Sculpture Studio Spring 2012

Project 2: Kinetics and Interactivity
ARTIST RESEARCH

Mowry Baden:

Mowry Baden is an American sculptor that was born in Los Angeles, California in 1936. He has lived in and worked in Canada since 1971.The purpose of his sculptures is for the audience to experience a new feeling through the sculpture. He uses a variety of materials including seatbelt, wood, metal, plastic and sometimes even uses parts of existing objects such as an exercise bike. Baden uses different aspects of science to create a sculpture and aspects of psychology to observe and determine how the audience will react when they are experiencing the art. The sculptures “Seat Belt With Block,” “Kinhin,” and “I Can See The Whole Room” are great examples of how Baden incorporates psychology into his work. The pieces mentioned create a sense of insecurity as they are interacting with the sculpture. “He is primarily concerned about gaps in perception: Disjunctions between what we see and what we sense tactily and kinesthetically are apparent only when we are alert to them as they occur over time.” (MercerUnion.org) He has created many sculptures that require someone from the audience to participate and interact with the sculpture.

"Seat Belt With Block" is a very interesting piece yet it is very simple. The sculpture is made up of an eight foot seatbelt that is bolted onto the floor. The other end of the seatbelt is supposed to be attached to a person. When the person is walking with the seatbelt tied around their waist, they will have to walk in a circle, over a concrete block and it will create some discomfort because the seatbelt is tight on them and they can fall if they raise their foot too high. “This is quite amusing until you get to a stone block about the height of a normal stair-tread. That's just enough to tighten the belt so it's impossible to get more than one foot on the block without tumbling over.” (LA Times) This is where Baden’s intention comes in. He is observing how the audience will react when they are interacting with the sculpture. One would think that a seat belt is a safety feature and that it is used to protect a person. The sculpture “Seat Belt With Block” can make a person aware that it can cause them to fall instead of helping them. It is what Mowry Baden does with this sculpture. He used a material that represents security for people and used it in an opposite manner because it could cause a person to fall.

(Seat Belt With Block)

“Hudson Street Tomato” is a very interesting piece that interacts with nature and humans. The sculpture is composed of an exercise bike, fan, tomato and plastic bag. The person is supposed to get on the bike and start pedaling. There were three bikes; one would provide water to a plant and one would provide air to a tomato enclosed in a plastic bag. As they pedal, the fan will produce air and it will be transferred to the tomato to keep it alive. The sculpture gives the person a workout but also makes them see the process of getting food in a different way. Instead of easily going to a store and buying a tomato, they are able to experience some manual labor to keep a tomato alive by pedaling the bike. In this sculpture, Mowry Baden is probably trying to make people more aware how tough it is used to be to have food to eat. The location of the sculpture was in New York, which is a crowded place with almost no place to grow any produce. It allows the people to become part of the process of growing produce in an area that is impossible to do in a large scale.

(Hudson Street Tomato)

Mowry Baden’s sculptures are very interesting because each one is unique and allows a person to experience something different. Some of them may be very simple but it makes a person aware of their surroundings and purpose of the objects used in the sculptures. Baden’s use of certain technological materials and non-traditional materials can sometimes create a connection with something else. His purpose was to observe how people would think and react about some of the sculptures. Whether it was providing air to a plant or walking around in a circle with a seatbelt tied around the waist, Baden made people more aware of their senses by letting them experience something different.

Sources:
http://www.mowrybaden.com/works.php?id_slideshow=18#id=album-18&num=content-232
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggavma/2006/kc127864804784221385.htm
http://articles.latimes.com/1998/feb/25/entertainment/ca-22636
http://www.mercerunion.org/archive95/248.html

Rebecca Horn:

Rebecca Horn is a German installation artist born on March 24, 1944 in Michelstadt, Hesse. She is known for drawings, sculptures and films. Horn lived through a very rough young life and it was the inspiration for most of her work. She got lung poisoning due to working without a face mask while using fiber glass. This was the event that impacted her life the most. She was hospitalized for a year and while in a sanatorium trying to recover from her illness, her parents died. She felt isolated when her parents died and it was a very long time before she would be able to get back to work or studying. “She was still too ill, however, to resume life as a student or work with fiberglass and polyester. She had to take masses of antibiotics and sleep long hours to have enough energy to operate normally. She could, however, work with softer materials, and when in bed she drew with colored pencil.” (Wikipedia) Once she was able to get back to work, Horn began working on sculptures. Her purpose for the sculptures was to feel less isolated in life. She uses interactivity in a more personal level to fight an issue (isolation) rather than have someone else experience something through her art.

Horn’s sculptures could be categorized into two different sides. One side would include the sculptures that are helping her fight against the isolation she was feeling. These sculptures were reaching and extending out of her body and showed a message that she was trying to improve her communication with the world. The other side would include her sculptures that represent her isolation and her hiding from the rest of the world. The sculptures on this side form a barrier that prevents her from interacting with everyone else. She also has made sculptures that are mechanical and move sometimes to simulate a movement that can be done by humans or animals. There is a sculpture that is holding a paint brush, dips it in paint and then it ogresses the brush onto a canvas. It is constantly moving and it represents a human painting.

Some of the sculptures that could represent her trying to fight isolation and trying to communicate with the rest of the world are “Unicorn”, 1970/72, “Finger Gloves,” and “Séance for Two Breasts” (1970). These sculptures are part of her collection of extension sculptures. My favorite sculpture of the three mentioned before was “Finger Gloves” because of the interaction one could have with the sculpture. The sculpture was made from wood, metal, fabric and it was an extension of her hand and she would try to pick up an object on the floor. The sculpture was supposed to allow her to feel and pick up an object while keeping some distance from it.
(Finger Gloves)

“Pencil Mask” (1972) was the most interesting piece because it showed both sides of her past. It created a barrier that kept her isolated but at the same time the pencils were extending out and it was her way reaching out. The mark that the pencil made was a way of her trying to communicate with the world. The sculpture is a mask that is strapped to her head and there are pencils that are connected to the mask. She is able to make marks on a canvas by moving her head and dragging the pencils back and forth. She can also vary how dark or how light the marks are on the canvas depending on the pressure she creates with her head. I think that “Pencil Mask” is a piece that describes herself as a person and her traumatic event from the past at the same time.

(Pencil Mask, 1972)

Horn uses interactivity for a more personal reason. It is her connection with the world. She felt isolated at one point and it can be seen through some of the sculptures. She also is trying to stop feeling isolated and communicate with the world. Her sculptures are very personal and different from other artists that use interactivity. Horn’s work is the complete opposite from Mowry Baden. She concentrates on her own emotions and feelings to create sculptures while Baden is trying to make sculptures that will have other people use it and he can observe their reactions. Her style of work is different because of her past.

Sources:
http://www.rebecca-horn.de/pages/biography.html
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/artist/horn/biography/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Horn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2005/may/23/art
http://metropolis.co.jp/arts/art-reviews/rebecca-horn/