Hidden Structure

My goal was to create a structure outside that could be observed by those who know where it is and still to be natural enough that it would not be seen unless you really looked for it. Instead of breaking the rules I wanted to enhance the rules. No tools just hands and effort. If I could not move it, pull it, or break it off, it could not be part of the sculpture. The idea came to me after Hannah and I's original discussion about the project and the possibility of leaving behind liter. So I went for the other direction concealment. The first day I looked for a spot in Forrest Park. After a ten minute hike I found a great spot with a tree that was nearly down. It is on a slanted hillside under the main Wildwood trail off of the Alder trail. I threw bread out onto the main trail in order to keep people and dogs away from where I was working. I went down into the ravine and began work. The first day I logged 3 hours and did two hours each day for a total of 11 hours. I expected to get more done than I did in that time period but using only materials from the site forced me to move further and further from the tree after I had pulled it all the way down. I pulled individual fern leaves off of plants in order to make an exterior cover. I folded and broke off branches from the main tree, which proved to be very difficult. Going up and down the hillside proved to be difficult as well. I tried to photograph the site about every half hour. I was listening for people and was amazed how close people would come but still not see me. A couple of times I could almost reach out and touch them. Eventually when finished I went into my structure and sat for a good twenty minutes and just listened. it was a very interesting experience.

tree circles

This tree is located on one of the trails in washington park. I used a tree branch to dig out the circles around the tree and build up the raised circles. I used flower pedals that had fallen from a certain bush that I found on the way up to the trails (by the reservoir in Washington Park) to line the circles, as well as rocks from the train tracks near by. The rule i chose to break was the one that said i had to break one of the rules. I didn't think any of the rules i had to break would work with what i wanted to do; so i kept it all natural. I chose this particular tree because it was in a big circular space that would be easy work with. Also i liked that it was on a side trail that is hard to find. This way, only a few adventurous people will be able to find this special spot.

self embracing tree

JOSEPH BEUYS

Joseph Beuys was a German-born artist known for his insistence on reform in all aspects of life. His work ranged from graphic art, performance art, sculpting, and various installations. Initially gaining notoriety from his early installations and drawings, Beuys popularity really rose to an international level as he became more visibly committed to social and political reform. His radical ways led to him form a handful of activist groups, and finally cost him his job at the school he was instructing at. But Beuys was not fathomed by this, as he believed that human creativity and art could alone bring upon a great revolution.


One of Beuys' most popular and final pieces of art was a commissioned piece titled "7000 Eichen" (7000 Oaks). The piece was something Beuys considered to be a "social sculpture." He was commissioned in 1982 to do a piece for Germany's Documenta 7. He then delivered a large, mysterious pile of basalt stones. Somebody then noticed that if viewed from above, the pile made the shape of an arrow which then pointed to a single oak tree that Beuys had planted along with the stones. Beuys then went on to announce the full scale of the project: He asked that no stone be moved, unless it were to have an oak tree planted right beside its new location. For the next five years, numerous people pitched in to help this project reach full fruition. Although it was first viewed as controversial, 7000 Eichen went on to perfectly represent the idea of a social sculpture, in that it was defined as both "participatory and interdisciplinary." Beuys had an insistence on making every human an artist all contributing to one piece, and what better example than this could he have produced? He united a community through participation, and changed the land around him and his community as a result. Now the city of Kassel, Germany is riddled with 7000 trees, and Beuys art has lived on, giving back to a community long after he has passed.

"A SOCIAL ORGANISM AS A WORK OF ART’… EVERY HUMAN BEING IS AN ARTIST"
--Joseph Beuys

Spring and Marshmallows

I was inspired by a tree in my backyard that is growing out of the ground sideways. I was originally going to use marshmallow peeps for this project, because Easter is coming up and I loves to eat them when I was a kid. (Also my mom still buys them for me, but I don't like them anymore but I haven't had the heart to tell her)

I used a needle with fishing line to string the marshmallows together. I made 4 strings of them, each approximately 10 feet long. I wanted it to look like a color stripe along the tree. It was difficult to take a picture of the entire tree, and still get the detail of the colors represented. I decided to spray paint them, and they turned out amazing. I had to put a few nails in the tree:( to get the pieces to stay put, which was something I had to do at the last minute. I really didn't want to damage the tree. I heard it was supposed to rain, but otherwise the weather was perfect. I ran into many obstacles, but fortunately my best friend was able to come over and help me. I tried to warn her not to eat the project because it was no longer edible, but she said she was famished and the pink ones smelled like cotton candy. I am prepared to tell you more about this project tomorrow in class.

