Assemblage, AR7007
10.9.21 The idea of constructing a series of assemblages with a number of separate sculptures and connectors to create an installation is not only practical in terms of transport and storage, but also has deeper meanings in terms of flexibiity, precarity and impermanence. The idea that every time the installation is constructed it could be different is very exciting. Being site responsive is a bonus for me as well. Almost everything is interchangeable and connects to almost everything else, which could potentially lead to an infinite number of variations in installation. Miwon Kwon (2002, p4) discusses the ‘impermanence and transience’ of art installed in response to ‘one site after another’ Artist, Richard Tuttle ‘enters a dialogue with the space’ (Petersens, 2014, p77), sometimes reinstalling his work to explore how it can respond differently to the same setting. Much of my work deals in multiples. It’s like 3D collage. It’s fragmented, deconstructed, changeable, precarious, unravelling; balanced between form and formlessness.

It was an odd and rather nerve racking process though, in a way, as I needed to spend weeks making the separate parts before I knew that the assemblages would work, visually, how they would be installed, how they would interact with each other, the viewer and the space and whether it would satisfy me.  

Finding out about Curtis' idea of ensembles just recently has, I feel, transformed these separate sculptural assemblages into an immersive environment. Choosing to deconstruct the initial structures and try out different ways to connect, hang, tension, install has been eye opening and extremely rewarding.

For images of my research as I planned my final exhibition see my reflections in Summary of my methodologies for selecting and presenting my work for AR7007