Sculpture Studio Spring 2012

Project 2: Kinetics and Interactivity

When conceptualizing my ideas for project two, interactivity, I knew I wanted whatever I physically made to lead to an experience for the participant.  I did not want the piece itself to be the focus, to be an elevated work of art.  Instead I wanted the tangible aspect of the work to become a pathway into the interaction.  So, for our interactive art project, I constructed a site-specific door and deck structure.  The door and deck themselves are simple structures.  Piece of two-by-four and plywood were used to build a doorframe that held a found door, a four-foot long deck, and a railing that extended above the deck. I wanted to keep the structure uncomplicated, with no bells and whistles.  The aspect of the door and deck structure that did concern me was whether or not they remained architecturally sound.  But through patient measuring and trial and error, the door and deck were constructed safely.

At first I had imagined constructing only a door and doorway, I had not thought of adding a deck portion as an extension.  I was naïve as to what exactly went into constructing a door, so I ended up just using a found door.  With the door already constructed, building a doorframe and installing it would take little time and effort, so we decided to add on the deck portion.  Once the decision to add the deck on was made, it became clear that a railing, secured to the door and deck, would be necessary—to provide some sense of security from falling into the swap land the deck extends into.  Another important choice I made in creating this piece was painting the structure. I had not intended on painting the deck, railing, and door, but after the structure was constructed in the studio, it became clear that it needed more cohesion.  I mixed browns, oranges, yellows, and reds until I found a hue that seemed to mix in well with the natural landscape found at the site of installation.  Seeing the door installed now, I cannot imagine it unpainted, or painted any other color.  The earth tone of the semi-bright, orange-brown paint creates a natural door—the door structure itself it jarring and out of place, but this color paint allows it be blend in with the environment, whereas a red, blue, pink, etc. door would shift the focus more onto the door structure itself, and not what it behind the door.

 The structure is installed by the pond on campus, so I pass it multiple times every day.  Though the location is in plane view and by a well-traveled path, I hoped but did not expect a lot of attention to be paid to the door.  I have received text messages from friends, been told that people have been taking pictures of the door, of their friends in the doorway or on the deck, and that photographs of it are even on facebook pages.  The piece has gotten more attention than I could have dreamed of.  I have already seem different people interact with it in different ways—two people smoked cigarettes on it at night, two people told knock-knock jokes form either side of the door, some people locked their friends while they were on the deck, and some just walk past it.  I think the piece does an amazing job at attracting pedestrians attention to a space otherwise looked-over.  Once you open to the door and enter the space, you really do get a new perspective on the environment and are given an opportunity to reflect on what you see. Each viewer is able to experience the space as he or she pleases; each experience is individualized and unique.

Some things I may have don’t differently are, replacing he doorknob currently on the door with one that cannot be locked, adding a pathway of some natural material in front of the doorway, leading people to the door, and extending the deck portion out further into the swamp land, though many safety concerns relate to that type of alteration.