Project 1: Process

ARTIST RESEARCH

            Tara Donovan is a New York born artist who focuses on process through the use of materials. She uses materials to accentuate the process involved, whether it is through number, texture, or shape. Her investigation of materials allows diversity in her work.

Untitled, 2003. Paper Plates, Glue. Ace Gallery Los Angeles

      For Tara Donovan, accumulation becomes the mode through which her materials transform. She twists, ties, adheres, stacks, and loops her materials in efforts to find how far she can stretch her materials.      

       Her organic sculptures often mirror certain geometries and patterns found in the natural world, yet she uses manufactured and man made materials. She uses her materials and stretches them to reach new heights. She begins her process by choosing a material, not necessary knowing what it can or will do.

            Many of her works have an organic quality to them, and in many cases, rely and build off the environment around them. One of her pieces, Haze, must be supported by two walls in order to hold its shape. She makes the oint that any wall may do, and that this piece is not site specific. 

            Unlike Cai Guo-Qiang, her works are not temporary, although she has received speculation about the ephemeral qualities of her work due the materials she uses. In one piece, Untitled (Plastic Cups) uses regular plastic drinking cups. The amount of cups and the form they take on allows the piece to transcend beyond the plastic cup and become its own form. Her work is about an exploration of material and form.

          She works to add mass to her materials and thus creates something new, something through which one can feel the process. By using objects that are common in everyday life, she allows us to take the steps of recognizing her materials and trying to remember the original state of the object.

            Cai Quo-Qiang is a Chinese artist whose explosions and burning creates an appreciation for the ephemeral and uses the juxtaposition between destruction and creation.

            Cai Quo-Qiang uses the element of time in his works. His art takes much time to orchestrate, as well as the set up before the actual event in many cases He is most famous for his use of gunpowder and other explosives to leave his mark. Often times his work is on a canvas, and he lays out the gunpowder, as one would use paint. The gunpowder then ignites on the canvas burning away the gunpowder, and the residue becomes the piece.  He also is known for his “explosion events” as he calls them, or artistically orchestrated explosions.

            Some of his works are created by laying out gunpowder and controlling the path of the ignition. The end product is a canvas with varying degrees of charring. The process takes much skill and planning. He has to lay out the gunpowder and weigh down the canvas, and take he precautionary measures to make sure the canvas isn’t destroyed. Cai Quo-Qiang even controls what areas are touched by fire, and which aren’t. The burning process itself is very interesting, however, it is only evident in the finished product, as we, the viewer do not often get to see this step of the paintings.

            The fact that we as viewers do not get to see the actual burning is quite interesting, because many of Cai Guo-Qiang’s other works involve the act of explosion as the medium. These paintings, the gunpowder on canvas, are more about the mark that the fire creates and the combination of a strong control and also lack thereof. 

            “Transient Rainbow", one of his most popular explosion pieces, was commissioned by the MoMA sometime after September 11th. He used fireworks over the East River, which could be visible from Manhattan to Queens and showed that something used for destruction could also be used for the sake of beauty and healing.

            His process is about the work and effort right up until the moment of explosion. These works create a necessitation for the ephemeral; he object itself exists before, and only before the ‘end product.’
            Many of his works are giant installations, which occur only once. The gunpowder becomes the paint, which allows the scale of the pieces to be quite large yet these types of works can only be accessed now through photographs.

            His piece, entitled, “Clear Sky Black Cloud” was a series of explosion done in 2006. A small firework would create a mass of dark grey smoke, and this process was repeated Tuesdays through Sundays. The transience of this work could be seen depending on the weather and the daylight. The nature of the fireworks is much about the forms and shapes that they take when the process of ignition and explosion is occuring. In these pieces, an act usually associated with destruction is used to create unique forms in space. The three dimmensinality is very ephemeral, and these forms continue to exist in three dimmensional space through photographs.

References:

http://www.caiguoqiang.com/

http://www.china-gallery.com/en/yang/pe_caigq.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/arts/design/25smok.html

http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2004/12/13/32600.html