Boston Public Garden Proposal

My installation proposal involves using recycled plastic to create several "plastic ducks" throughout the Public Garden. The insides would be hollow with a wide opening just under the "duck"'s head and with the plastic structure sitting in various locations on the pond's edge. Aside from being a unique sculptural item, the plastic ducks would be functional as well, providing a drier, warmer location for ducks to sleep at night. Drier, due to being a shelter from weather such as rain, snow, or wind, and warmer because the plastic would work as a kind of greenhouse, becoming warm on the inside from the sun's rays during the day and providing a slightly warmer place to sleep at night. The structures could also be used by children  as a kind of play structure.

In my budget research I found a company specializing in purchasing and selling recycled plastic (Jetpoly, jetpoly.com). They sell plastic at $25/lb. Based on the size of the ducks, this price could allow for 2-3 ducks to be made, depending on whether or not the tools used to refurnish the plastic would be included in the budget.

These are the various locations I had in mind for siting the ducks. The Boston Public Garden contains many nice grassy areas along the water's edge, but what I was looking for in particular were well-sheltered areas away from the walkways and planted flowers.

My model shows the dimensions of the ducks, in addition to height comparisons with humans, trees in the area, and the ducks themselves.

Community of Scholars Reflection

Erin and I did our "fortunes" for the CoS event. I think overall, it came out how we had planned, although a better crowd and better designed signs on our table would have attracted more attention. I think our concept was unique, and even people who didn't pick up a fortune still read our signs and wondered. Our goal was to spark inquiry, which we certainly did. 

Artists' Statement

Busy, busy weekend. What I love most about art school, and especially about going to art school in such a cool urban environment as Boston, is that there is always something going, something to go see, something to spark that ol' inspiration light. Now if only the weather would stay as nice as it was this past week...


Mine and Erin's Artist Statement for our Installation Project:


Ever wondered what the future would bring? Have you ever had that silly itch to read your horoscope, or gain some insight about what comes next tomorrow, next week, later this afternoon? As much as anyone might like to deny it, it is natural of humans to wonder and think about the possibilities of the great unknown. Maybe you'll win the lottery, find true love, or avoid getting pooed on by a passing pigeon.
Lesley University is known for it's commitment to promoting communal and inquiring attitudes in its faculty and students. Whether it be a Shakespearian text reworked into a rap song, or a simple poem transformed into a screenplay, curriculum has been modified in ways to create a more hands-on atmosphere in the classroom, thereby igniting a personal experience and memory in the student and helping them to carry the information further. In today's day and age, public schooling in America had boiled down to much less of an actual education and much more of a vicious cycle of cramming and memorizing vocabulary lists. We study dates and names and places we have no physical or emotional attachment to only to delete that memory in the brain right after, making room for the next set of information for the next test. In this techie age, if one can't provide information fast enough, a machine can do it for you. But there is hope toward breaking this repetitive motion. Through teaching students activities and much more valuable hands-on approaches to learning information, Lesley University provides new teachers and aides to younger generations with the patience and guidance most critically necessary. Through this sense of community and provoking inquiry, American students can further broaden their horizons and learn a love for the classics and tradition.
Keeping these ideas in mind, we have created a fun, engaging activity that connects the viewer to a place so often overlooked; their own home city. Using local newspaper clippings, we have created "lyrical fortunes", silly, serious, and nonsensical messages to fulfill that desire of knowing. By doing so, we hope to remind the viewer of not only the possibilities materials found within their own community can provide, but also that sometimes the simplest answers can satisfy our greatest questions.

Growth

These last two weeks in class we've been working on a project titled "Growth". We had a homework assignment to collect photos of natural-occurring patterns that resemble the idea of growth, and then using the provided material of various rolls of wallpaper, we were asked to create our own growth structure.


A fan of natural grooves in shorelines and the wavy horizon line of mountain/hillsides, I tried channeling my inner fantasy land dweller and created "Dream Peak", a structure that makes me think of sun salutations in yoga. I would like to create more of these, and use them as an environment for a possible stop-motion piece idea I've been tossing around in my head.

A quick scribble I made when creating a loose plan for my growth structure.

The finished piece.

Using thread and a sewing needle, I attached wallpaper stars to parts of the structure, furthering the magical mystical feel of the piece.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my results. It was a lot of fun to make, and I've like to go further with it.

Finally! Internet!

So finally the internet's working and I've been able to pause my hectic life for a brief few moments to catch up this blog on some important and interesting things that have been taking place over these last few weeks.


In class, on February 2nd, we transformed the classroom over the course of the class period (2 hours 45 minutes) into a complex installation exhibit. Given only the supplies of red/pink string and some spare wooden dowels, we were left to our own devices to create an idea and execute it in the short time period alloted.

Materials

We started by turning the tables in the room upside -down and creating a "circle" with them with a large ladder used as the "doorway".

Working together to divide into an "outside" and an "inside" team, we were able to quickly establish the shape of the installation that we had brainstormed together. With Molly's help, we were able to wrap the string over from a light fixture on the ceiling a few times to create the founding "top layer". From there we continued to wrap and weave in and around the "walls" that were slowly being created.

Over time, it was difficult to stand inside, and the single strands of string began to fuse together to create an almost "womb-like" cave in the center of the room.

Eventually we began attaching the string to whatever stray ledge or handle was available on the edges and sides of the room. Over time, the simple circle of string around the tables grew like a strange amoeba, enveloping the room in it's entirety.

Adding to the "web effect", we began to incorporate objects into the installation, creating a more "home-like web" with things one would need for sustenance, such as sweaters, shoes, a water bottle, and food packaging.

Up close, it's just string. But as the class period wore on, the simple lines become far less transparent.

The entrance to the classroom was even barricaded. 

Implementing a water bottle.

A shoe.

Abby adding more layers to the sides of the string metamorphosis invading into the walls of the room.

Creating a "room within a room". 

But of course, all good things must eventually come to an end.

The aftermath.

Overall, I liked the project a lot. Although we did plan briefly at the beginning of class when brainstorming for a basic plan of action, once we got started, everyone worked together really well, and over time I think everyone's ideas were able to reach some form of fruition. It would be interesting to try recreating this project.

Welcome, welcome...

Hello everyone!

I'm Courtney and this is my blog for my installation class. A few things about me:
I'm an illustration major minoring in animation. I was born in California, and have moved to and lived in Boston, New York, Richmond, and Charlotte. I spent the last year studying abroad in Leverkusen, Germany; in fact, although I'm technically a freshman, I'm 20 years old because I took a year off in between high school and college to travel. I love ice cream, pickles, and cats. I enjoy using a wide variety of media and medium in my work, employing everything from traditional skills like watercolor, pastel, charcoal, acrylic, craft making, etc to all kinds of digital skills such as photoshop, flash, and html/css. I love working in mixed media. My goals in going to art school are to someday work in the animation industry as a visual design director, character designer, and giving my input in art direction of children's televised and feature film animation. I also have a strong desire to illustrate and write children's books. Taking this installation course, I hope to be intrigued, develop new ideas and ways of looking at an artistic problem, and to have some fun working collaboratively with equally as ambitious art students.