Memoryscape Assignment
You have already selected a container or box and have completed the Place + Memory fieldworks that helped to recall relationships between place and memory that are important to you. You may have found that it is hard to separate place from memory or visa versa. You may have also found that your memory exercises evoked objects, colors and other details that you had forgotten.
Select one place/memory that is the most unusual or interesting and create a sculpture using your selected container. Consider the following when creating your work:
-Think about the container and the range of meaning that it carries. If it is a suitcase, we may assume that the memory has something to do with travel, displacement, or tourism. If it is a simple wooden box we may have less specific expectations. How much do you want to transform the container? How will you work with what you have to support your ideas?
-Consider the relationship between the outside and the inside. Do they reinforce each other? Is there a contrast between the two? Are you surprised when you see the inside or does it take us deeper into the memory/place/experience?
-How will the audience access the inside? Will they open the lid? Will there be a peephole? If so, how will you light it? Use a cardboard box the size of your container as a model for understanding where to cut the hole/s and how to light it.
- Can you use materials that might help you create a mood or stand in as a metaphor? (nails on the outside might create a physical standoff, while filling the inside with salt might make us think of tears, sadness, longing.)
- If you are making a diorama, think about scale, the line between reality and fantasy, and personal and public significance. Use plaster or paper mache to create a floor or landscape for your work. You might also look at tunnel books as a source for thinking about perspective within a small space.
-Put yourself in the place of the audience, will they arrive at an understanding of your subject/concept? Remember that this can range—from a linear story-like concept to a more abstract one that shares the ambiance, feelings, or simply a glimpse into a moment.
-Does time or perspective play out in your piece?
-Think about materials/objects that you can collect to use as texture or to add content to your work:
- old photographs (not family), magazine images, newspaper images
- sheet music, book pages, maps, special papers, cloth
- sewn items, game pieces, measuring devices, tools, utensils
- natural objects or repurposed materials (wood, broken plastic, etc.)
- multiple materials: nails, salt, sand, candy, broken plastic pieces, etc.
Due Dates:
Monday January 30, 2012, All works should be at least 50% completed. Anyone using plaster or paper mache should be finished with that process at this point. Bring all materials, tools and piece to class.
Monday February 6, Class CRIT, all works due. Be ready to present work at 8 am.
