In the beginning I had to create an algorithm to manipulate the points that were placed on a 9 x 9 grid that I drew out of dice rolls. Based on the points that were placed on the grid, we each were told to choose a verb out of the Rhino software to do on our 9 x 9 grid paper. My design was based on the action of twist. I pinched the middle of the paper and twisted it clockwise. Through the ideal points, real points, and crevasses that were made in the paper, we drew a pattern that could be interpreted onto a piece of 24 x 36 inch vellum. The two vellum drawing I presented in the critique were based on the connection on all three points. The first was one that drawn all out of triangles. The second was a drawing which alluded to the spiral shape shown by the “twist” action. We then created three dimensional models that represented our drawings.

               I feel as though I didn’t place too much thought or critical thinking in the project, rather just simply “did it.” But my model reflected the intensity, effort, and time I placed into my project. In the future I will definitely think about the project more to create more radical and original ideas. I explained my first spiral model as “a model which at first looks like a group of chaotic hatching while it subtly alludes to its original spiral patterns. The bottom is has the inverse hatchings from the top, like a black hole. The lift from the ground allows the hatching to create intricate shadows.” The second model which was composed of triangles was explained as “a model with volume with the use of suspended shapes. The openness of the lower portion half creates space for crisp shadows.”

               I didn’t receive the same amount of critique as many other people. I was told that the shadows on the picture that I presented should have been more focused and that the rhino could have been a better interpretation between an ideal model and the actual model. But my presentation didn’t last more than five minutes.

               

Passaic, New Jersey

Ryu Tomita

September 24, 2012

              

 In “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey,” Robert Smithson tours around the broken down industrial center to locate signs of past human activity. He refers to many of the objects he sees and finds interesting, monuments. He calls them monuments because at one point in time they were objects of the town that marked its development, but now they are structures to be forgotten about. For instance, the first “monument” he passes by is the bridge monument. He explains, “A rusty sign glared in the sharp atmosphere, making it hard to read. A date flashed in the sunshine…1899…No…1896. (70)” He takes numerous pictures of the bridge from different angles. As being named the grandfather of “entropy” I can see that he views the bridge to hold the elements of art because it a structure that was constructed in the past, which pertains to time, while it is occupying space in current times. The importance of the bridge may have differed from one hundred years ago to the present, but the space it occupies is the same.

               Another “monument” is one that hasn’t been created yet. It is a State Highway sign that explains that there will be a construction for a highway. This also is tied to his belief in entropic art because he highway plan signifies a future occupation of space. It is only with time that the structure will begin to take space from the small town and this ideal dwell’s Smithson to take note of it.  

                In the end of the reading Smithson explains entropy as a sandbox divided between black and white sand. As a child run around it clockwise it will begin to mix and become grey. Smithson’s portrayal of these structures of Passaic are exactly the same as the experiment. Despite being built in the beginning, he is interested in the development of the structure over time, not because of the construction process, but with the human interaction and the structures impact to the city while it stands.

In class thoughts: team 1

Modern artists are interested in entropy and inaction; however they are deceived because it lacks the consideration of time and space, leading to "dull and vapid" (13) art.

Perception is a deprivation of action because it doesn't require the view to process thought" (14).

Working without purpose is linked to entropy, suggesting thought and mistakes are unnecessary. (11)

Enthrapy

,         The new movement in 3-D art is conceptual, experimental, and confusing. It is based on the idea of time and promotes purposeful confusion to the viewer. Most works includes allusions to the past while hinting the possibilities of the future. Theoretically, the universe head towards enthalpy, the action towards chaos; however, it is the universe’s natural characteristic to find stableness, or equilibrium.  The artists that were introduced in this reading forced themselves to create art that promoted enthalpy, or chaos; but, because in order to observe enthalpy or entropy, it needs the factor time, the artist incorporate time into their artwork. They combine parts of both the old and new ideas in their artworks.

            After reading the excerpt on Lewis Carroll’s interpretations on laughter, I began to understand that his artwork was a play on words. He believes that the fourth dimension was laughter, rather than time, which most physics around the world has agreed on. In order to convey his belief that time was laughter, he split up the different levels of laughter by the complexity of 3-D crystal systems. For example: a generic laugh would be shown as tetragon, while a guffaw would be in a Triclinic shape. Laughter, according to Carroll would be “matter-of-laughs”(21). I disagree with Carroll’s belief because it is laughter is obviously not to be seen in a plane field. He based his understanding of the fourth dimension without any evidence or scientific report. His artwork doesn’t incorporate the idea of time or space in anyway. Laughter does not have any connotations linked to enthalpy or entropy; thus the excerpt “[t]ime and disorder of the fourth dimension could be set between laughter and the crystal-structure” (21) cannot be possible, even on his own terms.

            In conclusion, artists that explore the enthalpy in their artwork create works that simply places a shock factor towards the viewer. The video Yonkers by rapper, Tyler, the Creator, in parallel to recent popular culture, helps clarify this new movement in art. In the video, Tyler, the Creator, eats a cockroach, vomits, and then hangs himself. His video won an award at a MTV Music video award. Many people analyzed his music video/film stating that eating the cockroach meant something deeper, but in an interview a couple months later he stated that he did all that because he thought it would be cool. These artists are similar in a way that they provide a shock for the viewers, creating unlimited interpretations, while the artwork itself, although aesthetically pleasing, has little conceptual meaning to it.

            Three Questions:

1.     If immortality is stressed in an artwork, how could it combine time if immortality is a concept?

2.     Does “dislocation of meaning (23)” mean randomness?

3.     Could these artworks be explained and created without the incorporation of time?

Prior to reading these excerpts from these documents on Serra’s works and his explanation, I haven’t had much respect to his works. In the seventh section, there is an area where he talks about his piece the Delineator stating that one had to physically be in the building in order to experience his artwork. In other words, the viewer becomes a part of the artwork itself. It’s also interesting how his artworks are “non-descriptive” because one has to experience the artwork.

Serra’s take on his conceptual art is fascinating. He notes that in the past, people were “interested on the reflection of the light off the surface of [a] canvas” This manipulation and control of light in their artwork made the mood in the art different. However, Serra argues that his artworks “has to do more with a field force” so that the space is experience physically, rather than with the additional element of light.

Couple questions for Serra:

1.     What would the artwork look like if we were setup his artwork in areas with different gravitational poles or a midair environment?

2.     Would his black paintings and drawing change shape if the room was not a 6-sided room.

3.     Wouldn’t Serra’s art work control light if it was placed in a field because it would manipulate sunlight and create shadows?