plastic optimism: a practice in enabling constraints

ignition 4, leonard and bina ellen gallery, montreal, quebec.

felt, mini speakers, mini lcd screens, foam core, wood, bungee cords.

photo credits: caroline boileau

A series of soft sculptures were built from 1" industrial felt, a headpiece for one occupant, and another for two. The completed sculptures were hung from the ceiling by means of bungee cords. Small amplifiers embedded in the walls of these constructions played back simple instructions for movement, step to the right, up, down. A third sculpture included steps that lead up into a foam core building. The participant was encouraged to place their head within, in order to view footage of a person moving within an institutional setting, the original foam sculpure placed upon her head. 

plastic optimism

Plastic Optimism

An ability to adjust to ones surroundings, to utilize structure as a means to propel oneself forward towards invention

Enabling Constraints

A method utilized to provide structure to chaos, to present clarity amidst a proliferation of obstructions

A stubborn curiosity, to engage with the boundaries that contain, to press up against borders, to consider seemingly concrete forms as malleable.

Certain determination

Subtle shifts of spatial design

Agility upon encountering obstacles along a meandering

You fall into a hole, the next time you encounter the gap, you perceive it, but still tumble within, meeting the opening a third time, you observe it, pass along side, evading the collapse, only to trip into the next

A process of thinking through movement

Improvise with perceived limitations

Agency

An intention that informs the decision regarding a movement

Towards a certain disruption of spatial order

A methodology

Pass through form to recognize its function

A certain fondness for incongruity

Abstract articulations

Kinesthetic negotiations

Neurological acrobatics

day two

subtle architectures

day two: 05/20/07  

subtle five (revisited):
I revisit the last site that I performed in the day before. I have three observers who have come prepared to find me and follow the performance. This drastically changes the feeling of the event. The anonymity is lost and I am self-conscious of my actions, in a manner that is altered by familiar faces.


subtle six: bus stop, telephone booth, bicycle parking

A lady asks me what I am up to as she draws in a long hale on her smoke. A man is talking on the telephone. An observer comes to sit with me and introduces himself. We speak for a while before I depart.

subtle seven: exterior hudsons bay

I am joined by a young women, She is wearing pajamas and has a kinetic, faced paced, movement. She wants to play with the chalk. We spend some time together drawing on the pavement.

I return to this spot later and find that the yellow lines have been cleaned up and the only trace of the performance left behind is a drawing that the young woman drew on the road.


subtle eight: loading dock

I draw myself a large space. I work within the confines. There are not many people around. I have the time to explore the boundaries to the fullest extent. In this spot, an empty loading dock, I seem to go unnoticed by the passers by except for the occasional glance in my direction.

visualeyez : day one

subtle architectures
day one: 05.19.07

http://visualeyez2007.blogspot.com/

The initial inspiration for the project Subtle Architectures came from the presence of yellow lines in front of government buildings. These lines designate smoking areas and I enjoyed watching as people stood just inside the demarcated space, in order to bend to exhale. Their gestures touched on my interest in the construction of social and private space.  

The first realization of the project took place during a ten-day residency at Visualeyez Festival, 2007. This event is hosted by Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta, offering artists an opportunity to test out new projects in an atmosphere conducive to research-creation. For this initial series the locations and times were not announced. 


subtle one: parking meter
A pedestrian walks over the yellow chalk lines but shows no sign of recognition. The physical performance is rendered invisible in close proximity.



A man shouts out from a car window, are you having fun?


subtle two: empty lot Two young women run out of a hair salon, are you all right? The shout is heard from a distance.


subtle three: parking lot
There is a twenty-story apartment building near by. Faces are looking out of windows, watching from above.

subtle four: pedestrian sidewalk
Waiting for rain, a man asks as he passes by.

Driving in there cars, people watch from a safe distance.

The cars slow down but do not stop.

subtle five: Park Bench
People double glance.

day four

subtle architectures

day four: 05/22/07



subtle eleven (revisited): park bench There is a man sitting within the boundary I drew. He seems settled with no intentions of moving. I sit on an opposing bench and draw a line around the same foot as the day before. 


subtle twelve: smoking boundary lines
I have found lines that demarcate an area for smoking. I lean slightly outside the line. A man, in passing, informs me that I am slightly off balance.


subtle thirteen: campus stairs
There are two young women sitting beside me. They are deep in conversation and take no notice of me. One of them gives me a quick glance when I pull myself up the wall methodically, but looks away as soon as I notice her looking.


This invisibility is in stark contrast to the large audience I have accumulated from the festival. People sit at a distance forming an audience. I am back on stage within the context of a college campus.


subtle fourteen: between two parked cars I want to hide now. I have a following that I am attempting to divert. A man asks me if I am okay, a car stops to see if I want to cross the street. 

day three

subtle architectures

day three: 05/21/07


subtle eight (revisited):
I revisit where I left off the day before. My anxiety levels are high in response to a public demand to see my performance. I expect to encounter an audience who will follow me along my path. I am somewhat relieved to arrive to an absence of observers.


subtle nine: empty parking lot Without the expectations of a public gaze, the absence of a viewing public, I am left to wonder where my actions begin and where they reach completion. I define spaces in which to situate this practice, I watch other people sit and rest, I move almost imperceptibly. 


subtle ten: brick wall

I draw a larger boundary and wait. There is nothing. I look over my shoulder, I gaze at the ground, and I document the spot in which I stand. I am alone but aware that someone could be watching. Today I am performing normalcy. I am trying to find the most honest of articulations. I remain still.

subtle eleven: foot
Only my foot is outlined by a square. I am immobilized, except for the twitch of an eye.