This is the “Something out of Nothing” post that I’ve delayed *Yikes!* due to an injury that put me out of school for a while. Did you know there are not any services at UBC for any people who sustain temporary injuries? They think just building a ramp will due the trick but they forget the vastness of the campus itself makes it impossible to navigate efficiently through for those with temporary injuries or on crutches. Basically you’re on your own.
But I’ll talk about that stuff later (see the next post).
For the “Something Out of Nothing” chapter I looked at various photographs of anything from unwashed dishes, messy rooms, sport equipment turned into sculpture, etc.
So I began to experiment with the idea of taking simple items and juxtaposing them with other items to create something new. (Which has already been done…. so done…)
But what about textures? What about different textures, much like a designer would think about how patterns, and texture works with clothing, rooms, art and decore what can I do to create something so simple yet interesting?
I also decided that instead of making something gigantic like many artists who have outdoor displays (ie: living sculpture, massive chalk drawings, rocks, a giant knit bunny in Italy), why not make something so small in a common space? So I began to look at miniatures and realized that I didn’t really want to do something completely like this, or this (though they are completely AMAZING and wonderful!), but rather I became inspired or even influenced…
So one night, with the inspiration from a friend, I started making tin foil sculptures and putting them interesting poses, situations and took photographs. Of course the sculptures surely could not stay installed in their original setting but had to be moved for practical reasons, but by documenting it with a camera they suddenly appeared very different. A photograph could capture the entire sculpture in a bird’s eye view, yet also it could focus in on one particular aspect of the sculpture which gave different feelings and dimensions to the display. In a sense, I wanted to show the sculpture’s “wholeness” and have it juxtaposed with a particular angle, creating an interesting new feeling. These characters maybe small, and mini, yet I wanted to give them a sense of being also mighty.
Things may not always seem to be what they are when you focus in on one thing, rather than see the whole picture. In reality they are so small, and blend into their surrounding, yet close up they are so different. There is a hidden charm, beauty and even silliness in these photos.
So please laugh at them, share them, and just think about them and the textures. But don’t over think too much, they are just photos at the end of the day.
