Jack Orsbourn. Cake. Video. May 2021. Auckland, New Zealand.
Jack Orsbourn. ‘Cake Smash’ and ‘The Cake’ . Digital Images. May 2021. Auckland, New Zealand
I am stoked with how my final presentation turned out. I didn’t expect at the start of the brief that I would make a video performance piece and images for my final presentation, especially with the subject matter of a cake. I am really proud of this piece and think the way my ideas evolved and flowed into the final piece makes sense.
The general flow of ideas stemmed from not being in the best place mentally at the start of these 4 weeks. Having a turbulent start to semester 1, I felt like I couldn’t catch a break. After seeking the appropriate help, and making the decision to change course, things started easing up.
The idea of the spiral, the staircase and the cake (explained on a previous post) shows the progress of ideas and experimentation through different mediums I explored in this brief.
The Video
I wanted the final video presentation to seem mundane. I did this by using dull and neutral tones with natural light so the cake was always the main feature. The content itself is interesting and sparks a lot of questions from the viewer. It makes people think but the overall reaction has been fantastic.
Outcome
I am really happy with the overall outcome of this brief. Although it was a rocky journey, I found my flow and got all my work done on time. The performance video tells a story, captures your attention and makes you want to ask a lot of questions. It genuinely makes me so happy every time I watch the video.
I like the added element of the prints as well. They are clear images that relay the same information as the video.
The first semester has absolutely flown by and been extremely challenging. I have learnt and grown so much.
Thao Armstrong, better known in the cake world as Don’t Tell Charles, is a Melbourne based baker and cake decorator who started the trend of the ‘Concrete Cake’. Around 5-6 years ago, this happy accident blew up online and is still a popular trend amongst cake makers.
During our time exploring plaster and concrete, the idea popped into my mind to create a concrete cake. Based off this concept but more literally. My idea was to create a concrete cake using the same methods as if I was making an edible cake. There are similarities in the method like shaking/ sprinkling the plaster into the water and sifting the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The methods mimic each other. Except the outcome is polar opposites. A cake is temporary and edible. Concrete is permanent and inedible. I like the contrast of these ideas.
Creating the cake
I decided to make a real cake and film it as a performance piece. My housemate Ryan says to me every time I make a cake that he “wants to smash his face into it” so I decided to make that dream a reality for him.
I filmed the whole making process, including test shots to make sure my framing was correct. This lead to the final/ most important shot of getting the cake smash. I was able to plan as much as possible but when it came to the smash, I gave Ryan a couple of clear instructions then it was go time. It turned out differently to how I expected it to but it turned out really well.
After the cake smash, I wanted to solidify the cake and take that temporary element of the cake away and create a more permanent element, so I poured plaster over the smashed cake. I love the shot of this. It’s awkwardly long but texturally satisfying. With the natural light and grey on grey, it makes it a very interesting idea in quite a boring environment.
Sketchbook planning
The Outcome
After 2 days of shooting, I had the cake smash and plaster covered cake shots. I am so happy with how the video turned out. It’s mundane with the very dull grey, black and white tones. Ryan did a great job holding a still face after smashing his face into a cake and everyone I have showed so far has a lot of questions which is great. It’s not meant to have a deeper meaning. It’s someone smashing their face into a cake and then pouring plaster over it. It’s aesthetically pleasing.
When we started this brief, I was feeling uncertain about my place at University. I followed the tasks but didn’t find much joy in them. I identified over the last couple of weeks that I constantly put so much pressure on myself to be perfect all the time and I don’t allow myself the room to grow. The all or nothing mentality I have hinders my progress a lot of the time.
I got some help and support, and have since decided to change to communications design in the second semester. It seemed almost as I made this decision that everything became easier again. I had a clear motivation to continue and finish my work. I relaxed into my work and decided to play.
The Spiral
The spiral came from playing in the 3D labs with the steel and spot welder. I wanted to replicate one of my drawings from the day 1 task. As I was making it I realised it reflected a spiral. What my brain had been feeling for a couple of weeks – Spiralling down and out of control.
The process behind this is in a previous blog post.
The Stairs
For my second steel sculpture, I repeated a 90 degree bend in a single piece of steel. It created a twisted triangular shape when laid down, or a staircase when leant against a wall. As I relaxed into the making process, it made me realise that sometimes the hardest part is starting. I felt so resistant to making anything because it might not be perfect straight away but once I started, I just started to play. This is where the idea of the spiral and the staircase came into fruition.
The spiral was the first idea, then the stairs and now the cake.
The Cake
Coming from a baking and cake decorating back ground, it seemed fitting during sculpture to incorporate what I know, when sometimes that can be the most grounding thing.
As we were playing with plaster, I had the idea of making a concrete cake. Something I will expand on further in a blog post. But then as the idea started evolving, and I started brainstorming, I came up with a more elaborate idea. I am looking forward to executing this.
Conclusion
These 3 ideas may seem disjointed as to how the sculptures relate but it’s more about the idea of the thought and emotional journey I went on at the beginning of this brief. I feel relaxed and playful and excited to execute my idea!
This was fun!!! I played around a little bit with manipulating the texture of the plaster so instead of pouring it runny into the mould, I waited for it to start to set and then poured/ placed/ piped it (badly in a glove).
