more detail of object on pomona strand
More images and a video of the wood platform constructed on Pomona Strand on Sunday.
In the previous post I mentioned that the construction is the second attempt and is unstable.
The first attempt was going to be something quite different. The sides of the construction would lean outwards - but the ground I was pushing them into was sandy and shallow with concrete underneath. I also hadn't considered how to support the sticks forming the sides to prevent them falling outwards.
Had the sides remained stable enough thinner branches would have been woven between them creating something rather like a crude basket. The top would then have been closed with further branches.
To my mind the finished construction is more eerie and interesting than the original concept.
With more preparation and time, and with some basic equipment - something to dig with and copper wire or similar to bind the sticks together - the construction might have been made more robust. On this occasion permanence didn't seem important.
This is usually the case. I feel that broken traces of a piece - and the process of it collapsing and being dispersed - are as interesting as the work itself. So too are the ways in which pieces are percieved and the uses to which they're put. There will be a further post on this shortly.
The only disappointment in the piece being so fragile is that I was unable to leave an offering on the platform without risking an immediate collapse.
I regard the making of these structures to be a performance - though one where it's unimportant whether someone sees the performance or knows what's going on if they do see it. In this case the performance included selecting the materials, constructing the piece, and documenting it with the video and images.
What I'm still not certain about is what role documentation such as this post plays in the work - or whether it's necessary or desireable. Part of me believes it would be better not to record these pieces at all.
In the previous post I mentioned that the construction is the second attempt and is unstable.
The first attempt was going to be something quite different. The sides of the construction would lean outwards - but the ground I was pushing them into was sandy and shallow with concrete underneath. I also hadn't considered how to support the sticks forming the sides to prevent them falling outwards.
Had the sides remained stable enough thinner branches would have been woven between them creating something rather like a crude basket. The top would then have been closed with further branches.
The sides however collapsed outwards. I was also obvious that there were not enough long, thin, flexible branches to weave around the sides. If there had been even the slightly deeper and denser earth used in the second attempt wouldn't have held the sides in place against the outward pressure.
Instead I decided to construct a platform. The obvious connotations for me were the platforms used historically in some cultures to expose corpses to the elements, and the pyres used to burn them. Perhaps more obvious to others would be the idea of altars - sacrificial or otherwise - which were also in my mind.
Instead I decided to construct a platform. The obvious connotations for me were the platforms used historically in some cultures to expose corpses to the elements, and the pyres used to burn them. Perhaps more obvious to others would be the idea of altars - sacrificial or otherwise - which were also in my mind.
To my mind the finished construction is more eerie and interesting than the original concept.
With more preparation and time, and with some basic equipment - something to dig with and copper wire or similar to bind the sticks together - the construction might have been made more robust. On this occasion permanence didn't seem important.
This is usually the case. I feel that broken traces of a piece - and the process of it collapsing and being dispersed - are as interesting as the work itself. So too are the ways in which pieces are percieved and the uses to which they're put. There will be a further post on this shortly.
The only disappointment in the piece being so fragile is that I was unable to leave an offering on the platform without risking an immediate collapse.
I regard the making of these structures to be a performance - though one where it's unimportant whether someone sees the performance or knows what's going on if they do see it. In this case the performance included selecting the materials, constructing the piece, and documenting it with the video and images.
What I'm still not certain about is what role documentation such as this post plays in the work - or whether it's necessary or desireable. Part of me believes it would be better not to record these pieces at all.
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