Art 308 Sculpture Studio Portfolio

Molly Burtenshaw

Project 1- Process
ARTIST RESEARCH

Ann Hamilton

The sensory and mental overload that is captured in each one of Ann Hamilton's productions must be taken as a combination of process oriented work and a focus on interactivity and site. The three ideas have a number of overlapping elements, but the way in which Hamilton uses knowledge of location, as well as her manner of engaging the audience, all funnel into her use of process as a metaphor.

Hamilton is very concerned with exciting all of a viewer's senses as they experience her work. In malediction she engages the ears with recordings of Walt Whitman poems, while enticing the nose with wine soaked linens, and tempting ideas of taste and touch with the mouth impressions in dough. The various interactions woven into Hamilton's work are never singular processes but combine to have the viewers react mentally and physically to the connections she tries to create.

One crucial way in which process is evident and forefront in the instillations lies in the fact that none of her works are ever complete. Each visitor is able to observe a different stage in the process as they hear a certain selection of the prerecorded or natural sounds created through the structured environments. Also, a major feature of Hamilton's sets is usually a performer who is contributing to the changing nature of the work at every moment by de-stitching a glove in kaph or erasing the text of an old book in tropos. Each action expresses a multitude of meanings that combine with and emphasize the materials and actions involved in the rest of the work.

The extensive nature of each work also gives direct focus to the process of the whole. Hamilton has to employ the help of masses of workers to set up each of her enormous and detailed projects, and the repetition alone is enough to give viewers pause and make them wonder how long and in what manner the work was constructed. Each builder brings their own unique vision to the construction, which Hamilton does not attempt to erase or hide once the sites are open to the public.

Experience is the most essential aspect to any Ann Hamilton work. She names each piece based on a general theme, but no two viewers can take away the same impression due to the myriad of meanings and associations apparent in every material and process employed. Her work would not be as multi-faceted if it was presented as a final, unchanging product. Only by exposing and highlighting the process involved is Hamilton able to create such an effective and stimulating experience for all who touch, taste, smell, hear, or see the environments she has brought together.

Tara Donovan

Just as Ann Hamilton's works are intrinsically tied to the experience of the observer, Tara Donovan's creations cannot be separated from the place they are created in – specifically because outside of base material, everything involved in a project is born and grows within the space it is constructed and completed. The production eventually stops for Donovan, but the process is much more apparent in the contrast between easily recognizable objects and the unimaginable forms they become. She describes her work under the idea that it, "might appear 'organic' or 'alive' specifically because my process mimics, in the most elementary sense, basic systems of growth found in nature." Thus when viewing her instillations, it is impossible to see just the finished product without noticing how each small object was added to make the fluctuating conclusion emerge.

Donovan's works are never intended to imitate any real objects or ideas, but due to the nature of their building (using many small, ordinary objects, or what could be considered cells, to create one large non-uniform structure), the analogies to natural forms are hard to resist. Millions of strips of fishing line group together to look similar to shimmering, undulating sea anemones in an untitled work from 2003. A multitude of Styrofoam cups resemble billowing clouds in another untitled work in 2003. Donovan's conscious effort to not place any extra meaning in her work stands is contrary to Hamilton's predefined intentions. Instead she allows the space and light to play with and give character to her simple objects as they expand to form whatever structure the original object intends. The fact that many of her works are untitled also speaks to this desire to let the objects be what they will instead of forcing her own ideals upon them.

The enormous amount of material used in each of Donovan's work gives immediate thought to the effort and process of creating each instillation. Like Hamilton, Donovan also employees the help of extra workers due to the massive labor involved in each project. The finished instillations seem simple enough at first glance, but their complexity lies in the minute detail and knowledge of the enormous amount of everyday objects manipulated to create the whole. The process of her work is encased in the repetitive ritual of cutting the pencils in Colony or sticking endless amounts of scotch tape together in Nebulous. Once the material is recognized, the first and most surprising thought any viewer will meditate on is how the piece was created.

Donovan does not create work that is permanent and unchanging. She can finish a piece, but each work is tied mortally to the space it is created in. It is impossible to save and move any of her work to a separate space as one would transport a statue or painting. Thus, the transitory aspect of her artificial organisms makes the intense process of putting them together a kind of performance art. Viewers may create their own connections when viewing the work, but the simple nature of the materials forces an emphasis to be put on the process of their growth.

Ann Hamilton images from TAMU, College of Architecture and DIA Center
Tara Donovan images from ACE Gallery