EXPANDED ART FORMS
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Here are the key highlights of this project, moments of inspiration and artists that have directed the course of this project.
This project I heavily focused on practice based research and let the material led me in my experimentations. Starting from the beginning, I looked at a simple projection onto the Modroc. I chose to play with Modroc because it is a material that I don’t have much experience so when I started to experiment and play with the material, I moulded and formed the Modroc in a way that felt natural to me, rather than looking at how correct way to use it, it was very instinctual. Not only when the mod roc was wet, during the process of it drying I sculpted it more, from folding and breaking the shape where pieces fell apart , tore it which left the netting also exposed and even peeling away some of the layering which left behind the again that netting texture on the surface of the material. I decided to project onto it because I wanted to highlight that texture on the surface, however the texture did not come up as clearly as I would hope and the attention it more drawn into the image being projected.
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Figure 1:
(Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Artists that inspired me at the beginning in developing the project inspired me not because of the final outcome but because of how they experimented and viewed the material they were working with as well as how the art continued after that “finished” process. Marisa Merz Untitled (living sculpture) piece has been re-assembled and seen in multiple places and its interesting to see that even after the artist the work is constantly evolving and the material itself as well is changing which touches on what we spoke about in the “unfinished work” seminar where the art continues to have it’s own form outside of the artist. Juliana Cerqueira Leite is a key turning point for me because of how she changed my views in movement. Before this I was very interested, almost fixated in the point of expressing movement. How she describes her work and how movement is used as a form of communicating the topic she is explore, rather than being the theme itself made me reevaluate my work and my practice. This helped me open my views and gave me more possibilities to explore in and also a lot of freedom.
Figure 2: Curl 2, Plaster, fabric, glass fiber, steel (Cerqueira Leite, 2013)
Figure 3: Untitled (Living Sculpture), (Merz, 1966)
This leads to me to photogrammetry. The photogrammetry was a key point for me because it gave me a new experience with the material and how the scanning didn’t pick up all the point but the main forms created beautiful overlapped shapes and as well as focusing on the textures. For each piece I used a different material, cassette tape working with Mateo, paper and plastic, to then mod roc. Each one has their own characteristics that makes the pieces unique to the material. Figures 4 - 6 gives me to sense of the material coming alive and its another layer of what the mod roc is and can be viewed as. During this process I was thinking about what the material could do and when we had our lecture on auto-ethnography, it got me thinking about what I have experience with the modroc and how I want to show all of these things that I have personally learn being led from the material.
Figure 4: CloudCompare Paper and Plastic Model 2.2 (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 5: Photogrammetry of Cassette Tape with different effects (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 6: Photogrammetry of Modroc (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Having the work situated in a gallery space also made me realise how much bigger I can go and to look at scale. I also saw the shadow that really interested me, the small tiny straggle bits that was seen on the edge where the projection bleed off slightly. Which was so interesting and created another form of texture created from the material adding another dimension. It ties into my pervious experiment expect I was looking at it differently, instead of looking at what’s on the material but what’s behind it. What I have put up for the show was separate pieces which in actual fact they go together. An idea that was discussed would be to combined all of these art forms together which would also bring all of my experiences together to create one big final piece. Leading then into the presentation when I talked about my proposed concept. The concept was looking at the space within the material and exploring both the texture and form, showcasing as well my experience of the material. I wanted the audience to see and experience the material for more than what it is, here being Modroc and how it is much more than just plaster.
Figure 7: Modroc model in Gallery (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 8: Projecting onto Mod roc (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 9: Projecting onto TV screen (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 10: Projecting onto Mod roc and TV screen (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
During the Christmas holidays, I found it difficult to get back into the mind set of experimenting and working, having lot of external factors. To get back into the mindset of making, during the times that I was frustrated and needed to let some energy go, I would start making models using the energy to rip apart the wet mod roc. The process of ripping the wet mod roc was a painful but therapeutic process, it took a lot of force to rip the netting and the models left have some really interesting moments. There were more of the straggle bits , each model shows how much energy is put in, depending on the emotions felt that day. The projected lights onto the mod roc creates some beautiful but also grotesque looking forms, making me feel slightly uncomfortable but there is a strange sense of wanted to touch the image to feel the model. It makes me think that because I know what it the models feels like and how delicate it is, when looking at the close ups it creates a different feeling. Almost that want to touch it but not being able to makes me want to look at it more
Figure 11: Mod Roc Energy Models (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 12: Close Up Images of Energy Models (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2021)
Due to the lockdown, unfortunately we didn't have access to the Heritage Gallery, therefore I had to find another solution for the project. After the conversation with Jim, another idea that came to me was to record how I made the mod roc models. Perhaps recording it will show the energy that is used to make the models, ripping after the mod roc. I also recorded the sounds that were being made with the Zoom H5. It felt very out of my comfort zone as I don't normally work with video and sound but it was really interesting to hear the process through the mic. The sounds that were being picked up were so intense and increase the experience for me. It was definitely a different sensation, listening to an enhanced sound of the wet mod roc. It didn't really make me uncomfortable because I was hearing it while feeling the material but watching it afterwards I can understand how it could be 'gross' to hear. However, with the video and the noise it made me want to experiment more with the mod roc, like I wanted to touch it through the video. I decided to record from above taking inspiration from the Bruce Nauman Exhibition and from Heather Hansen's performance piece held at the Ochi Gallery. The piece "Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hands (Clean Version)" from the Bruce Nauman show, where closeup videos of hands doing acts that can be seen for children's entertainment (making a balloon animal, card magic). Taking a single angle from above and capturing only the hands allows the focus to remain on the mod roc and the energy being translated from the hands to the material.
