flour stencil attempt #1

i need to figure out how to get a "light dusting" effect instead of a "giant clumps of flour" effect. i would figure out a sifting mechanism--but this is difficult because each stencil letter is on an 4"x2" individual sheet.

it sticks in place much better than i thought: walking past it doesn't seem to disrupt it too much.

also, i used wheat flour because i bought it by accident and it's been sitting around. maybe regular bleached flour has a different consistency.

i want to do it outside.

i want to try other materials: corn meal, sugar, cayenne powder, salt, etc.

installation is...

installation art is site
installation art is of two parts
installation art is a genre of art that incorporates any media to create a visceral and/or conceptual experience in a particular environment
installation art is concerned
installation art is the experience
installation art is often described as a "new art form" as if hatched from nowhere
installation art is often the easiest way for artists to approach tricky social issues
installation art is a fairly new concept to the public world and is therefore difficult to define
installation art is a project that tries to combine
installation art is a phenomenon that resulted from the dismantlement of other art genres and their subsequent failures
installation art is potential
installation art is a response to the experience of everyday life in a postcolonial and global capitalist world
installation art is the best medium of expression
installation art is also what i think is the beauty of it
installation art is about making art for a particular space
installation art is became legitimized within the discourse as a questioning of sculpture
installation art is more difficult to define than painting because there is really no such thing as installation
installation art is indefinable the editor/s will decide upon the appropriate placement of applications
installation art is installed and then removed
installation art is an artwork
installation art is widely accepted and embraced by museums
installation art is coming soon … to a floor near you
installation art is hot right now
installation art is distinguished by its temporality
installation art is three
installation art is like setting a bird free
installation art is huge
installation art is art that is spread out over a large space
installation art is an artwork that encompasses an extended space
installation art is process
installation art is the ultimate expression of a wasteful society this is the very opposite
installation art is in the late
installation art is a contemporary form that affords the viewers an ephemeral experience
installation art is
installation art is created inside with the permission of the institution
installation art is not new
installation art is now the norm
installation art is open
installation art is to convert space into artwork
installation art is a major component of inside out
installation art is drawing in nature
installation art is a kind of protest or rebellion art
installation art is still en vogue
installation art is a commitment
installation art is work that is created temporarily for a particular space or site either outdoors or indoors
installation art is so daunting
installation art is redundant in india
installation art is not limited to 400 square feet
installation art is a genre that incorporates any media to create a visceral and/or conceptual experience
installation art is something more akin to interior design
installation art is an example of post
installation art is with or without
installation art is now gaining a foothold on the consciousness of the academic community
installation art is often temporary
installation art is to be
installation art is one of the most progressive genres in the contemporary art world
installation art is problematic for the traditional gallery
installation art is to design sculptural space rather than a sculptural object
installation art is a quintessentially contemporary art form
installation art is a form of expression and once created the idea stays
installation art is distinct
installation art is even more likely to be ignored
installation art is a relatively new tradition in art that borrows from painting
installation art is concerned with relationships
installation art is as much about technological change as it is about changes in artistic fashion
installation art is usually about the sensibility of one person
installation art is an endeavour of a comprehensive summing up all the levels and corners
installation art is an art form that results from the combination of several media
installation art is prevalent
installation art is always in flux
installation art is painting's offspring
installation art is much more exciting because it is ephemeral and a great deal of time has to be spent on planning an exhibit
installation art is perfectly suited to the descriptive function it plays for performance art
installation art is almost so "pure" that it is fragile in its abstractness
installation art is post-sculpture
installation art is

extremely rough thesis outline.

be nice to me. this way more difficult than i thought it would be.



.............

it is human nature to divide, name, separate, categorize. why does this behaviour hold so much appeal for us? by categorizing external elements in our lives, we assess small amounts of power over our immediate environments. this allows us to feel comfortable and safe enough to accept and adhere to the systems that have been constructed for us.

the most basic cornerstone of categorization is the idea of a binary division. moral systems are based on “right” or “wrong”. assessing control by categorizing elements of our environments (external to us) is a byproduct of living in a society where we are often only presented with TWO OPTIONS... either/or.

although i am not convinced that these dichotomies are healthy structures to govern our culture, i understand that without these constructs in place, we would need to instill other types of structure, or we would be reduced to anarchy.

the things that we construct and believe to protect ourselves….

let’s talk about installation and its relationship to fluxus. fluxus is based on the idea of text, wether it is present or not. This is important, this is related. how can text be present but not present? or can it be present and still be successful/not overbearing? EVERYTHING is constructed of language objects. it is comparison, it is a point of reference. it is also a point of resistance. this is the way we comprehend things, the way we internalize them in a way that is useful to our consumption of our environments. artists that should be mentioned:

