I was really looking forward to this elective as the sculpture and mixed media course was a big reason I wanted to go to LSAD along with graphics. The brief was set out to get us to experiment with all areas of sculpture and to get us to really think outside the box. The first day was full of mind-mapping and working through to find a suitable word to lead on from. From the headings of sight, sound, respiratory function, touch, smell and circulatory action we worked out into as many other possible meanings and associations as possible until all the pages were full and until everybody had had their input into all topics.
The words that stood out to me most after all of that were 'deconstruct' and 'unmake'. It was an easy choice as I like to know how things work so taking apart electronics was my first thoughts and after that considered what else can be deconstructed. I thought books or magazines or advertising might be interesting to cut up and mix with the electronic parts so out with a scalpel and magazines and old hoarded equipment I had stored away for reasons unknown and went to town taking it all apart. I rented some sound/noise art cd's from the library and listened to them as I was taking everything apart, a strange experience but it definitely set a tone that led to the videos I made. (An anthology of noise and electronic music- a chronology, for any one interested in music and experimental sound). There are pieces in there from the 1920's to recent times and I would definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to hear something experimental and very different from what you are used to hearing.
4 remotes, 3 or 4 disc-men(mans?), 2 mini-disc players, 3 minidiscs, 3 cassette players, 1 CD recorder, 1 playstation controller, plugs a plenty, an old radio, wire connections, an old phone, hair clippers, a dvd player, a mighty mouse, some headphones a tv and some tapes. A bit of a graveyard of electronics well passed their sell by date. They were all broken and in need of another use anyway and there was very much a cathartic feel to the whole process, bringing them to an end years after buying them all, nearly all of them. Every device was like a puzzle, looking for the next screw that would free the next layer and on and on without breaking anything and the process was very engaging. I like order and clean layout and setting all the different pieces down on crisp white card after disassembling was enjoyable.
It made for some interesting subjects for photography, the components themselves were all so colourful and intricate and amazingly detailed that they in themselves felt like art and perfect design at the same time and it was such a shame that after all of that discovery and advancement and genius that went into the manufacture of these parts that they were encased in some bland sterile casing hidden away without ever an intention of being seen by anyone. These parts were supplementary to the products and were never intended to be seen or appreciated. Examining each component as I took these things apart I was amazed at the level of detail and the tiny scale they were all laid out in. I don't know the physics behind these objects and how they really work so looking at each little connection and solder on them was baffling to me. How could sound come from the air through these combined electronic parts, how does the lens really read the grooves on a cd and send it through the network of connections to my ear? How do these screens and fabricated pieces of plastic work? I don't know, and that wasn't my project, thankfully, but it definitely kept my imagination going as I was taking apart all the screws and wires and gluing pieces and taking all the photographs. Once I had all the dismantling done I was left with he task of making something cohesive out of them all. I had as much fun taking them apart as I had rearranging them.
There are some different sets of photographs for the different pieces and some videos to go with them and quite a few different results for project.
And I got to put a sledgehammer through a tv, what's not to like?
