I live in an artist community in the industrial district in Lowell, MA. Western Avenue Studios spans several mill structures built during the industrial revolution. These once thriving mill factories gradually closed down and were neglected for decades, slowly decaying and deteriorating. Many were lost as natural forces slowly reclaimed them. A few were stabilized and rescued. In the Spring semester, I was fortunate to reserve one of the remaining, unrestored portions of the building where I have my studio space. The abandonment of infrastructure at the leading edge of technology (The Industrial Revolution) and their subsequent absorption back into the natural landscape embodies much of the atmosphere and materiality I am exploring with my “Remnants” series. I have been spending time in this space for the past several months, experimenting with video and audio in order to capture the ambient energy of the room. My intent is to allow these meditations to infuse my work with a concretized sense of the natural forces I am exploring. The work this Summer is a continuation of the work from the Fall. Please refer to the “Spring 2021″ tab, for an initial overview and documentation of this project.
Virtual maquette of the installation site: 607 square feet, length: 37’9″, width: 13’5″, ceiling height: 13′, Concrete structure 14′ x 14′ x 51”
Current shots of the installation space.
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The work this summer has concentrated on conceptualizing how to further integrate my work and my message with the installation space. My discussions with Yo Ahn have revolved around maximizing the site’s historical charge and the duality of the space as art installation and archeological site.
Entry wall piece: Visualization of how the piece can be further integrated with the ceiling and walls.
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visualization: This piece is an evolution of the original hanging form by the window and the plastic surface documenting the oxidation of iron-oxide drops. This mill building produced fabric for train seats and later automotive seats. The concrete structure in this space was used to wash off the dyes in the fabrics. This installation piece will incorporate a canvas tarp (similar to the original fabrics produced in this mill). The fabric will catch drops of iron-oxide in a water solution. Over time, the drops and splatter will spread from the center, generating an active record of the weathering forces that penetrate and permeate the space and contribute to the process of erosion. The gallery below documents this Summer’s work on this piece:
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Documentation: A record of the erosive and weathering forces in the space. This is a record of a recent flood event in the space caused by heavy rain. It is indicative of the level of moisture in the space which serves to illustrate how the weather and seasons penetrate and influence this room.
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Visualization: On this wall, opposite the brick wall, I am researching how to incorporate projected videos that further shed light on the nature of erosion and impermanence. I am currently exploring ways to do rear or forward projections of: stop-action animation, time-lapse footage, and archival footage. The sequences projected will manipulate time-scale beyond the human spectrum, in order to illuminate the processes that reclaim the man-made back into nature. The aim is to take the viewer out of their own reality and provide a glimpse of the micro and macro forces at play.
This is a time-lapse, stop-action animation which provides an example of the content that will be projected.
Projection Experiments: Testing the Wimius S2 projector. Rear and Forward projection on various metal mesh surfaces
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Select photos from the room showcasing the materiality of erosion and decay inherent in the space.
