Art 308: Sculpture Studio

Monica Milstead

Project 2- Kinetics and Interactivity

When given the opportunity to create a piece of work that had an interactive aspect, I at first was not sure how I would invite the viewer to participate in whatever I created. In the process of thinking about this, I came upon a found object structure that functioned as a short corridor or walkway—and immediately thought of Bruce Nauman’s “Green Light Corridor.” I wanted to create a piece that also functioned as a small confined space that the viewer could enter, but only to an extent.

I chose to cover the structure with various layers of plastic in order to create the illusion of solid wall—but also have a structural element that would directly react to a body inside the piece. The previously existing width and height of the structure directly correlated to a human-size feel. A body could enter in, perhaps at times not easily, but it was a space that could be experienced. In order to give the audience something to try and approach I again looked to Nauman to see how he drew in the viewer. He implemented light as an element that created a desire to enter the space. I also chose to have a light that emanated from the end of the passageway that functioned as a lure for the viewer.

Stepping back from the object I created, when I would physically encounter it, I noticed that the actual space that I could enter was very limited—about 3 or 4 feet into the structure. There was a feeling of being surrounded by the structure—from ceiling to floor. However, if I were to turn around I could easily see that the space was not dislocated from the environment that I entered from. I feel like the space would have been more effective if it didn’t have such a clear entry way—either by creating a doorway that obstructed the exit, or a turn in the structure so you could not see the exit if you turned around.

Getting down to it, I would say that the interactive experience was stunted. I could have made the passage way longer—but I wanted to have the viewer experience the feeling of boundaries and not being able to explore further into this structure presented. During the critique it was raised that there was a sculptural/pictorial tension within my work, and I think that this was the root of it—there still was an aspect of my work that was not quite interactive, that was meant to be looked at. But I wanted there to be a desire to explore further that could not be implemented—hence a psychological impact on the viewer by means of frustrating them that they could not go further. It was directly interactive with the surrounding of the viewer at the first few feet of the structure, not just visually but by touch, smell, and sound.