Starting Concept: Knowledge .....
For
my stating concept I decided to look at knowledge. I feel it has played a major
part in my choosing the paths that I find myself on, and at the root of many
social issues. Therefore it has a personal and larger social connection.
Where I Started With this Concept ....
I embarked on this concept first thinking about what knowledge was to me.
Why is it important?
Where did I find my own knowledge?
What are its attributes?
I
understand that knowledge is a stupid big concept to tackle, and I think that
the fact that philosophers have been arguing about what it is and means for thousands
of years says a lot about how complex it is…
Simple Terms ...
So these
are
some
simple
definitions of knowledge, and
what
stands out
to
me,
which
is also strong
in
philosophical arguments is
the
need
for
facts.
I
understand
that
facts
can
be
powerful,
but
just
straight
facts
can
be
dry
and
distant
which
I
wanted
to
stay
away
from.
Instead
I
wanted
to
focus
more
on
the
experience
and
familiarity side of this concept.
Starting
with
experience, I thought of how it’s something that
happens
over
an
amount
of
time,
and
therefore
connected
it
with
being
a
vehicle
that
moves
the
passenger
through
space
and
time
to
reach
a
destination.
So
I started with a boat. Its mast looked like a traditional tree, its trunk
morphed into the vessel part, and lastly, the ruder was going to be made of the
root system. The mast was representative of the living and changing aspect of
knowledge, while the ruder referenced past knowledge being handed down and
while offering direction. I also think that the boat spoke of exploration,
which is influential as to why we seek out knowledge.
And then there's also the
whole reference to the tree of knowledge…..
As you remember, I didn’t finish
that piece…For one it was a little too technical for my abilities at the time (which
I think is interesting in that the skills I’m learning while working in the
foundry is based on knowledge handed down to us from thousands of years of
metal casting experience) and while it was poetic, I wanted to continue in a
way that was a bit more tangible and personal. So
looking further into what this knowledge thing is, I started seeing it more as
having to do with consciousness, which again gets us into another philosophical
debate…
Staying away from that sticky mess I looked at my memories, which
inevitably led me to childhood… and look at artists like Nancy Callan and
Nathan Sawaya.
Recalling memories of knowledge being handed down to me brought
this piece into existence. I felt it connected to me existing as a conscious
being in that I just really wanted something tangible to play with as a kid,
yet it had a conceptual side in that it was one of the first times my father
handed down knowledge like how to work with ones hands, and his connection to
carpentry.
It also got me thinking about how as kids we have the ability to
flip our consciousness into inanimate objects, and play as if we are the actual
toys in our hands.
Taking the route of knowledge being passed down to me at
different points in my own life led me to the Comal, and cooking (another big
interest of mine).
With these, I was continuing my thoughts on knowledge being
passed down tome, specifically my family teaching me how to cook various types
of food, but I started to bring in the idea of paying homage to my ancestors
where the further distant source of knowledge came from.
In
them I incorporated sugar skulls which are elements of Dia De Los Muertos traditions, where offerings and
presents (such as food) are brought to the graves of loved ones. Another element
that came from these was the thought that I was/am going to make two more,
which, one will be given to an older relative like an uncle or aunt, and the other
will be given to one of my nephews, thereby trying to pass knowledge on. For my
last project, I further expanded on this idea of sharing knowledge, incorporating
my life now and those around me at this moment in this town. This kind of brought
me to studying Relational Aesthetics and the work of artists like Rikrit
Tiravanija, and Felix Gonzalez--‐Torres.
In studying this movement, I found it
compelling that the work relies on the interaction between the viewer and work,
or even just between the viewers themselves.
So
for my final piece, I set out to create a larger Comal in which myself and
others who know how to prepare food, will partially cook for a group, while the
group learns how to cook using this particular piece of equipment/sculpture.
Again I used the sugar skull to pay homage to ancestral ties, but because I was
working on a large scale, I was able to
use actual food molds to gain forms from, while also being able to
individualize the different skulls.
I incorporated a capitol on top of the
skulls, furthering the idea of old knowledge while also giving height to the
plate to allow for a fire to be built underneath. I think this addition adds an
element of statement that this knowledge rests on the pillars of community
members and ancestry.
This was the final piece, yet will still need to be
cooked on…
Work made during Junior Sculpture Foundry Fall '15 with Professor Coral Penelope Lambert
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