Unit 1 Proposal

Original Project Proposal

Exploring the emotional and spiritual benefits of nature through art

Main Interests

As a Christian, Theologian and lover of nature I often feel that I am most in tune with The Creator God and at my happiest when I am in nature. I find great joy in listening to the birds sing outside my bedroom window, taking a walk around the local pond or a wonder ing through the woods. For me nature is an opportunity to reflect and meditate on the things that I’m grateful for and think about my own life and relationship with God and finding peace away from the busy bustle of urban life.

Whether Christian or not, Many people find engaging with nature to be a very spiritual experience and many of us can testify to the positive effects of a rabble in the countryside on our emotional and mental health. It is this positive, spiritual and emotional experience of finding peace, joy and escapism in nature that I wish to recreate through my art. Enabling participates to reconnect with their spiritual experiences of creation and sacred spaces and reflect on the immeasurable value of the nature world and the need to protect our local green spaces.

Summary of the main ideas

For this project I plan to create work which mimics some of the wonders of the nature world through presenting complex organic patterns and playing with lighting and sound from nature to impact the mood of the space to that transform my work into a environment of its own.

Additionally, I plan to incorporating real plants and the care of plants in the form of gardening into my work. The plants will either hang from the ceiling or are part of a sculpture in the space. I hope that participating in caring for the plants and other participatory experiences within my work which encourage reflective practice will encouraged participants too reflective on their spiritual or emotional relationship with nature in their local area.

Finally, the project will create the sense of loss or imperfection by fading out or warping some of the patterns and soundscape and using unnatural colours in places. In order to emphasis the vulnerability and loss of local green spaces in British Urban areas.

Practiced based methodologies

The practiced based methodologies that I plan to use in the development of this project include drawing patterns taken from organic plant forms, taking photographs of plants in botanical gardens, creating collages, using a variety of printing methods, projection and finally recording natural sounds and editing using garage-band or other editing software.

Aims and Objectives

Objective:- Create a new environment within an existing environment through patterns, collage and instillation.
Aim :- Explore the power of sound to effect mood
Objective:- Create a soundscape using sounds from local natural environments

Context

Within the context of the art world there are many artists who explore creating ‘spiritual or sacred spaces’ through art, for example . . .

David Cotterrell exhibition Art in Sacred places bringing together places of worship and contemporary artists.
Hadzi-Vasileva instillation ‘Haruspex’ at The Pavilion of the Holy See, Venice Biennale. Which imitates an Ancient Roman temple as it explores the the sacrificial rituals carried out by Roman priests.
Kenvin Atherton’s Cathedral in the forest of Dean brining together the reverence of the Cathedral to reimagine the reverence one might feel when gazing out on the beauty of the forest.

Additionally, many artists gather inspiration from the natural world and reflect their appreciation for nature in their art.

For example, . . .

Pascual Sisto piece En Plein Air is a moving image projection based on the patterns found on a traditional house plan that has been altered by humans to look the way it does. The pattern from the plant is projected onto the walls of the gallery space, sounds from nature and a particular smells associated with nature fill the space.
Rebecca Law uses hundreds of real dried flowers to create beautiful hanging instillations.
Suzanne Moxhay- creates photographs of spaces she has created exploring the idea of a world after humans. With plants living in uninhabited human dwellings.
Olafur Eliasson - recreates experiences found in nature, for example he recreates the experience of seeing a rainbow or walking through fog.

Finally, instillation and pattern is also often used as a means to transform spaces, for example . . .

Yayio Kusama who develops instillations filling a space with her various spotty patterns which are psychedelic.

Perter Kogler who creates optical illusions using patterns created by line to transform a space.
William Morris beautiful nature inspired patterns forming the designs for rich wallpapers, tapestries and carpets.

Other Artists

Kara Walker
Daniel Buren
Lalla Essaydi
Jessica Watts

Brief historical context of practice based methodologies and key ideas

Instillation- originates from 1960 and is usually site-based and relates to three-dimensional artworks . The space in which the piece is created or viewed is also part of the experience of the art work. Key influences include The Void (1958) by Max Klein and Words (1961) by Allan Kaprow.

Sound art- Originates from the 1980’s and is sometimes difficult to distinguish from music. However, sound artists ‘create “soundscapes” and work in the field of Sound Art draw inspiration from the sounds heard all around them from factory noises to the cacophony of animals. The act of listening, however, remains an integral part of any work’. Well known sound artists include Jim Pomeroy, Richard Lerman, Pauline Oliveros, Keith Sonnier, Hannah Wilke, and Nicolas Collins.

Pattern and printing- originate from the textile and fashion industry.

Faith and art- Looking back through the history of art it can be said that there is an unprecedented relationship between religion and art. In the West in particular art has played a big part in the christian/ catholic faith and has been used to decorate cathedrals and churches. Displaying the glory of God and attracting worshipers through grand architecture and sculpture and communicating the gospel story through paintings and stain glass windows. Yet the relationship between art and the Abrahamic faiths goes back along way. As there are many references to art and craftsmanship in Old Testament Biblical texts. As artists where the first to be filled with the Spirit of God, as they were commissioned to build and decorate the tabernacle and later the temple.

Relevant Social and political issues

This project also titters around the issues surrounding climate change, habitat and species loss, sound and air pollution, age old fight for land and greenery being taken out in the need for new housing and food supplies. Social issues sounding class and wealth as having access to green spaces is also associated with class divide and wealth as the wealthy can afford to keep their green spaces and travel out to the countryside where as those with greater financial needs loss access to green spaces. Natural environments also have a huge impact on our mental and physical health. Loss of time for true relaxation, meditation or prayer.

Broadening my research

Documenting plant life in my own garden.
Taking my own photographs of local green to transform into collages, drawings, prints.
Taking a survey of people I know locally and ask them to reflect on their relationship and experiences of engaging with local wild life and imitations on screens and in book. I may take a group of these people on a walk in the local park and again in epping forest as part of my project.
I have already visited a large garden centre in Bethnal Green and taken many photographs there by I plan to visit the botanical gardens at Canary Wharf and Barbican.
Visit the Botany Collection at the natural history museum (need to contact curator and see if it’s possible)
Visit local community gardens
Visit the drawing room and see if they have any books specifically focused on drawings of plants and patterns
Visit some places of worship and document how they use art to communicate their faith and encourage worship or meditative prayer
Garden Museum London- £5

Exhibitions to see:-

Nam June Paik- Tate Modern
Anselm Kiefer- White Cube
Eco Visionaries at Royal College of Art
Other Spaces- at The Strand
Danh Vo- Marian Goodman Gallery
Alice May Williams at KCL Science Gallery
Bridget Riley - if I can find a cheaper ticket

Skill’s Required- photoshop, printing skills, instillation knowledge, recording and editing skills., how to make and apply wallpaper, possibly clay or wood work skills to create plant sculpture.

Resource's needed - A space to transform with the ability to hang plants, photoshop, plants, plant holding sculpture possibly made out of clay or a wooden frame to hang plants from, access to printmaking workshops, paper, ink, access to printing images in mass quantity to fill a room, recording and editing equipment, access to natural sounds, maybe some homey like objects to fill a space.

Support Required- help learning how to use photoshop quickly and efficiently, support learning how to use different printing workshops and techniques, support learning how to use sound editing software, support creating plant hanging/holding structure in 3D workshops.

Bibliography of relevant resources

Unit 1 Proposal

Original Project Proposal

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