Kultur Nat (culture night) in Hjorring was a much bigger deal than I imagined it would be. I understood it to be similar to our "first friday" events in the US, but really the entire central district of town stays open until after ten at night. Food vendors come out in droves, and there are music stages at the end of every little alley. They had a big stage in the middle of the main square with a really terrible adult contemporary rock band playing. It turns out Danes really love hot dogs; the street vendors sell 8 or 10 different varieties, with or without buns, etc. I didn't eat one, in case you were wondering. I spent my evening walking around with some headphones on, people watching.
I haven't mentioned this before, but the people here are beautiful. I have tried to talk to some of them about this, but they don't seem to understand it. I suppose it is all contextual. For instance, the technician at the museum, Hans, is about to retire at the ripe old age of 62, but I never would have guessed he was over 40 or 45 at the very oldest, and this is indicative of my nearly universal surprise at the discrepancy between actual and perceived age of the people I meet here. I will delve into the suspected reasons for this in future posts.
My last post outlined the sort of temporary gallery room I had set up with the help of Hans here at the museum, and I threw myself at that project for the last several days. I came here with the intention of working more on the unfired clay and wire installations I have been showing for the last few years, but about 2 weeks ago I decided that some time to experiment with something entirely new was too valuable to pass up. I brought along a good bit of this colored, adhesive-backed vinyl as a sort of palette, and I am confident enough with it now to use it as a drawing tool, so I spent some time cutting it into shapes and parts. I also spent some time considering how to expand the thread/pin drawings I posted a few weeks ago, and it occurred to me that my interest in an expansive work that filled a volume of space could become part of this project. The thread is so fine and fragile, and with enough patience and practice I could essentially translate this fragility into a large web or skein structure that would be barely visible from afar but overwhelming from close up. I spent one day applying the vinyl, and the next day completing the small "drawings" in the open clouds. I spent the rest of the time working the thread from node to node, completing as many connections as I could without compromising the structural soundness of the project. In the end I just couldn't squeeze in there and reach anything any more, and I suppose that is when I knew I was done.
The museum was free to the public all day yesterday, and because I had finished my big project on Thursday night and prepared for visitors I decided to spend the day working on an installation in this little nook under the stairs on the way to the bathroom. I have finished a number of works using this process, but never in such a tight space. I ended up laying down with my head crammed in there for 4 or 5 hours, but it really turned out strong. I am a bit sore today.
The museum director asked me to prepare a written statement for people to take away. I have copied it below:
"My installations, sculptures and drawings are an investigation of interconnectivity and the building of complex systems of information out of simple, autonomous elements. Without directly referencing one type of system, I allow viewers to make those connections for themselves. I have come to recognize several key conceptual references within my work:
1. Social networking maps, such as those one might find outlining an individual's Facebook network, where peer relationships are described and one can make personal connections through degrees of separation.
2. Food webs describing the flow of energy in an environment, and also predator-prey relationships and an inherent hierarchy.
3. Flow charts where process and direction are outlined and there are choices to be made, each with its own series of consequences.
4. Molecular structures that indicate strength and weakness in material structure at the most basic level, and also begin to reference contemporary advances in technology as we design new materials.
These works are by nature temporal; they have a finite lifetime because of the materials used, leading back to the concept of complex systems, which themselves have a tendency to break down when only one element is out of place."
The small space is about ten feet cubed, though the right-hand wall is a bit longer. The lighting is imperfect but serviceable. From this distance you can just make out the thread (you can click on the picture and it will open larger).
The thread, which was mostly gray, black, and dark blue, connected the open cloud shapes on the wall, pushing the solid cloud shapes into the background. This entire process was new to me, and I found it fairly challenging. The thread is pretty unforgiving; if you miss one loop you might have ten lengths come down. Once or twice a pin came out of the wall, which made for a real mess.
I am especially interested in the way the thread fills up the space. The vinyl graphics are loud and abrasive, but somehow the thin skein of thread maintains a strong presence in filling this volume. I had a few people mention that they nearly walked into the thread before they saw it. I always found that surprise element to be exciting. I remember as a kid growing up in Florida, I would spend all summer in the woods looking for good things to investigate and/or stuff in my overall pockets. We had banana spiders, which are enormous and make webs that span great distances; generally you either walked into them or noticed them at the very last second and stopped short. I am with the idea of coupling art with anxiety...
I estimate that I used over 2000 meters of thread on this project.
I would do this again. I would do it differently, but I am happy I did it. A major learning experience that could not have happened at home.
Here is the smaller installation I completed on Friday. This is a little nook under the stairs to the second floor, and you pass right by it on the way to the basement bathrooms. People really responded to this work, especially as it sort of sneaks up on you. It is hidden when you go down the stairs, but very bright and obvious when you come up.
