are they simply art pieces that line the brick pathway. The library is on the far left with a grass area right in front of the library to the near left. I can see another walkway, concrete, that presents itself separating the grass area and the library, which leads north towards the “sculpture garden”. The placement of the sculptures seems to act a buffer zone or even a boundary for edge of the brick pathway. I begin to recognize that not only are they a boundary condition they are a strong presence to my senses. The smaller scale of the sculptures tend to keep my eyes drawn low to the ground but I can’t help to see large steel looking structures peeking through openings around trees and sculptures. The problem is that I can barely see them. The buffer zone of smaller scaled sculptures has slowed my progression down. I ask myself why are these smaller sculptures here? Why do I tend to walk slower past certain sculptures even though I’ve seen them numerous times throughout the semester?

The answer to these questions are: scale, materiality, style and shape. The most intriguing sculptures engage my mind in almost a checklist way. First mental question, what is it made of? Steel, concrete and heavy timbers are just a few materials to name off that are the most intriguing. They represent a sense of power strength and industry. Not necessarily a material you would think in terms of an art piece. The second set of questions I ask myself are, how big is this? Do I need to step back to really understand the overall size of this? That answers the reason why my senses have slowed my progression down while in this buffer zone of sculptures. These answers still leave me with one final question, why are they all in the way of each other?

As I turn left off of the brick pathway on “Ryerson Walk” I enter the beginning of what I’m going to call an industrial garden, not a sculpture garden. I say this because there is no order to the massive steel, wood and stone structures. They all has a sense of teetering with disaster. Meaning any of them seem as if they are going to fall over. They push the limits of materials. I get this sense from being able to touch and physically move them. I’m engaged with them. When I step back to get a better view or perspective of any of sculptures to understand what its function is or what its representing I begin to enter a new space. What is this space? It’s the space where the sculpture either behind, in front of or to the right or left of the one I’m viewing begins to intrude or get in the way. My senses start to battle with which sculpture I’m viewing. Which is the one that holds president over the other?

The final answer to that question is, none of them hold president over the other. The institute has created an unorganized placement of sculptures on display. Not much of an oasis for the artists who have lent their work to be displayed. The idea behind sculptures is send a message to its viewer through materiality and scale. In order to fully appreciate a sculpture you must be able to view it from a far or up close and at many different angles.

This leads me to my own installation to intervene this issue of placement and optimal view. I’m purposing to build an installation that will allow one to answer the main issues of viewing a sculpture. The installation will touch on four issue, subject, context, form and style. Subject being its function or express. Context being can it be seen from above, below or at a different level. Form means, angles, shape, use of material and optimal lighting. Lastly style, is it rough, smooth, linear or abstract. The installation will allow the student body, the public and the institute to share the meaning of the sculpture while pleasing the needs of each group. The artist will be allowed to have a say on the situating of the installation. The public and the student body can use the space in such a manor that is pleasing the artist because it will allow for proper viewing of a sculpture. I am going to zoom into one specific sculpture on campus. Its located or shall I say tucked in the left corner of the “sculpture garden”. Its called, Jive by Mark Disuvero.

The sculpture is one of the largest scaled sculptures on the campus. Personally it’s one of the most intriguing as well. The bright orange color that is painted on the steel automatically draws your eyes to it. It can been seen from afar because it’s about 50’ of construction orange steel leaning as if it’s about to fall over. The use of the color and the uses of the heave steal makes it so bold. Once I got closer the sculpture I couldn’t fully brace the massiveness of the structure. I could only see that one steel column was resting on the other steel column, that’s how its was standing up. From afar these two exact, orange steel columns look as if one pierces or penetrates the other. Making it seem as if the sculpture could just slid right down to the ground splitting in two. This view only occurs as you walk up to it from the defined concrete walkways to the right of “Jive” within the sculpture garden. This is the only time were one can see the sculpture from at least a distance of 100’. To the left of Jive is the Pratt Library building within 50’ of it. To the back of Jive about another 50’-75’ is the black slitted fence that keeps the public to the outside of the campus.

This means you can never have the sense of view the sculpture the right way. To an artist this is not ideal. To me, the student, this isn’t ideal as well. I am not an expert at sculptures or how to view them right but I know it’s hard to view something that is 50’ high from a distance that is less that its height. To fix this issue, my installation is a series of reflective planes that can also be used as benches for the student body and the public to use. Since the areas are the base of a lot of sculptures on campus are used for areas to gather or relax. The whole idea behind the reflections is to block the linear view of other sculptures will in the “view area” of sculpture you are viewing.

As you walk through the entrance of the sculpture garden you will be greeted by small reflective planes that are angles towards Jive. This allows for the full presences of Jive to be view from afar and not obstructed. The closer you get to Jive the larger the reflective surfaces get. The placements of the reflective surfaces are places in such positions that as you view one reflection you will be able to see and receive views from 360 degrees of the sculpture. There are also reflective planes at the base of Jive that will allow people to view Jive above while standing on the ground, not having to strain and look up.

Overall, the installation can be used on all sculptures around the Pratt campus. I will allow for each sculpture to be viewed in the proper way while intervening with the institutes unorganized layout of the sculptures. I will only contribute and enhance the lives of the student body and the public oasis.