2D to 3D interpretation

Realization of Interaction

Working from 2D mark makings, we started to create using string, our own interpretation of a specific part with string in a much larger scale.

To start of the new year and to get us back into the swing of things, we started by making small marks on paper. After this we moved on to a larger size of paper and focused on the marks we had made, however this time, rather than it being controlled, we were asked to attach oil pastel to the end of a stick that was longer than our arms and to recreate the marks with as much control as we could using the sticks.

The length of the sticks meant that there was little control unless you held the stick lower down, which we were told not to do. 

Recreating the patterns using the sticks many that we had to focus on recreating the marks we had made. Not only was it in a larger scale, but it was a lot less controlled and in some cases, almost unrecognizable. In my case, I had made a small and simple sculpture that I was to  work from, which meant that I had to focus on a specific part of the sculpture.

After this, we were asked to remove the pastel from the end, and to use the stick and acrylic paint to recreate the marks yet again, with simple rules not to use paint brushes and to use the stick alone.

As I started doing this, I found it a lot easier, since the smooth cut edge of my stick allowed me to spread the paint, however it didn't allow for accuracy. I started using white paint and made simple marks on the page before focusing on a certain part of the sculpture I was working from. 

I began by tapping the thinner end of the stick that had white paint on the end, so that rather than having reasonably controlled lines, I was allowing the paint to go wherever on the page with little interruption. The thinness of the stick meant that when I hit it with the side of my hand, it bounced more than the thicker end. After doing this, I turned the stick back to the thicker end and started to focus on a charred section of the sculpture. It was very difficult to get a definite shape, and even harder to make it have any definition or detail whatsoever. I tried adding white to it, but it eventually mixed with the black I was layering onto the page and turned gray. After getting a ideal shape, I extended the painting past just the part I had been focusing on and started to look at the rest of it and the things around it. I eventually decided hat the stick wasn't doing enough alone to add any definition, so I started using my palette to drip the paint into the places I wanted it. It was only after I started dripping the paint that the image started to look like something that resembles the sculpture I was working from. 

After we were satisfied with how it looked, we could then make prints of the painting.

The painting and the prints were later used and developed.

Using he prints we were asked to make a 3D installation of whatever size that stretched across the 3D studio using string, much like Duchamp's piece "Mile of string" from he 1942 exhibition "First papers of Surrealism". 

The idea of the experiment was that, not only were we working from 2D into a 3D medium, but that the space we were working in was to become obstructed by the patterns we were making.

To begin with I solely focused on trying to recreate a particular part of the original painting I had done, which was where you could distinguish the different strokes of black paint because of the stick, by tying numerous different of colours of string fanning out from the same place, and attaching each separate end to different parts surrounding the wall I was working from. Eventually, my work began to intertwine with the work of those who were working around me. 

Rather than sellotaping the string to objects, I preferred to tie the ends around  table legs and pipes that were around me so that I had varying levels of height to my work as well as it being more secure. 

Because of how other people had chose to interpret their prints, the string began to pass through each other's 'spaces', and eventually began to form complicated patterns and made moving around a lot harder to the point that I was crawling around in the floor and having to move as I wouldn't usually move. 

Because of the varying heights of the string and the spider web patterns that had been made, it made it difficult to stand up without looking around me multiple times before I deemed it safe to stand, and at times when I thought it was okay to move around freely, I would catch something on a string somewhere.

Some people had made intricate patterns using the string, while others had chosen to use continual pieces of string to wrap around the room. While it was fun it was very tiring moving around, and once I had left the room, I still felt as though I was surrounded by string.

The second day of the experiment was more to fine tune and produce yet another idea based off of the string patterns in the 3D studio, and because the year 2's had also been building in top of the string we had done, it became even harder to move around or sit comfortably in a place where I wasn't surrounded by string. 

Because I was interested in furthering my knowledge on interactive art, and because I had done some research into Duchamp's piece, I decided to build on a specific part of the room, and make it so it became infinitely more difficult to pass through the tight space I was working in. 

I decided to block of the passage entirely by making a net that wouldn't be easily moved around as some of the other string was being moved. 

To do this, I took inspiration from a previous student, who had been experimenting with making loosely knit patterns for part of a project, and who had also made a dress using the same weaving/ knitting technique that held balloons within it. 

Rather that weaving the string together, I decided to work using small pieces of string that I could tie to the bottom of each loop I made 

Because I was working in way that resembled a pyramid, when I reached a certain point, I switched from using a red string to a blue one 

Because someone was working in the corner I was working near, and because her work was connected to every piece of string that ran through the room, I made it so that some of the main lines of string were running through my net, which meant whichever way you moved the net, it would still be obstructed by more string. 

Because of the placement of my piece, when it came to actually presenting the work we had been doing, no one actually bothered to move around the room and look, which meant that the person working in the corner next to me also didn't get seen as much as it should have, but that was partly because of the table that hid it.

Once I felt that I had built on the net enough, I moved back on to experimenting with paper, but rather than making marks on the page, I decided to cut out shapes to leave positive space that when held up to a light, would cast shadows of the negative space, which would mimick the patterns of string in the 3D studio.

I realized when i was taking photo's of the process and finished state of the mosaic cut out that it looked and acted very much like a stained glass window when held in front of something, so I decided to see how it would look against a painting that I had previously done, however it doesn't have the same effect up close or resting on a detailed painting compared to when it is held in front of something, chiefly because the lines, while not all that thick, block out small details if put on a painting.

After this small experiment, especially with the string, it made me think a lot more about how people interact or don't interact with something if it becomes difficult to get past an obstruction, and how I can further develop the idea using different objects while incorporating my sculpture work into it.