Having come to the assumption that most people don’t realise the life they live as they live it, my work is meant to directly illustrate one’s present state of being and co-emergent relationship with others(Hall, 2018); and bring that timeline into something we can look at, comprehend and see the depth of.
Living scroll, as the name proceeds itself is a organic and ever-growing documentation of life. Specifically representing the exhibiting community that occupy and interact with space. Like artist Gonzalez Torres and Helio Oticicia, I need the public interaction within this installation to create the precarious physical identity of the piece.
This project is a work in progress and quite literally has length. It is intended to put emphasis on the present moment, giving notice to the past and foreseeable future of one’s life by puncturing paper in real-time as an output of one’s heartbeat. Like German artist, Hans Haacke’s 1969-2008 series News, the device is intended to gradually release long loops of kraft paper on the floor and gather as a large heap covering the vacant space.
This project is a work in progress and quite literally has length. It is intended to put emphasis on the present moment, giving notice to the past and foreseeable future of one’s life by puncturing paper in real-time as an output of one’s heartbeat. Like German artist, Hans Haacke’s 1969-2008 series News, the device is intended to gradually release long loops of kraft paper on the floor and gather as a large heap covering the vacant space.
However, it wasn’t always intended to puncture paper or situate the space the way that it currently is. Originally, my device was intended to produce complex stitches. Furthering from my Threaded Pulsations project where the viewer’s heart controlled a mini sewing machine to stitch to one’s heartbeat.
With this in mind, as well as a further read into different kinds of machinery, I came to the logical decision that in order to produce a more sophisticated stitch I would need to build a sewing machine of my own. Similar to how artist Harvey Moon configures his own drawing machines on the simple foundations of an XY plotter or even artist group Future Continuous in their digital wax project where they take aspects of the conventional drawing machine to a new dimension using custom fabricated electronics and generative algorithms.
Using the engineering quality of the sewing machine to fuel my transition form reprogramming of a machine to produce one of my own entirely. While this is very ambitious and exciting of an idea, I shortly realised that it was too complex of a project to achieve in the time restraints. I had to find I was so heavily fixated with the idea of portraying this in the form of a textile, to both symbolise the fragility of life as well as hold the embodiment of the body that I was afraid to stray away from the idea. Multiple prototypes and times of trial and error had to come to play within the build of this device which was a foreign form of working for me as I am quite a systematic person who ensures things are correct the first time. A lot of unforeseen circumstances happen between the planning process and the build. Specifically, with regards to the 3D printing of the individual components and the availability of facilities.
Using the engineering quality of the sewing machine to fuel my transition form reprogramming of a machine to produce one of my own entirely. While this is very ambitious and exciting of an idea, I shortly realised that it was too complex of a project to achieve in the time restraints. I had to find I was so heavily fixated with the idea of portraying this in the form of a textile, to both symbolise the fragility of life as well as hold the embodiment of the body that I was afraid to stray away from the idea. Multiple prototypes and times of trial and error had to come to play within the build of this device which was a foreign form of working for me as I am quite a systematic person who ensures things are correct the first time. A lot of unforeseen circumstances happen between the planning process and the build. Specifically, with regards to the 3D printing of the individual components and the availability of facilities.
That being said, I have found that the implementation of technology within my practice heavily enriches my creative process with another degree of freedom and transparency. Like clay to sculpture, technology gives my practice extra dimension, greatly influencing the eventual work and its context. However, for future projects, I will ensure I stick to things within my means and abilities. Ensuring that I am not heavily relying on someone or one facility to help further my project.