The Deconstruction Construction Project; Documented

Introduction

As humans, we are drawn towards what is familiar and safe; we desperately claw at comfort and reject discomfort. But what happens to us when we are completely out of our element? It is no secret that different environmental factors and moods affect how we think and feel, and in extension, the decisions we make in creating art. Does that mean there is a completely different version of us with vastly different capabilities and ideals waiting outside of our zones of comfort? If so, is it possible to coax this fragmented identity out with rules and conditions in place to create discomfort and vulnerability? In this experiment, I utilise constraints, systems and elements of chance to put myself in a state of mind I don’t usually frequent in an attempt to produce art I would not usually create.

Process Documentation

I deliberately chose my laptop webcam so that I could replicate the grainy quality of home-made films and monitor myself as I worked. The purpose of this documentation form is to create the same sensation of discomfort for the audience, as if they are invading someone's personal space and stumbling upon something that was not meant for their eyes. The “peeping hole” and the eerie soundtrack overlap and are edited to contribute to this atmosphere of discomfort. 

Final Products

All That Glitters (Is Not Gold) 

The art material I selected for this piece was spray paint. When the sheerness of is combined with the semi-circle that decorates the top of the sculpture, it produced the semblance of something bold and expensive. The title is a playful hint at what the photo portrays: a sculpture composed of “trash” but is hidden in plain sight. All that glitters is not gold. The display was arranged to emulate the sort of paintings once used by royalty to communicate their wealth, land and possessions.  

Abstraction 

The theme of this piece was acrylic paint, which helped highlight the geometric shapes of the sculpture. The rest of the display is composed of other bold colours and geometric shapes to further emphasise the hint of abstract style I see in the sculpture 

Moonrise

This last sculpture was stretched across two mornings and combined the acrylic and spray paint themes of the first two pieces. I began by covering pieces of the work in spray paint and ended up with a colour palette that reminded me of the sunset and the moonrise that follows. Upon this realisation, I used the acrylic paint to create ombres of the previously flat colours. These shades, combined with the snowy, glass shards, produce an overall mystical aura that I tried to emphasise by creating a holy display. 

The development of the project

What first drew you to the idea of “deconstruction” and “construction” as a single piece? What do those words mean to you?

I enjoyed the idea of limiting on myself to creating with pieces of pottery or glass that used to belong as one piece. It was interesting to decide what other ways they could fit together to make something entirely new

Can you walk us through your creative process from initial concept to finished work?

The creative process of the work essentially centres around placing limitations in my work to challenge some of my perfectionistic tendencies when making art. In my practice I’m prone to overworking a piece, collecting materials for long periods, questioning small choices and details. The aim of the construction deconstruction process was to make something new, transform what already has a mundane purpose in day to day life (old bottles, clay pots gathering dust in the garden).

I started by listening to loud rock music, recording myself breaking the materials which was a therapeutic process in itself

It felt good to let myself be angry and purposefully break things when as an artist, I’m typically the creator

Moving onto the actual construction stage, I gave myself a limited amount of time to make each piece out of the broken array of glass and clay. And then after repeated that process in colouring and spray painting the pieces based on what the initial shapes reminded me of - one made me think of nighttime and moons and magic. The next reminded me of the golden Asian figures my parents kept around the house although in reality, the parts were more trash than treasure. The last piece made me think of abstract works that we had been studying in our theory classes

Were there any surprises or challenges you encountered while making this piece?

One of the biggest challenges was not touching the piece after giving myself limited time to work on them, I wanted to oppose every aspect of my usual practice (slow deliberation, planning and thinking concepts through) so I could just allow myself to create without the stress of needing it to be perfect.

How do you hope people feel or think differently after seeing it?

Overall, I hope that people can feel the pureness of the creative process, I feel like I was able to strip down a lot of my restraints when making this. I stripped my art process to the only thing that really matters: creating for the sake of it for the fun of it