For the first crit show of the year, I decided to display the stacking cubes and sensory sculptures in an irregular stack in the corner of the space (this was to provide support as without the supporting walls the sculptures would not hold their shape in the stack). I wanted there to be a precarious nature to the stack and simultaneously invite people to take bits and re-stack... however, how I have displayed this I did not achieve any interaction due to the fact it was neatly piled up in the corner, people did not want to change it. If I'm honest, I am disappointed in this piece and, considering some of my previous work, I don't think much thought went into the context of the work or the execution of it. If I were to recreate this piece, I would have made more sculptures and piled them into the centre of the room, allowing people to interact or stack in whatever way they choose - offering the viewer the freedom to participate without giving them a pre-existing form in an area of the crit space that doesn't offer much room to move. I believe that my greenscreen experiment would have been a more interesting piece of work to have displayed in the crit, this being said, the green screen workshop overlapped with the installation and so this probably wasn't possible to finish in time.
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To experiment with the sensory sculptures I made further, I wanted to capture sensory interactions taking place, activating the textures and sounds through touch. I began with laying all the sensory sculptures out, filming my hands going through sculptures at random - feeling them and creating sounds by squeezing, poking, pushing... I'd almost created a landscape of tangible colourful forms and the camera would follow the contours of the shape to document the touchy-feely interactions. To heighten the material ideas that I wanted to present through the immateriality of the screen, I used editing software to layer other videos of just the shapes which distorted and abstracted multiple textures on the screen which I felt was visually interesting.
I was later in a Green Screen workshop where I learnt the basics or setting up the green material, how to set up the stage lighting, screen, the exposure value and the cameras. After set up, we took it in turns to 'perform' in front of the camera to create an experimental piece which explored our practice. I decided to take along all of the sensory sculptures and filmed myself picking them up and exploring them through touch and trowing them off-camera, simultaneously whilst Danny and Abi threw sculptures over my head to each other and me out of the frame which explored humour and play. I initially didn't want to do the workshop but I ended up finding it a really interesting process and one I would like to experiment again with. I think it made me step out of my comfort zone in regards to performance and how it can be used to enhance my practice and activate the work.
The second part of the workshop was editing. We learnt how to remove the green background on our video using PremierPro, this was a tricky process at first but once I got the hang of it I think I could replicate this again in future projects. I wasn't sure at first on what imagery I wanted in the background of this piece, I did initially think of a playground or something relating to play but I felt as though this was too literal. Instead, I opted for my sensory abstraction video which I thought worked well as it showed the interaction up close and myself playing with the sensory sculptures on camera. Overall, I think this was a really different experiment and though not the neatest work I think it emphasised sensory dialogue in conjunction with play. I would like to explore green screen, as well as making work generally that can be viewed on the screen, further in my practice.
The full video can be viewed here: https://lucywinnicott.wixsite.com/artwork/sensory-textures
I think I was thinking too literally about the stacking having to take the form of geometric shapes and my previous experiments aren't exciting enough to interact with, at least not on their own. I have been inspired by the sculptural work of Elly Thomas for a long time, especially the use of both hard and soft abstract forms often made from paper-mache, latex or stretchy material. A lot of her studio practice is taking the forms she makes and creating irregular stacks to create sculptural dialogues between the shapes, materials and the connection with the body during the process. Thomas's work has this interesting quality where the forms seem to resemble things (such as fruit or plants) yet not fully which allows the imagination to take place as to what each shape could represent, an abstraction of the everyday. They each have a different texture ... some squishy, some rough but it makes the work more of a sensory experience.
This led me to explore more unpredictable forms, abstract and ergonomic which have a relationship to the body and its senses to introduce interactivity without being too literal in its shape. I gathered materials from previous projects as well as sourcing some new ones from a material shop, spending time researching the materials and their sensory benefit. I was drawn to thick fleece and corduroy which had interesting textures. I then laid out all the fabrics and began cutting two-part sculptures without having a predetermined form, this allowed them to be more organic. Some of the shapes resembled flowers and others body part - I really like this idea of the recognisable with the unrecognisable which is present in Elly Thomas' work. The forms would be versatile to the viewer. After sewing, I stuffed the sculptures with a variety of materials including pasta, rice, styrofoam cubes which reflected materials often present in children's crafts and play. The sound and texture played part in the process as I wanted to explore the ideas of sensory allowing the audience to create noises through the way in which they interact. Out of all the experimentations I have done so far, I think the sensory sculptures have been the most refined due to the far they have a clear purpose without the forms feeling too much like a toy. I do, however, believe I need to make more to create an impact - maybe lots of certain types of colours or sounds that can be organised into piles or sections in a room.
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