Fletcher_Small Worlds

My fav pic below

3/20/23

My original found object did not hold up to the cutting out of the windows. So I found a second option... cardboard box. I also decided to drop the idea of the blinds as there were proving to be more of a distraction to the project than anything else. The conceptual aspect of the piece has remained the same. 

3/6//23

Still trying to cement my small worlds idea. I would really like to do something similar to the idea I’ve already mentioned, but unsure how to make it more of an installation. Could I theoretically replace a galleries already existing window with my custom stained glass windows or maybe find a gallery with stained glass windows?? I’m not sure any feedback would be greatly appreciated 👍🏼

3/2/23

• What stands out from this writing?

I was surprised to see first person verbiage. Also it reads as not having a concise voice, which I guess makes sense because it is an AI pulling from a bunch of random sources. 

• What could be added to this writing?

I think a little more in-depth information could be added. It would name an artist and give some brief info on them, but then move on. Also I know that its called "CHAT" gpt but incorporating photos feels necessary for a writing on this topic.

• When was the first installation work created?

According to the AI the first installation works were in the 20th century, but if you ask me I believe installation art has been a thing for thousands of years. Whether that be cave paintings or  the backdrops to plays.

Here is my small worlds Idea, I have a container saved in the classroom. I believe it's like an old wet wipe or something like that container. I want to cut 3 windows inspired by gothic church stained glass windows. talk to me about your idea.  Why stained glass windows?  What makes this an installation?

Examples

On the inside of the container I want 3 almost wall to ceiling "canvases" with monochrome and abstract watercolor designs on them. Nothing flashy, I actually kinda want it to look like a mess. I also want to alter the lid to be a clear non colored structure. Like this...

The ideas is that if you look through the top the canvases look pretty lame or underwhelming, but when you look through the stained glass windows. The canvases come to life. I'm trying to communicate how a lot of the what is going on in our lives doesn't seem to be working or like we just aren't getting what we think we deserve. But when you look through the stained glass windows "God's eyes" you can see how your mess is part of something that will end up being beautiful. 

I also want to make the interior of the container look like an art gallery by adding benches and small little title cards under the canvases. I know I want to add atlas one figure, but not sure if they should be siting, standing, or a bunch of people walking around but one guy staring still looking at the shadow of the stained glass on the canvases.

Finished the main pieces for the installation. Still need to finish gathering the other objects that will fill the space along with hanging the boards, creating the title cards, and getting the lights pointed in the right spots.

 Get in that space and start working Fletcher. Maybe even put up a construction sign? :)

Make it yours. Make it interesting and make us think about what you are communicating. Are we to peer in?  That might be more interesting than allowing us to walk in?

My Idea for my installation is to try and convey both sides of my life. The first side being a "blue collar" worker who very little people ever think of as artists. And the other side being my artistic side that very few people seem as capable or willing to do hard manual labor. I want to use the gallery space to show that I can do both. I want to get 3 4x8 boards of osb (plywood) and paint them then cover them with thinset (tile glue) I want to show how beautiful the actions of troweling can be. I want to trowel on thinset and in abstract patterns as if I were actually going to use it at a job site. Then I want to hang them up on each wall as perfect as possible trying to make it look like a perfect art gallery. Then I want to transform the floor into the floor of a job site. With tools and other random crap that is always laying around on job sites. I also think it would be cool to set up some of my old beat up work clothes on the outside of the gallery. I also want to have some music playing via radio similar to the type of music I listen to when I'm working. 

My initial inspiration for this idea came when I was working over break and pulled a bathroom floor to find an almost pristine piece of plywood with such beautiful color and trowel marks. I actually set it aside to keep as due to how cool I thought it was. Unfortunately other workers didn't hear that I was saving it so it ended up at the dump. 

When it comes to the more conceptual side of this installation I got the inspiration after being questioned why an art major would be working a job like I was. This surprised me because I often enjoy working more than I do creating art. I primarily tile and find that as engaging any art project I've ever worked on. I have also encountered the opposite with friends who only know me from school being surprised to learn that I work a very labor intensive blue collar job. I'm just so surprised by both sides of this, how can people not see laborers as artists and how can people not see artists as laborers. I really don't get why there is such a gap between the two, for me they feel almost identical. The purpose of an artist is to create something that will invoke thought and look beautiful. The purpose of a laborer is to create something people that will provide function and purpose. They really are very similar. I am very excited to start work on my installation because of how much this idea means to me. 

Here is the board that inspired the idea for this project.

What a job site often looks like

This grout not thinset, thinset is thinner believe it or not. But it shows roughly what will be on the three hanging boards. 

sandy skoglund

I love how Sandy nails a sense of plays but them also makes it feel like another world. This is something that I am trying to capture to an extent in my installation. 

Refined Idea for Installation

Turns out 3 pieces of 4x8 plywood is just too expensive for this so I'll just use one board cut into thirds. I plan to complete two boards and hang them on the wall with a little note underneath with the dimensions title and description of the piece, something like, Abstraction #1/#2. Then for the third board I will partially complete it and then leave it propped up against the wall with note under it with dimensions a tile like, "Sub Floor" and a description like, unseen art under your feet.

This week all I have done is gathered supplies, I haven’t become work yet but have continued to develop my idea here and there. However it will still be very similar to the final idea posted above.