Cofa1002

Can we do anything without being influenced by something out of our control? Is everything we do effectively a collaboration of us with the outer world? Through ‘Unconscious Collaboration’ the concepts of constant collaboration with an external environment is explored. It may be another person, a chosen material or a natural element that can transform our thoughts, actions and more specifically our art.

‘Unconscious Collaboration’ is a series of ephemeral installations that explore the effects of the intangible characteristics of the city. Our natural environment is ironically made of a completely unnatural composition of buildings, streets and pathways but what pushes and pulls us through the city is the pyschogeographical elements that surround us. One of the founders of the Situationists International, Guy Debord sees cities as having “psychogeographical contours” which perfectly correlates to these works as the unpredictable and intangible boundaries of our external environments that shape our experience within that place.

The series of works in ‘Unconscious Collaboration’ consists of 5 A1 sheets of paper that have been stuck to the ground of locations within Sydney’s CBD. Once secured to the ground I documented the untouchable elements that I felt in the particular place. To do so I chose to appropriate Andy Goldsworthy’s work of ‘Sticks Framing A Lake’ (2003), as I wanted to transform the boundaries of earth art and how it can be interpreted. I want it to be seen not only as a representation of the natural environment but also of the urban world. As more than half of the world lives within an urban setting, and this statistic constantly rising, I feel it is important to begin to consider our environment not so much as the natural untouched earth, but as the planned and constructed world we’ve created for ourselves. His work is a composition of natural materials, set in their environment, he has used the reflection of the water and the connection of the sticks to make something present to us that wouldn’t be possible without his collaboration. Similarly I am making present a work that wouldn’t exist without my involvement with the intangible aspects of this space. The energies, weather and flows of people influence me and direct each individual work in its specific location. It is important to understand that I am not specifically drawing one thing, its not the flow, or positioning of people, but maybe both. It could be the intensity of the area, the rushed or slow pace that people are consumed by as they move through the city. Each work has been affected by different elements of the city, some, most I’m sure that I'm completely unaware of but this is what is most important when exploring the connection and affect the intangible elements of an environment.

As an earth artwork transformed into an urban environment I felt it essential to use materials from the area in which the work is created. To do this I had to consider the elements of urbanization that are relevant in the city so instead of collecting found materials from around the site. I recognized the importance of the sale and buying of goods in our urbanized and consumerist environment, so from this I purchased my materials from a store within the CBD. The five works were performed at the Jones Bay Wharves, Pyrmont Bridge, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Hyde Park and Pitt St Mall. These areas all affected me differently, some felt calm and comfortable while others made me quite anxious and nervous and this was translated through my documentation. Once I completed the installation I taped it to the ground, and left it there. Once again reestablishing the connection with earth art as works that belong to the site in which they are made.

Ephemerality plays the final role in my series of installations as each work is stuck to the ‘earth’ of the city. Returning back to each site I find the works either removed or altered by the movement of others through this environment. This is important as it reflects the nature of the urban environment, similar to that of a living environment with constant movement, changing flows and developing layers of the intangible forces that have an unconscious impact on us.

http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth/en/

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/e/earthart.html

http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html

Collaboration - Psychogeography - Situationists 

Earth Art Experiment - Warren NSW

With the ideas from the previous artists, especialy goldsworthy i created my own earth artwork whilst at home. i used objects from the location to create a piece that floated and moved through the river. I enjoyed making this work as it gave insight into the difficulties of using limited resources and materials to make an artwork with an unpredictable result. the location was very important, as if there was no river the work would have had a completely different outcome. as the piece floated away i felt as though it was no longer a piece of my creation but had been taken over by the environment in which it was placed. 

Although this was effective for an earth artwork in country NSW i considered where my current environment is in Sydney and how an installation made from natural materials doesn't accurately represent the urban environment that is Sydney. even though the city has green spaces that sometimes try to mimic an untouched natural space there is still an overwhelming presence of urbanisation   from the light posts to the sprinkler systems. 

How can we make an artwork out of natural resources and claim for it to be mimicking an environment that simply doesn't exist in the city?

Andy Goldsworthy

Thinking of earth art i can't go past Andy Goldsworthy - his approach is simple, to use the materials and tools in the surrounding environment but his works seem to capture an aspect of nature that is unachievable on its own. He considers the external environment and how this effects the works he creates, the reflections, shadows, and elements that can make or destroy his natural sculptures.

Michael Heizer 

Levitated Mass 2012