Amelia Marlatt - Site Specific

 04/13/26

For this project I had decided to focus more on a piece that fits within my environmental body of work. Ashley suggested I look at Richard M. Brown's work titled The Other Side of the Earth. After looking at this piece as well as some of his other pieces I was drawn to multiple things. Firstly I was drawn to the way he uses geometric and hard lines. This contrasts greatly against the natural element as these works are slowly overgrown throughout time. I also am really interested in the usage of passage of time in his work, especially within the work titled Dirt Clock.

Idea:

For this idea I am continuing to push the concepts in both my BFA work and the other two installations I have made this semester. I would like this work to focus on the long lasting materials found within items we often over consume (clothes, toys, wrappers, blind boxes, makeup, memorabilia, etc.). Within this work I would like to create a large packed cube of dirt representing sediment layers throughout time. The layers first start of seemingly normal but over time as we get to the top of the cube, the layers are filled with now-garabage. I want to have recognizable items like baby dolls, small toys, blind box items, clothing with tags from places like SHIEN and Zara, etc. 

For my location I wanted to choose an outdoor shopping mall. Outdoor shopping centers are used much more in the US now than indoor malls. I also did some research into which outdoor malls get the best foot traffic. I came down to three choices but ended up choosing The Grove in LA. This is an incredibly popular shopping area for not only the average person, but also for tourists visiting as well as influencers and celebrities. I think the group of influencers is one of the main reasons that makes this an important site as in todays day and age, many brands grow through the internet and especially by doing brand deals with influencers. I would also like to place it in this grassy seating area. This is a place where people are able to also sit down with the piece and reflect on what it means and what they are choosing to purchase.

I also had a similar idea with the same surrounding concept and location, but rather than a large compact cube of sedimentary layers, there was a grass covered mound. Part of this mound would be lifted up and back (almost like a layer of skin) and underneath it would be revealed to be filled with "trash" aka more of the items that I listed would be integrated within the sediment layers. I am working on sketching this one but wanted to get the idea up now.

04/05/26

Artist Inspo:

Tracey Emin

This work by Tracey Emin titled My Bed, is a very raw work that I feel creates similar feelings to what I hope to evoke with my site specific. Not only am I drawn to the concept behind this work, but also the use of simple every day materials to recreate such a vulnerable space.

Carolee Schneemann

I discovered the second image first and was immediately drawn to it. After trying to figure out the artists I found that it must be the recreation of a performance piece done by Carolee Schneemann (as seen in the first image). I first had this artist for an idea I had revolving around the materialistic project. 

Project Ideas:

My original idea was to transform the inside of my bedroom into the inside of my head. I want to create a work that represents my overwhelming thoughts and show it in a more physical sense. Before knowing the site specific project was going to be more of a proposal I had planned for this work to be in my bedroom. I am not sure if that would still fall within the project guidelines so instead I thought maybe this was a work where I 'rebuilt' my bedroom elsewhere, similar to the work My Bed. 

I want this work to be simple in materials, using only paper and string. The paper will be covering the walls and objects within the bedroom with strings strung through out them in between walls and objects. This would make it difficult to move 100% freely within the space but it would be able to be seen from the doorway, or from the surroundings of the bedroom objects if this were to placed in a different building. The notes would be covered in writing simply of my thoughts and what I call my 'anxiety spirals'. 

So if I were to consider this idea in another room besides my own bedroom, I would consider having a bed, nightstand, dresser, possibly a false wall or two, in order to recreate the feeling of being inside a bedroom.