At the beginning
So this is how it started. I arrive at university and I am told "make a diorama". My mind raced trying to think of ideas with no success. A few days later I was browsing through the accumulated mess in my room and found a packet of paddlepop sticks from some project years ago. When I think diorama my first thought is primary school project, I think lots of people had trouble getting past that but I decided, armed with my paddlepop sticks, to embrace childhood and create a sculpture. More specifically a windmill.
By creating something child-like I hoped to create an art piece which appealed to many, a piece which would appeal to anybody on some level. This became increasinly apparent in my mind as I researched artists.
For example, the works of Martin Creed and Olafur Eliasson which are currently showing at GoMA's 21st Century: Art in the First Decade were hugely influential. Both these works have a child-like quality and have proven to be amazingly popular. In my opinion this is simply because people can relate to them so I ventured to create something similiar.
Banksy, as an interest of mine from long back was a great influence. The way that his work is created makes it accessible to anyone who sees it by using recognizable symbols and images which is exactly my aim.
Candice Breitz does the same in her work King (A Portrait of Michael Jackson) by using the familiar music of Michael Jackson. She has created a work which is effective despite myself not having a particular liking of Michael Jackson's music. It is simply due to the fact that it is similar to me. By using an easily recognisable symbol, in the case of my work, a windmill, and recognisable materials, in my case paddlepop sticks, I hope to give anyone who views it an enjoyable experience.
A little later after seeing the work of Slinkachu and Thomas Doyle I was inspired to add a miniture environment around the windmill using hobby supplies like grass and trees to create a more interesting base to the piece.
Over the next week the windmill sat on the kitchen bench. I observed it through all kinds of light. From the slight morning glow emitting from the back of the house to the direct sunset in the afternoons. The way the light caught the sculptural elements of the windmill caught my eye and I developed a keen interest in the way the piece worked in a space dependant on light. It then occured to me that the only direction the piece had not been lit from was from the inside! So, as an art student does, I found a way to do exactly that.
I started to research the works of Dan Flavin and Yayoi Kusmama who both use light to create dynamic and exciting art pieces. I also focused on a musician named Jonsi who uses light and projections in his live shows to create atmospheres of extreme emotion. I became interested in the way that light is considered unattainable, it cannot be physically picked up yet it can create such wonder.
I was also in the process of researching a Brisbane photographer Alex Bowler. By seeing his photographs I was inspired to use photography to explore my themes. This resulted in OBSERVATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS focusing on the aesthetic qualities of the light later manipulated on the computer to black and white so as to highlight the architectural shapes of the windmill.
We were then asked to develop a 30 second film from still photographs of our diorama. I decided to go with my light and dark theme and make a clip which showed the two contrasting opposites.
Now as another piece developed from my first piece comes a pair of inverted prints. They show a simplified view of the windmill in a lit room as opposed to being lit from the inside. It explores the binary oppositions involved in the exploration of light, including light and dark, black and white and positive and negative space.
In the future I hope to work with the space around the windmill in the form of installation and play with light in an even more effective way.
