I’ve continued to make cubes and recently began exploring moving them off of a pedestal or other flat surface onto the wall.
Project Tag: #cubes
#temporaryart
(update 8/2)
I’ve taken an interest in the cubes as proxies for brushstrokes (they have 6 sides so each can be presented quite a few ways), and in stacking them as analogous to the way I create compositions. But perhaps more than anything, I’m intrigued by the idea that each installation of them could be a unique, here-then-gone experience, especially since the experiential element of art- the quality of viewing the same- is of the most interest to me in my practice.
By the way, if you want to participate in the “play” you can- click here!
(More) shapes taking shape
(update 6/23)
So in addition to my prior post about shaped pieces, I started making smaller, individual cubes for creating new pieces, and have started combining them with not only the excerpted shapes from prior paintings but also the physical cubes I’ve begun making.
Cube Selector
Welcome, those of you who have participated in the cube selector project (the name is a work in progress, just like the cubes…) and for those of you who haven’t, please participate.
9 cubes of all types with David on 05/20/20
15 yellow cubes with Michael on 5/21/20
6 varied red cubes with Jessica on 5/21/20
9 red cubes with Barbara Anne on 5/21/20
At this point in the project I realized a few modifications that needed to be made to the form, and that sometimes users could input values that on net I couldn’t deliver (in the example immediately above, I did not have any large cubes that were totally red, and was 1 cube shy of being able to “deliver” a composition using 10 cubes with some surfaces painted red).
13 red, brown and white cubes with Tim on 5/24/20
15 red, white, tan and brown cubes with Adriana on 5/27/20
12 red, white and tan cubes with Barb on 5/27/20
“Drawing” with objects
Cubes- mounting
So in addition to the most obvious ways the cubes could be mounted/displayed (either stacked on the floor or on a traditional pedestal, the latter being the art-world signifier of “sculpture) it has occurred to be that if the project of building a work from these cubes as a proxy for artist’s choice while painting, that they should have some relationship to the wall. To that end, here are a couple of the solutions I’ve devised- more to come.
“Painting” cubes with light
Some artists do a daily drawing or sketch (or even painting) so I’ve been exploring this processas a proxy for drawing or sketching.
The conditions require some set-up, and I’m finding that there is a limitation to the amount of time that the cubes, once “charged,” will (re)emit enough light to result in a decent photo, so making the images requires me to react quickly to the results of how the blocks reveal the light, which isn’t always entirely known at the time I set them in position for prep. “Yes” I think there will be a medium-term play to display this work, for now it can serve as literally what it is- time to create images quickly, only a daily basis, that isn’t tethered to a need to create permanent art objects.
Beginnings- cubes with dimension
The way that I draw the (isometric) cubes in my paintings is similar to techniques used by designers when drafting a physical space- I even use red drafting pencil sometimes.
I have been thinking for a while that this modality I’ve adopted is a sort of “building” system; also, I and others have noted that the cubes in my drawings and paintings aren’t moored by gravity or beholden to a true light source. So, what if I began to explore those last two sets of limitations within an actual building system.
I’ve begun to make a set of cubes that range in size from 1″ to 6″ square. I’ve sort of begun to think of each of them as a proxy for brushstrokes… Anyway, they are growing in number and have taken on color.
I’ve tried out a few compositional ideas as well, focusing for now on the limitation of gravity.