Atapo
Inside the structure of Atapo, there were two spaces created by diamond shapes cut out of the material, which seemed to gravitate people towards it. There was a heaviness to the sculpture as you felt almost pulled into its dark weight in the space, but also the gap through which the light came through. Seeing Atapo was really different to any other sculpture I have ever viewed in person. When I stood at the back of the room and looked through the diamond shapes, I almost felt like I was looking through another dimension into a kind of ghostly void.Â
The woven material of the planes blocked out some light, but it also allowed light to go through it. This gave the work a slight contrast of lightness throughout the space, especially through the middle of the diamonds which you can look all the way through. Individually, I thought the planes actually seemed light as they draped down from the ceiling. I noticed this when looking at the sculpture from the sides, where I saw how the planes didn’t come into much contact.
Yet, when the multiple planes were layered through the gallery, it created a density in the space and therefore the sculpture conveyed the idea of weight. I thought that this really conveyed the weight of the meaning of the sculpture, with its heavy sense of foreboding or the idea of death.
Perhaps the sense of weight and lightness was also affected by my perspective of it, and whether I was standing above on the gallery or down on the ground floor. It’s interesting to consider how the position and perspective of the viewer might impact how they experience the sculpture.
Works Made of Light
These works interested me with their glowing illusion, which made it look like there was space beyond the wall. It was a challenge to the eyes – testing what we see and believe through eyesight vs reality. It was also challenging because while they seemed to be made from hundreds of rows of lights, there was only really one row of lights against a mirror (In fact, I’m not even sure how it was created but that’s my guess!). Looking at this made me think about the idea of line as a continuous form in space. I think it challenges questions such as where and how does a line end, and how can a line be repeated through space? This idea really interests me at the moment as we make sculpture.
Tai Timu – Tai Pari & Aramoana
An abstracted representation of the sea, these works created an undercurrent and overcurrent using ‘opposing pattern structures’, as described above. They look holographic in the way they reflect light, resulting from a process using layers of dye and grinding stainless steel. I think this work challenges the idea of a single viewing perspective because while their surfaces are flat, their light reflections make them look 3D. Depending where you look at them and when, the reflections may always change due to differences in the light. I think the artist challenged how we experience a sculpture by creating these illusions. The artist also challenged how line can be created or seen in space without actually existing as a solid material. I thought that the dark patterns really contrasted and highlighted the idea of these holographic lines of light by existing alongside them.