Figure 12: Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hands (Clean Version), 1993, Bruce Nauman (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 13: Mod Roc Experiment Process Video (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2021)
I experimented with a few different layouts for the video but in the end, the two finally edits that I had decided on was to have either a full screen of one video, or split of two at the same time. This is because after looking at a four screen split on the phone, I thought that it was too much information happening at once and because the screen is smaller, you couldn't see the texture of the mod roc as clearly. Although I can argue that if this was my intention that it could work but because I decided to show the process as itself from start to finish, this layout wasn't appropriate. After seeing how the video's looked like on the phone (note: images of video look pinker than the actual video), I decided to go with the two sections of film but instead of having one normal and the other reversed, I chose to use the film of one side showing the wet mod roc and the other dry. This is because I wanted to show the different sides of mod roc. Wet and dry being opposite ends made me think about duality and how this layout shows the duality of mod roc. Taking also inspiration from the book Materiality, clay leaves the impression of this moment that gives the form. This makes me think about that idea that the clay leaves the impression of that moment in time and can never be created again; it is capturing a fleeting moment within itself. Antony Gormley is a sculptor that who talks about a hierarchy within the different materials. Bronze and marble being at the top, lead and wood in the middle, plaster and clay are at the very bottom. Perhaps it is because of it's use or expensiveness which creates this hierarchy. Some more quotes that are really beautiful are clay is honest, it is down to earth. I think this is also how I want to reflect on my work, relating to the presentation on being honest about the process and what I thought about the material. I want to communicate the truth about the material. Clay is a medium that is a bridge between life and the record of life in terms of the information being left behind.
Figure 14: Documentation: Four screen split on phone (Source: Megan Swaffer, 2021)
Figure 15: Layout Experiment 2 (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2021)
Figure 16: Documentation: Both Videos on phone (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 17: Final Edit of Mod Roc Process 2 (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2021)
When thinking about how I want to present the work, I know that I want people to view it on a phone but how to present the video is a different question. An idea could be to have a separate page on the blog/portfolio for the final, or for the front page to be just the video and having the opinion to then look at the critical response below and the blog pages. When discussing with Megan, she asked the question, is the critical response a part of the final or is it only for the submission? A valid question, perhaps if its a part of the submission I could put the critical response on the blog and have another website for the final video that could have a link to the blog. I created another website design how it would look as a website for a computer layout and also for a phone, deciding to have a simple one page website just for the video having instructions for how to view the video.
Figure 16: Documentation: Both Videos on phone (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2020)
Figure 17: Final Edit of Mod Roc Process 2 (Source: Yi Ting Liong, 2021)
Critical Responce
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Mod Roc is the basic foundation of sculpting and can be seen as the bottom of the materiality hierarchy, below the materials of marble, stone and wood. I am re-evaluating the hierarchy by not looking at the success or failures but exploring mod roc for what it is. The outcome explores the duality of mod roc, both wet and dry and how the same material has multiple perspectives. The material is used to record the movement’s energy, filming the act of tearing and moulding. Taking inspiration from Antony Gormley, mod roc is honest, and it had a mnemonic quality. Mod roc takes in energy and captures a fleeting moment within itself.
The exploration process is heavily practice-based, putting myself in the space of not knowing and letting the material guide the experimentation and the project. Instead of researching the ‘correct’ method of using mod roc, I moulded and formed it in a way that felt natural and instinctual—trying to understanding the different properties of both sides of the spectrum that mod roc has to offer.
Inspired by Bruce Nauman’s piece, ‘Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hands’, the video only records the interaction between the hands and the mod roc. Only filming the material and hands allows the focus to remain on the Mod Roc and process. Having the two videos of wet and dry play simultaneously lets the audience see and hear the difference through the sounds being created and revealing the energy required to tear the material. Using the traditional material of mod roc and the performative act of only showing the hands from above, then digitally manipulating it, draws a connection between the traditional and the contemporary. As mod roc is a medium that can be seen as a connection between life and the record of life, bringing together traditional material and contemporary techniques creates a different perspective of viewing and experiencing mod roc.
Despite the captivating sense and the strong desire to touch the material combined with the inability to do so that this piece brings, there is an element of uneasiness/discomfort. Drawing relation to Antony Gormley’s thoughts, clay can be seen as an extension of the flesh, an extension of us in a way other materials are not. Using the space within a phone screen makes the piece easily accessible. The phone is another connection as it is a personal device that can be seen as an extension of oneself. Accompanied with headphones provides a more intimate immersive experience for the audience, minimising the distance between the user’s hand and the hands in the video to draw a connection.
References
Images
Figure 2: Cerqueira Leite, J., 2013. Curl 2. [image] Available at: <https://www.pkf-imagecollection.org/search/work/10376?category_id=4&show=all&browse-submit=BROWSE&> [Accessed 18 October 2020].
Figure 3: Merz, M., 1966. Untitled (Living Sculpture). [image] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/merz-untitled-living-sculpture-t12950> [Accessed 16 November 2020].
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