Snow Cactus

Montage Trip

This dragonfly was from the leftovers from my girlfriend. I couldn't resist not eating all my mac and cheese which was amazing!!! When we received the dragonfly at our table I was able to talk to the lady who was wrapping all the food that night. She said they easily run through around 40-50 packages of tin foil on the weekends and that at any given time their are 2-3 people who are able to wrap tin foil art working at the montage. She took a crash course there at the montage when hired and about once a year they have an open session to learn new things to wrap. She said her favorite thing to make for people are giraffe's and octopus's. When asked what's the craziest thing she's made, she said it was a giant bong and where the weed would go in they filled it with oregano.

'body extension

At PSU today there was gathering of people wearing different customs. They were protesting education cuts. I saw some students wearing crazy outfits "Wolf, Wings, and other strange looking outfits.

Extra Credit Option #4: Body Extensions around town...

If you happen to notice anyone wearing a crazy outfit or something that would 'pass' as your own definition of a 'body extension', post information about them (and what they are wearing) here.  Ask if you can take their picture.  If possible, find out why they are wearing it, etc...  Explain why you consider your example to be a 'body extension.' 

DON'T FORGET: last day to submit extra credit assignments is Sunday, March 14!

wire sculpture

Here is a picture of a wire parakeet that I made for a friend to replace the one she lost. Her dad gave her a pet parakeet as a gift when she was little, but it escaped when her neighbor came over and left the sliding glass door open. It was special because it was the only pet bird she ever had, and when you whistled to it the parakeet would repeat the whistle back to you. She was pretty stoked on my wire version.

“The yes men fix the world”

in this film Jocular Anarchists, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, who engaged in a number of crazy ideas to spot the light on the crimes that the big corporations did.
They created fake websites similar to ones they want to target, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, and TV shows. They present themselves as spokesmen for these companies such as Dow Chemical prepared to make a major statement disaster in Bhopal, India. For this company they accept invitation to give speech, they make Skeleton gold that was the body extension present what the company care about “money”.
Bichlbaum and Bonanno Invented “SurvivaBall” was a body extension that blows up like balloon and protects the wearer from the mother natural, and the attendees start seeing the invention as protector from terrorist attacks.

MORE PICS OF BODY EXTENSIONS

Sorry if i missed anyone...between Katie and I, I hope we got everyone.  (Also, I have no idea why this text is acting like a link).

Yes Men Body Extension Extra Credit

THE SURVIVABALL

The SurvivaBall was a body extension shown in the documentary ‘The Yes Men Fix the World’. Had the SurvivaBall been real it would have many features to help one survive disaster; although the real costume was a blow up outfit that looks similar to a bug. This fabricated body extension is multipurpose and has claws, can go under water, will provide bounce when going from high places, as well as many other survival features.

These outfits were made to look ridiculous to make politicians see the problems (and ridiculous implausible alternatives) when it comes to ignoring climate change to essentially say “well.. what else are you going to do?”, because even if the SurvivaBall was real, only the rich would be able to afford one. Their performance demonstrated at a conference, as well as on the street, is intended to be eyeopening in a humorous way.

As a sculpture in themselves they are quite comical. More info here: http://www.survivaball.com/

Mary Miss

Mary Miss' work is something that I wouldn't really think of as 'art', more of functional architecture or landscaping (which could be considered art forms, its just not in the typical sense of what one thinks is art ie paintings, small scale sculptures, etc). They really remind me of the cattle areas that Temple Brandin designed, Curvy, metallic and functional. A lot of them are integrated right into the ground, giving them a crop circle-esque feeling. I may have seen one of these installations multiple times when I've been in Iowa visiting family.

Des Moines, IA