WW5: Ah, Motherland!

-over all dimensions: 18” tall x 14” wide x 19” long. Ice dimensions: roughly 3”x 9”x 13”

-towel under neath to protect floor, not showing but hidden under salt. By my calculations all water will be absorbed by salt.

-will install salt on 28th and bring ice on March 4th. Install before opening. This is the plan unless a freezer can be procured on site to hold the ice for the week prior.

installation model

SECOND NATURES

Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines second nature as “an acquired deeply ingrained habit or skill.” Cicero’s theory of “three natures” describes the second nature as a landscape altered by humans so as to make it more habitable. When that land becomes uninhabitable, historically, we find a new land. With a new land and a new home often come a new culture and soon after a new, albeit complex, identity. The physical action of state changing that happens in “Second Natures” gives form to transfigured landscapes, identities, perceptions, suggesting the dynamic makeup of identity.

uncut baked salt block

Hi ladies,

As of today I have 11 of these (16 x 9 x 3 1/2 in.) ready for trimming down. As you all saw in the ice melting demonstration they have the shape of a baking pan, so I will shave them to look more like a rough block, though I may keep some of the surface texture. I will keep baking all through the weekend to have as many on hand as possible, but I think I will only need the 11.

texture after ice melting

Also, I have kept the two blocks from the “ice on top” and “ice on bottom” experiments. Over the first week the one with the ice on top seemed to have kept “growing” with the water it absorbed. This is what it looks like now.

And this is what the “ice on bottom” version looks like now, after staying submerged in water for several days.

I think the surface of the final piece will look more like the second of these three images, and this is reaction isn’t something I hadn’t fully anticipated. So, I’m excited to see how this will look on a much larger scale.

My proposal was to build a work that draws upon the metaphors of erosion, dissolving, transfer and, in essence, change. These are common phenomena of emagration/immagration. People hold onto parts of their culture of origin and lose others.

I envisioned a solid changing states over time. Central to the idea is the transition of matter from state to state. Set in the context of the  Ah, Motherland! residency, this action of state changing begins to imply the broader issues of changing landscapes, identities, perceptions.

I imagined a bound granulate solid— salt, sugar, or pigment—being slowly dissolved by a liquid. Salt proved to be the most suitable for the metaphor because of its universal qualities. It is a common denominator. Out of fine table salt I made solid slabs. I then experimented with different methods of bringing the salt into contact with a liquid: dripping, submerging, and adding pigment.

I decided to build a platform out of multiple slabs of salt. A block of colored ice will rest atop this structure and by simple physical change, the ice will melt and begin to dissolve the salt, carving it into a sort of landscape. Does change have to be quick, dramatic, immediate?

I think the salt piece is about crossing borders, the dissolving of one into the many. In the context of Ah, Motherland! it draws upon the varied “immigrant” experiences of the viewer to set the context for the action that will (slowly) occur. So the viewer may be seen as the informant to what this change is, what it means.

And as for an artist with a different cultural background, I’ve been thinking of the work of James Turrell. Even though he is not a her, I’d ask him:

1. How do you keep exploring the same concepts without making the same work every time?

2. What are you currently reading?

This is one in a series of experiments I made during week two to see how the baked salt would take pigment and water.

This one is a sheet of baked salt. I was also testing here to see how it would hold up in standing water.

This is some amazing work that I came across today.

In Answer to the question of the week:

In which way(s) does your proposed project speak to the “Immigrant Experience”? Feel free to briefly share what you understand by such as well as by “American Identity” and how it may relate (or not) to what you wish to accomplish within the next 5 weeks.

My project is a broad metaphor for the specific phenomena of transformation that occurs in an individual, family, or culture (i.e., the creations of sub-cultures) during or after a relocation of the home.  ”American Identity” relates to my proposed piece as the breading ground for these phenomena.

I proposed to make a form that addresses the metaphors of erosion, dissolving, transfer and, in essence, change. It has been my experience that these are very common phenomena of emagration/immagration. People hold onto parts of their culture of origin and lose others. I want to make a work that consists of a solid—salt, sugar, pigment, or ink—which is slowly dissolved by a liquid, changing states over time.

The form of the solid may take the shape of something significant. However, central to the idea is the transition of matter from state to state and possibly from place to place. Set in the context of the Ah, Motherland! residency, this action of state changing begins to imply the broader issues of changing landscapes, identities, perceptions.