adammusitano

5 key points.

“Colour to continue had to occur in space.”
– Donald Judd

Within my practice, i aim to challenge the conventional assumptions around printmaking and display. I do this through the use of 3D constructs. I am interested in engaging the viewer in a different way to question the relationships between space, colour, form and materials. By using the artist book as a basis i have created an abstract sculpture that interacts with the space and influences how the viewer engages and understands that space. The use of contrasting colours enhances the shape and form of the concertina, questioning the relationship between object and print. A case has been made specifically to house this book form and it acts as an additional, changeable sculpture which echos it’s counterpart. A shelf has also been made for this sculpture, acting as a plinth it creates a contradiction between something that is historically tactile into something that isnt supposed to be touched.

DOCUMENTATION

CONTEXTUALISATION

CC 5.5.

I decided on the title of ‘CC 5.5’ as i have changed the books positioning 5 time as well as the shelf’s positions 5 times for that one book formation. CC stands for Concertina Composition. I think that the titles fits in with the work, it describes the work but is also slightly abstract, i’m hoping that if i ever get to exhibit this again that the title numbering will change with how this piece is shown.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Colour to continue had to occur in space.
– Donald Judd

Fluxkit.

After taking a step back and thinking more about my work, it reminded me of one of Tom’s lectures about museology and the Fluxkit. This was a travelling art show, which could be exhibited/interacted with anywhere, comprising of several artworks by different artists which all fitted in a designated space. Thinking back to my current work i have a sculpture that fits inside another sculpture that has been made for the first, if i include it’s fixings i could expanded on the Fluxkit and allow for my work to be exhibited anywhere.

Magnets or shelf.

My magnets ended up arriving today so i tested them out on the lid of my case to see how well they would work and what the overall feel of it would be. I like it, i think that it looks really clean and extremely minimal. I am concerned about how well they will be able to hold my work up as it seems to be very fragile and the smallest knock on the case takes it off the wall. While i like how clean it looks and i could have made some work based around it, i don’t want to run the risk of damaging my case if anyone gets too close or handles it.

I’m still very happy with the shelf, i think it looks slick and seamless with the white wall, while i do prefer the magnets it’d rather stick to a safer option and explore the use of magnets when it isn’t so close to a deadline.

Arrangements.

After a lot of playing around with my work in the space, i think i have settled on an arrangement that i like, the compliments the work and the space. I think it makes my ideas clear, it shows the shape off, the colour and allows for people to interact with it and the space. I think the concertina on it’s side on a diagonal towards the corner creates a powerful object that makes the space inviting to navigate. I am still unsure about the height of the shelf but i like it on the right hand side of the object as i think it creates a good symmetry and it reads well in the space. I have bought some magnets to test hanging the case on the wall without the shelf to see how it then reads, but i don’t know if i want emphasis on the sculptural aspect (without the shelf) or if i want to stick with the shelf at a lower height allowing for people to look down on the case, as it will still be outside of the normal viewing area but will still reference a bookshelf for this sculpture. Overall i am very pleased with my part in the group exhibition, i think my work looks good in this space and will invite people to navigate the space that it is in. My only concern is that i have a lot of empty space on the other wall, i have tested making some smaller work to exhibit alongside the book but i don’t feel as though it fits in and to me it feels as though it is unnecessary.

Degree show space.

I was overjoyed for the space i was allocated, it ended up happening that i was given more space as someone was moved somewhere else, which i found daunting at first, but i settled into the idea as i wanted my work to influence how the space is engaged with by the viewer and i wanted my work to be influenced by the space in it’s arrangement. I quickly set about moving everything out of the temporary storage area to the permanent one and started painting my walls. Luckily this was partly my studio space before hand so i had a head start on painting my wall, i had a large block of grey and red on each wall which needed to be completely covered. i also wanted to fill all the holes, marks and cracks to make the space feel more professional and look seamless. I also set about vigorously cleaning the floor to remove any sign of preexisting paint as it would interfere with my work.

Shelf.

After thinking about display options i thought that a shelf would be a suitable means of supporting my case, i wanted it to reference a bookshelf, but one that that specifically for this book. I started by testing the best size and then playing with a shape that would emphasises that this was a shelf just for this case. After a lot of thinking and discussing i decided to keep it simply to a 40x40cm floating box shelf as it would be easier to support the weight of the case as well fixing to the wall. I thought it would also allow me to play more with how i could display the case on top of it. Tom helped me with making it and showed me some small tips to get a super slick finish, which im very happy with. I think that this shelf will blend into the wall making it look very clean and flush.

Painting as object.

Looking through some people i follow on instagram, i came across Paul Simmons works (@pawl_wall) and i found it really interesting how he has turned his painting into object/sculpture. Unfortunately i couldn’t find anything about his work online, i dont know if these are maquettes or final work but i find them interesting nonetheless. The simplicity behind these forms and how they have been constructed is fascinating, that small change of putting these cutouts onto a base has transformed these into something that reads completely differently. I wonder where the line is, when does print become object? How does print become object? This is something i really want to explore more to find out.

Display.

Painting’s and prints in galleries are usually exhibited for the ease of the viewer at a standardised eye level. I can understand that this is purely for the ease of the viewer and makes for a crisp looking gallery. It isn’t very often that 2d work is typically displayed outside of this optimum viewing area. This concept is key in my work, i want to explore how print (something that is normally 2D) can be displayed outside of the viewing norm to push ideas of contemporary printmaking.

Author: adammusitano

Oral assessment points.