For my final major project, I decided to focus on the theme of the human senses which are, sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. The aim of this project was for people to focus on their senses and to use them while navigating through their surroundings which in this case would be a meandering layout exhibition that will trigger certain emotions within each person as they explore. Though this wasn’t my initiative from the start. Originally, my idea was based on how different atmospheres can effect peoples moods. I approached the current theme through research that was conducted for the previous theme. The current theme is based on how emotional states can be represented through all types of art. Through my research I came across an article which discussed the human senses and how they affect our daily lives. I came to the conclusion that our senses have the greatest influences on triggering our emotions and I found this to be very intriguing. For example, a passing smell can bring back a distant memory and activate a deep emotion.
My ideas have developed from visiting galleries and exhibitions. I began my research by looking into sculptures which lead me to the Gagosian Gallery that was holding the impressive installations of Richard Serra. The main structure was called “Inside Out” and it completely captured my attention as I found it to be very monolithic. A curved steel structure which cut through space. Serra’s structure was constructed in a one way direction, a maze-like design which in some parts held dark shadows that left me no option but to use my sense of touch and find my way through. I was enlightened by this whole piece and this is something that I wanted to recreate in my final piece, a structure with a layout that manipulates my audiences movements and commits them on to only using their senses to find their way through.
Using the information from primary and secondary research I decided to create an exhibition where there’s a structural layout including five individual spaces for each sense. Alongside the architectural part, I also thought about creating sculptures that represent the senses and situate them within the spaces, the audience will also have the ability to interact with the sculptures. Next I wanted to focus on floor plan designs as this way I could ensure that I could control my audiences footsteps. I wanted a design plan that was organic yet primitive, I started off drawing various shapes over scrunched up paper sketches however this didn’t give me any sinuous shapes as the paper only provided horizontal lines. I referred back to Richard Serra’s circle chalk drawings for inspiration and realised the main shapes present were circular. I then created some of my own drawings by over lapping and stacking circles, I also placed different sized circles together to see if I could get a flowing floor plan outline.
Although I did many drawings established from circles, I wasn’t getting the designs I wanted until I started looking in-between the circles instead of the outline. Just like I was in a maze, I started planning my way out through joined up circles, which left me with a floor plan of mysterious curves and undulating lines. I also wanted to include tight spaces within the plan so people are forced to use their touching sense, I did this by adding more layers to the drawings. After I gathered materials from the workshop, I started making models of the floor plan drawings. The materials used were clay, tinplate and plastic. The most malleable material to work with was clay as it was very easy to bend when needed whereas, plastic was the most difficult as it was more restrictive with circular shapes.
I then used cardboard to make the final model as it was easier to scale with. For the final piece I settled on the most manageable material from the metal section, steel. Another option was wood however because of the solidity it would’ve been harder to create curves. Once the steels were cut and shaped, I chose torch-firing for colour. I was hoping for a rainbow effect. Instead, the steel turned out a darker than I had expected and left patches of emerged colours. Though it wasn’t planned I liked the intensity of colour from the metal as a result of oxidation. I chose MDF over steel for the base as I felt that steel would’ve been too distracting because of its shiny surface. Once the base was created and I placed my walls, I felt that the floor plan was too flat and I decided to add different levels.
The biggest struggle of my piece was constructing the roof. I wanted a ‘wave-form’ design and wired mesh was the perfect material for this. I planned out how the roof should be held up and experimented with different materials like metal to create struts and attached them to the steels however most of the designs looked too formidable. My final solution was to create a separate piece to hold the roof above with fish wire. I was inspired by curved lamps and garden umbrella stands. I wanted the stand to be made out of a material that didn’t give an overpowering look like clear acrylic, however once I tried to attach the roof on I realised it wasn’t stable enough and decided to use birch wood instead as it was more rigid and finally held the roof above the model. I am really pleased with the outcome of my final piece, though there were many changes during planning it turned out for the best. Also by getting feedback from my peers made it easier to evaluate my piece. If I were to redo this project I would make the model struts out of wood instead of metal to hold the roof above. Although, I have finished the architectural model, I still yet have to design my sculptures which I hope to finish within the next two weeks.
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