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Installation Art: Before Moving On..., 2004
Statement
A personal exploration of what can be surrendered to become a better artist and collaborator. I created three surrender flags, each bearing one of the following words: fear, ego, and defense. The arrangement of the flags invited viewers to step into the piece to read the words, or to observe undefined surrender flags from a distance. The installation included the word, compromise, printed on the wall parallel the flags to link the larger exhibit to the piece and to invite additional reflection on the compromises inherent in creative work.
Installation
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Details
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Preamble
This piece originated from a game mod for Unreal Tournament 2003, in which I was removing all the violent elements to create a serine virtual space that viewers could explore and interact with other players and not kill one another. Only large white columns would occupy the virtual space, each containing a piece of a non-liner narrative containing thoughts, quotes, headlines, and provocative statements.
During the creation process, I hit a wall with the technology, lab access, and time. This wall forced me to reflect on a few things and search for another approach to creating this digital space and narrative I had in my head. The first step I had to take was simplifying my narrative, breaking it down from my original concept of 70 or so blurbs to three specific words.
Second I had to create a physical artifact that represented how I was feeling about the project and would compliment the words I was searching for. In staring at my initial concepts for the digital space my artifact evolved from the white columns into white surrender flags. Once I had the idea for the flags it fueled my fire and helped to come up with the words, ego, fear, and defense: three things my peers and I struggled with over the years.
I am currently continuing to work on a few aspects of this project, namely building a pc to run the Unreal Editor, researching the code, researching Unity (a mac based game development software as an alternative to the Unreal Editor), writing the narrative, and writing a proposal for a warehouse-size installation that would include 4 large cylindrical screens, 16 computer-driven projectors and a small network.
Words
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Ego
Ego: a force that enables artists to put themselves and their work on display for public acceptance or criticism. However, an unchecked ego can keep an artist from listening to critiques; it can blind them from looking past their own ideas.
Fear
Fear: a force that can get in the way of an artist. Being afraid to experiment, to be wrong, to speak up can hold an artist back and can lead to stagnate, repetitive and predictable work.
Defense
Defense: something that an artist should employ and avoid. An artist should be prepared to defend a work, but must never be defensive, for listening to constructive criticism strengthens work.
Compromise
Compromise: a reality that exists between artist and patron, idea and medium, object and space. The flags had been designed so the viewers could approach them from three sides, but due to limited gallery space they were placed parallel to a wall. Realizing how this affected the piece, I decided to embrace its placement and make it work with the context of the piece. The installation of the piece became a collaborative work between the gallery staff, and myself; and its placement was a compromise, one that I felt completed the piece and the narrative of becoming a better artist and collaborator.
notes
Shown May-June 2004: “ ” (The Mark), Annual Senior BFA Show, Victoria H. Myhren Gallery Denver, Colorado.
Thank you
Angela Forster for helping with the sewing of the flags, my grandpa Bill Ames for use of and help in his shop to build the flag poles, and Rafael Fajardo for the support, critique, and understanding of the drastic left turn I took from making a game mod to the physical artifact of surrender flags. And finally Mark Sims for photographing the words and details.