>>>>>>sol lewitt
rachel whiteread
doris salcedo
walter demaria
borges’ chinese cabinet, and w. benjamin’s discussions thereof
2nd half of 20th century thought on the grid, categories, systems, etc.
eva hesse
jeanne-claude & christo ?? maybe not.
donald judd
adam mckewen (tracking graphite floor tiles ala judd over white carpet; dirtbags/scrolls)
robert smithson
robert morris
frank stella
richard serra
carl andre
dan flavin
“arte povera”
ashley bickerton
christopher wool
katie kollowitz
sophie calle
dorothy simpson krause
yoko ono
yayoi kusama
barbara krueger
rirkrit tiravanija
john mccracken
joseph beuys
josef kosuth (the apparent trueness of chairs, clocks. What is true/false? What is more real?)
hans haacke (“different definitions of otherness”)
mona hatoum
robert gober
jesper just
jenny holzer
ana mendieta
felix gonzales-torres


what do these artists have in common, or what differs about them? why am I drawn to them? is this more or less important than their influence on my work?


why do I believe is installation the smartest form of media? why does it succeed in ways that sculpture, painting, and other media fail? installation suggests an in-betweenness, an opposition to the either/or. the duality, i mean. the production of this type of work mirrors cultural constructs that promote the hegemony of abstraction. if we can get past the way we shut orselves down, then we can truly experience the work. ….or the relationship. or the job. or the….whatever.

a huge shift has happened in the (my) work. what is the shift? it is that this conceptual direction is uncomfortable for me. it is unfamiliar. it is a relinquishing of power, a risk, an open door to chance. memory is related. memory is always generated by the binary. you only know yourself by how you relate to the other. all social systems are generated based on this desire to compare ourselves to things external to us.

this is the reason we are constantly uncomfortable.
this is why we have come to accept that every facet of culture is subject to change: politics, love, family, science, history, media, technology. everything except ART. ART is required, almost EXPECTED to remain solid, unchanging. have we have come to rely on this security? is this the only security we rely on?

how can a participatory element enter the picture without becoming the downfall of the piece? PARTICIPATION WITH THE WORK REQUIRES A CHOICE TO BE MADE ON THE VIEWERS PART. A CHOICE IS THE EMBODIMENT OF YES/NO. YES/NO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF A BINARY SYSTEM.

the artist’s responsibility is to represent what it is like to be alive NOW.
there is an element of chance that cannot be denied.


installation
minimalism
“flux” vs “fluxus”
conceptual art
fluxus
hans haacke’s “different definitions of otherness”
sol lewitt’s “Sentences on conceptual art” as markers per chapter (part) of thesis.
work that is ABOUT the body, but not OF the body
or, that You can make work about pain but you cannot make work from a place of pain.


what about scrolls in two piles? the viewer is forced to make a choice. the piles must be different, yet the same. the flour words will still hold. things are happening here. black scrolls? opposites, dualities. polars. one banner with all the words…male, either, large, fat, tired, happy. a second banner: female, or, small, thin, awake, melancholy. or on the floor, the text? how to incorporate the wrappedness of brownpaperproject? the text is chalk and flour on black paper. it is chalk and flour on concrete. CHALK AND FLOUR IS ABOUT IMPERMANENCE. INSTALLATION IS ABOUT IMPERMANENCE vs PERMANENCE.

it is about the change that is occuring under the veil of unchangedness.

i can spend time discussing brownpaperproject. it will take up a good amount of space. it is about the binary division. It pokes fun at these social constructs in a fluxus fashion. it is a tertiary. It involves text. it involves participation, filing, organization, control, organization, self-containment, self-censorship, choice, purging, rest, unrest. It involves a giving up, a relinquishing. it is about the power of judgement on others, and how it relates to judgement on one’s self. It is hardly about gender. It uses gender as a control. it is about control. it is about forced division. it references the holocaust. it references a mail room. it referencess the forgotten.


how about the dirtbags (expansion)? this project investigates the meticulosity of human preparation. it discusses the formal and informal aspects of strength and will, resistance and give. it is about weight. It is about memory. it is about holding something that does not need to be held. it is about invasiveness. it is about taking up space, intimidation, forced intake. IT IS IN YOUR WAY. IT SMELLS. IT IS WET AND IT IS HEAVY AND YOU CAN NOT MOVE IT ON YOUR OWN. it is thick. you can lie down near it and cry. you will take it home with you on the bottom of your shoes. you may not take it all the way home but at least you will take it away from itself. IT WILL MAKE YOU HEAVIER, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE.


and now for something completely different. this is fucking mesmerizing: