Conrad Kane

Installation Site Specific

[clayradinstall]

Research  for Historic Site Specific Installation, Palm Print:

Research for educational purposes obtained from the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library. 

The information gathered at the library on the location of specific trees in St. Augustine gave me a better understanding of how rare the Oak trees were. I learned Oak trees became federally funded property due to “tree pirates” using them for shrimp boats. My inspiration for Palm Print stems from Oak trees and people stealing the trees for shrimp boats, along with the site specificity of being by the shrimp boats and hanging my work where shrimp nets were hung to dry. My play on language is utilized in this work by incorporating a Palmetto tree and a flag to comment on the term “tree pirates”.

[clayradinstall]

Palm Print

50″ x 150″ bed sheet that was suspended on two old 20 foot shrimp net poles. 

This historic site specific installation was on location at the Collaborative Art District in St. Augustine, Florida. The piece references the history of “Tree Pirates” in St. Augustine and exposes prints of palms with a flag-like quality to the pattern. 

[clayradinstall]

Throwing Clay

20 minute installation performance filmed on location at the Molly Wiley Art Building on Flagler College campus in St. Augustine, Florida. 

The artist crouches in a corner covered by a black plastic trash bag and has a trash can with the words “throwing clay” written in black sharpie. Inside the trash can is clay in the form of slip that the audience and class is suggested to throw at the bag and also the artist. The back splash of wet clay and the mess it left on the participant comments on the repercussion of “throwing trash” at people. The performance ends by the artist removing the trash bag not being affected by the trash that was just thrown. 

[clayradinstall]

Constrained 

A response to the downstairs corner in the Molly Wiley Art Building on Flagler College campus in St, Augustine, Florida using two bags of wet red clay.

This piece comments on how clay has become an important medium for me this past year and how intrusive clay can be in any setting. This work revolves around the drying properties of clay along with the elephantine phallus. These are personal interests of mine but the installation itself is site specific because it could only exist in that space and only for a certain amount of time.

[clayradinstall]

Step Here

7″ x 7″ x 7″ block of wet red clay.

This permanent site specific outdoor installation on Flagler College campus comments on my journey to the Molly Wiley Art Building over the years at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida and the history of the ancient city that it is. The number 7 was important in my decision making because the knowledge was obtained that under everywhere in St. Augustine, 7 feet of historical remnants exist. 

[clayradinstall]

Foam board mock up inspired by Felix-Gonzalez Torres and Phoebe Cummings

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Untitled

8″ x 10″ drawing paper with food coloring plastic beads and tracing paper. 

“This cycling of the human back into the larger world ensures that the other forms of experience that we encounter...are never absolutely alien to ourselves." (page 16)

Reflecting on the word “cycling”, I used materials that were in my kitchen such as parchment paper and food coloring. I also utilized colored beads that were accidentally mailed to me to comment on humanity and societies accidents. 

[clayradinstall]

Untitled 1

3″ x 2″ x 1″ unfired clay “ear”

"As we have already seen, the process of learning to read and write with the alphabet engenders a new, profoundly reflexive, sense of self. The capacity to view and even to dialogue with one's own words after writing them down, or even in the process of writing them down, enables a new sense of autonomy and independence from others, and even from the sensuous surroundings that had earlier been one's constant interlocutor." (page 112)

Responding to this section of the book, I repurposed a portion of a previous ceramic sculpture that reminded me of an ear.