Here is my current artist statement:
Veins
Artist: Elise Beckman
Materials: steel rod, foam, fabric, plasma ball, sound piece
Veins serve a vital function in nature to communicate messages and send nutrients throughout the parts of a system. This interactive installation seeks to illuminate the unifying structure of these veins, which connects humans with all elements of the natural world: its rivers, plants, animals, etc; and ultimately hopes to reawaken in participants an awareness of the veins within themselves, which pump life through our bodies, finally creating an opportunity for these invisible connections between ourselves and other human beings to be made visible.
There were many aspects to bringing this project together: there was the conceptualizing, which took place two weeks, before, then there was sketching, ordering the plasma ball, recording/ editing the sound piece which took place the week before, worrying about/ receiving the plasma ball in the mail, buying the right materials: metal rod of various sizes and thicknesses, foam and fabric; cutting/ bending/ welding together the rods and sheet metal/ constructing the structure, renting the room via emails, instructions, form-signing, etc, and finally covering the metal bands with foam and sewing fabric on them, painting the metal black, and bringing everything into the studio after picking up the key, and playing the sound with the installation.
It totally felt so great to have all of that in one room, and have people actually participate with the piece. I felt as I was listening to the audio in the room that I was feeling the meditative awareness I had hoped to evoke with the installation, and I felt a lot of satisfaction in that. Also, to hear people say that 1) they were feeling connected to the other person across from them, and 2) they were feeling connected to their own heartbeat, just made me so happy because that is what it is all about.
From here I feel I will make some corrections to make the whole thing run smoother/ better:
1) I will bring down the level of the hearbeat so it's not so ear shattering/ doesn't drown out the voice as much
2) will edit out parts of the narration that don't really apply in the finished state of things
3) will re-weld the joint of one of the support rods which has broken (not vital, but will be better re-welded)
4) will refine my artist statement so it says only what I want it to say and is more direct/ to the point
(this is my new artist statement: I think it's a lot clearer/ more direct to the point of what I want to convey
Veins
Artist: Elise Beckman
Materials: steel rod, foam, fabric, plasma ball, sound piece
Veins serve a vital function throughout nature to communicate messages and to connect the different parts of a system. This interactive installation seeks to renew in individuals an awareness of their own heartbeat, pumping life continually through their veins, and to illuminate the invisible connections that draw themselves and other living beings together as parts of a whole.
5) and finally, I will document the installation! I wasn't able to keep the key to the photo studio for another day, but I will re-rent it next week with some video equipment, and will ask someone to be the other person in the documentation and will post that to this blog.
I feel very proud of the hard work I put into this installation and how it worked out. I look forward to finishing it up, and maybe finding out where this piece can find a place to be shown/ have a life of its own!
Art is exciting.
Have a great day!
-Elise
