VEINS:
With this project I want to reconnect people with the vein systems that are so ubiquitous in the world in which we live. This begins with reminding people of the veins that exist inside of themselves, whose function allows them to live and grow: this includes the cardiovascular system which transports oxygen and nutrients throughout the body and removing wastes and toxins, and the nervous system which allows the brain to form synaptic connections, and allows the senses to send messages from the external world through receptors to the brain for recognition.
The next step after people become aware of the vital presence and functioning of veins within themselves is to get them in touch with the veins that exist in all other life forms, and how they unite humans with all of life. This includes other animals in their similar cardiovascular and nervous systems, plant forms with their vascular systems including the xylem and phloem to carry food and water upward through veins, and the living earth itself whose veins are the river systems that transverse its topography and transport water through the land.
My main instinct for this project is to get as many senses involved in this project as possible, allowing the individuals that experience this to become aware through tactile experience. This means as a whole I’m interested in creating an installation piece which involves viewer interaction and several engaging components. This could occur in different forms.
For the first concept of a project, I have the idea that viewers could walk inside a room in which a plant sits in the middle of a bare floor. The only other thing in the room is the constant sound of a human heartbeat. In this simple way, the idea of the growth of the plant can be associated with the heart’s pulse. Similarly, there could be another room (this one dark) in which the plant on the bare floor is the only thing except for a constant pattern of lights which represent the pattern of synapses firing in the brain. These both involve a relatively simple aesthetic and are based on the juxtaposition of something tactile and something intangible to leave the viewer to make a connection between the two.
My second idea becomes more involved based on similar concepts. I was also interested in the diffusion aspect of veins-- how capillary action allows a plant to absorb nutrients upward against gravity, similar to how a human heart beats despite all odds against its continued beating. One of my five approaches to further explore the topic was to try putting a sheet of paper or thin wood into a bowl of colored water to see if it will be absorbed upward through the paper. Depending on how this research goes, I was thinking it might be interesting to incorporate this visual experiment into an installation in which this is going on as a central device to show the work of veins in action. Surrounding this I could also incorporate some of the same elements I had in mind before, such as having the colored water soak up then into a plant and seeing the effects, or having this set in a room in which the audio of a heartbeat is playing/ the visual strobe lighting of synapses in the same setting.
As a simpler alternative, I could also have an installation which lights up whenever the viewer touches something, like a plant, to show that signal that is being sent to the brain from the sensory receptors. This would be interactive and demonstrate the connection well between person and plant-- especially if the plant also lights up. This could be accomplished especially well with lights that are focused directly on person and plant, and with a simple setting.
My final concept for a project looks at the way that river systems fit into this larger idea, as well as at the communicative/ transportation aspect of veins. I would create an installation in which people are invited to write down messages and send them down a constructed river system indoors. At the end of the riverway, water soaks up the roots of a tree. In this way, people can become aware of the permeability of the membranes of living beings, and the power of messages. A meditative state could be enhanced by the inclusion of a heartbeat in the room of the installation. Perhaps there could be other audial aspects, like a story being told, or some kind of explanation of the aspects of the piece.
I am very excited to go deeper into exploring these options and developing them into something substantial and meaningful.
These are my two in-class brainstorming maps I did to elaborate on these ideas:
My three projects are going to be basically parts of a greater installation that are going ot be accomplishable within the time frame and can contribute to the final project.
1) I'm going to rent a Zoom sound recorder and record heartbeats.
2)I'm going to figure out how to make a veins system out of lights with some sort of switch system to put on a plant.
3) I'm going to find/ take pictures of vein systems and overlay them for luminocity in photoshop.
These I'll do over the weekend, since the first is kind of a side small project easily accomplishable I think.
4) Then, for class on Monday I'll bring in materials for my fourth mini project which will be to create a small indoor river/ stream system. We'll see about that one as well, it should be interesting and something I can work on during class.
Alright! That's my plan! I'm so inspired by and excited about this project and what will come of it. I also think this extremely layered and interation-based brainstorming kind of process is really helping me to get creative and push myself beyond my original ideas and their constraints. It will help me a lot in the future as an artist to think in this manner rather than settling on things early on. And that's what this class is all about right? The process, and learning how to be your own artist!
I love it.
