My final project, which I named Cotton Spiral was made with toothpicks and cotton twine. In some places, I found the ground to be too hard to put the toothpicks in or too soft. I had to feel out the few areas that would hold it. I started at the center of the rock and spiralled outward. Each ring was a little wider until I got to the tree.
As I was making this project many people passing by and neighbors stared at my strangely. I noticed the people living next door seemed concerned. I hope they were not mad. Construction workers stared and thought what I was doing was pretty funny. I didn't have to explain myself though, so that's good.
I left the project there, we will see how long is stays up. I'm sure someone will take the toothpicks out of the ground soon. But that is how Earth Art is, evolving. I had a lot of fun doing this and would like to do another project like this on a larger scale with different, more noticeable materials. I'm a design student and really love typography and felt this project was a great outlet for this. It was great to get away from the computer and do some more hands on work again.
This project is influenced by "Spiral Jetty" (1970) by Robert Smithson. After reading through Overlay I realized this pattern has been around for a long time. As long as humans have been on Earth it seems that this pattern has been popular/used. It is seen represented on old cave walls, as well as being pattern that occurs naturally in nature, such as in many plants and seashells. By using toothpicks to lay the string down, my project became one of repetition, which is something very common in the projects shown in Overlay. All of Andy Goldsworthy's work uses repetition as a theme. I found that doing this repetitious basic pattern became very meditative. The process was very peaceful and relaxing and cleared my mind. I decided to circle the tree in the end to show the relationship of the rock to the tree and how even though the rock looks really small and insignificant at first, it is somehow connected to the same world the tree shares.
9 comments:
Great piece! Its interesting to see how it evolved from your drawings. The spiral is so concise and accurate looking also! Very interesting...
I agree with Caroline. I really like you used your drawings to create the project. This piece also uses spirals or cirlces like mine, which I think goes to show how important this idea is in earth art and expressing ideas. Good job.
Smithson would've loved this one I would think, especially considering that the piece encompasses minimalism, repetition, and the ancient pattern of the spiral. Well done.
Very nice. I like your references to time and connection with the tree ... and I think its very interesting in that one pic how in the foreground the little wall goes "into" the earth and disappears - my only critique would be that your "string" were more of a rope or other material or multiplied over so that its consistency carry its weight as it relates to its surroundings - ie composition of the complete space (since you are in the arts!) ... where is this space???
Oh, and please keep this blog going ... I would love to see some photos of this piece after a month or more goes by!
The space is next to the stuart court apartments building, a 9 story building on lombardy and monument - the empty lot in the back next to the big tree-
Wow...Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" is definitely alive and well! Nice work here...how long did it takes you to put it all together. Just had an idea...if you interwove multiple different color cotton twines around the Jetty it would look even more sweet! Great job!
I love how you channeled Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty in this. I have a personal interest in the spiral as a shape in nature as well, and have always found it fascinating how it can be found everywhere. The spiral represents nature to me. Anyways, I really like this one. Have you gone back to see how nature has changed it yet?
Very cool. And I agree with the other...very Smithson inspired. Hopefully it stays up for a while and that no one trips over it!
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