Seminar: Interventions and Interruptions

For seminar we did a few exercises, in which we focused on interrupting ideas/ norms in the studio space. The first exercise was just to "interrupt the space around us" and we weren't given any direction as to how-- students turned over tables, put sweaters on their heads, stood in strange poses etc. Then we wrote exercises that we wanted other people to do, which had a similarly chaotic outcome. We also worked in pairs interrupting spaces, in larger groups, and as a class. The exercises that I found the most interesting were the ones in which we put everything in the room in the smallest unit possible, and in which we spread everything out as wide as possible. When we compressed all the objects together they became a new form in the room, and when we expanded objects as much as possible, the individual forms were changed as well-- for instance, Rachel poured a bag of flour all over the floor to expand it and the form of the flour changed. I find it interesting that objects, when put together or brought apart, make an entirely new entity. I am trying to focus on this idea in the next project I do. I am thinking of using some found materials in my paintings, so that the painting becomes also a bit of a sculpture, and the combination of materials creates a new entity.