Drawing is one way of reaching for intimacy with the world, of making contact. Holding a pen or other piece of material and striving to echo the form of what is wished to be close to gives the feeling of being nearer, at least temporarily.
There’s a particular fascination with figure drawing and painting, not so much as a way of reaching out to the body of another (sometimes), but as a way of suturing the rift between one’s own body and identity/identities. Though technical skills (proportion, line, shading, volume, etc.) have a deep draw and a sense of pleasurable orientation for me, I am often met with the urge to tear apart the harmony, or even better, have the material come through with dominance and demand breakage. A pleasurable disorientation. This, for me, echoes true intimacy, which is entails a spectrum of sensations and experiences, from the chaotic to the deeply peaceful.
The collaborative installation In the Forest (below) played with these themes of intimacy on a spectrum, as we attempted to create an enclosed environment that acknowledged presence and the way someone moved through it instantly, echoing the patterns and placing of their movement with its colors (projections) and position (30 ft sculptures rigged to a catwalk).
In the Forest: an interactive installation.
In the Forest was an environment that acknowledges the presence of each individual visitor, offering a reminder that each of us has impact wherever we go and whatever or whoever we interact with. Additionally, those impacts cannot easily be traced to one individual, as we move together in waves, interconnected and colliding into action upon action continuously.
We were lucky to have access to Art Thou Gallery, which existed in the former backstage of the former Oaks Theater. The space was very narrow, with a 50 ft. high catwalk. We built and installed a rig at the top of the catwalk and built the “trees” from 30 - 40ft hanging armatures, starting from the top on ladders and working our way down. All recycled materials were used.
By reprogramming motion sensitive video game controllers, weaving them into the trees and connecting their data to projected visuals, visitors to In the Forest could trigger shifts and changes to the light, color and animations filling the space.
Artists: Andreina Davila, Drew Dara-Abrams, Chrysta Giffen, Claire Tompkins, Kaitlin McSweeney, Susie Davvy with technical support from Mister Scradam. Art Thou Gallery, Albany, Ca, 2011.