I used chicken wire and fabric to create a bubble like sculpture with the weight and of the plaster having seeped through the holes in the wire. I like the shape it created.
I also wanted to create the stairs in plaster. I was going for a drip-like-effect which didn’t play out as well but I feel like that was because I used card as the mould which isn’t a very strong surface when weight is added.
Once it started to set, I balanced it on the ground, but when I tried to take the paper off, the plaster wasn’t set/ thick enough and it broke. Probably just my impatience ha.
Anyway, had heaps of fun playing around and it sparked my cake idea which I am starting to work on now.
I like plaster as a material, for its fluidity to adapt to shape and form. How easy it is to access and make. Non-fuss and playful. This was a fun activity.
Righto, moving on to the 2 planar sculptures I made this week. I used card because it was an easy material to manipulate to mimic the idea I was trying to show.
Staircase to nowhere
Workbook sketching, planning and ideas.
First up was the stairs/ ladder idea. I created a ladder like model and folded the card to create stairs. I wanted to play with the idea that when you look at it front on, it looks flat and 2 dimensional but when looked at from a different angle, creates the staircases. Continuing on with this idea, I started to play around with using light to create shadows. This was all on a small scale and I would like to laser cut an acrylic version of this and experiment with colour. This work is influenced by the shadow and light work by both Kagan and Eliasson.
There was no structural integrity to the card staircase which is why I would like to use a material like acrylic to create a stronger piece. But this video shows the experimentation with light and shadows.
Spiral
This version of the paper spiral came from an earlier work where I wanted to create layers of a circle behind a figure, see below.
I tried to think of ways to create this but instead just cut a simple circle into a spiral. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be so complicated. I used nylon and tension to hang it.
I still created the effect I wanted. Flat and 2 dimensional from the front and expanded and 3 dimensional from the side.
It’s all about shifting your perspective to see things differently. About not staying stagnant in the same place because your perception becomes warped and one sided. If you don’t move or change the way you look at things, it becomes boring and lifeless.
“You know, like, just like swing the pen around on the paper and then just fill out the fields.. Of course it’d be abstract. It’s just an abstract drawing. So the exercise is actually the imagination or that you know fantasy and to sort of see things that are invisible.” [1]
I did what he prompted. But the shadow created a playful friend for me to follow. So it was equal parts letting the pen swing on the page and following the shadow.
I had plans to expand on this idea but then we started playing with plaster and now the idea of a couple of performance pieces with cake are consuming me so I am going to keep running with those.
This was a fun exercise to do from the video though.
Notes
[1] Olafur Eliasson. Abstract: The art of design, Season 2, Episode 1.
I was first introduced to Olafur Eliasson though the Netflix show Abstract: The art of Design. I watched it some time ago and loved the way he uses scale and light to create an experience for the viewer. The idea that everyone experiences it differently and how the art work creates an awareness of the self.
These are my thoughts re-watching the episode…
“A lot of my work is exploring this notion of what we consider the truth, depends on how you look at it.”
This is about perspective. How I see something, or rather create something to look like and be experienced is going to change or be different for every single person who is coming into that space to observe what I have created. That’s the role of the artist. Everyone is going to see it from a different angle(height). Different colours and focus (detail). And a different emotional reaction. It can act as a mirror.
Beauty
Beauty by Olafur Eliasson, 1993, via Studio Olafur Eliasson https://www.thecollector.com/loafer-eliasson-contemporary-artist/
“This is a space totally dependant on you being there. When you leave the exhibition there’s no body in the room. There’s also no art”
The quote is Eliasson talking about his early work pictured above, ‘Beauty’. The idea of light projecting of a rainbow onto a fog in a dark room, and how everyone will see and experience the rainbow differently. How once no one is in the room, the work is redundant. No one can see the rainbow or the beauty. The viewer is as important as the fog or the light and the beauty isn’t there if one element is missing. The most important element of this work, is the viewer and that creates a special relationship within the self to the piece. It allows the viewer to experience that singular moment of time for themselves in response to something so familiar, like a rainbow.
Connection of nature and time. Scale is also an important feature in a lot of his work. Size relation with the piece of art and our personal self awareness. Connection to the climate, use of monochromatic light. Shared space between different experiences.
‘The Weather Project is Olafur Eliasson’s contemporary art installation created in 2003 for the Tate Modern in London. The installation was placed in the long Turbine Hall of the museum. Throughout the space, water was sprayed in order to achieve a cloud-like atmosphere and mist. The only source of light came from the huge artificial sun in the foyer. Eliasson’s artificial sun was made out of hundreds of yellow halogenic lights. A big mirror was positioned on the ceiling of the Turbine Hall so that everyone who was experiencing the exhibition could also see themselves when looking up. People gathered in groups, they sat or lay down, so that they could experience the installation in a meditative way.
Eliasson has also noted that he was particularly inspired by the amount of time British people spend talking about the weather.
Eliasson has said that “the climate debate is incredibly academic and science-driven and very hard to understand because it’s so abstract.” The artist however thinks that we as people understand things better once we get a physical sense of them. ‘ [1]
The pure scale of this work is chilling and inspiring. The idea and conversation surrounding climate change is huge. It’s takes up a lot of space in our lives. This exhibition created that atmosphere. I appreciate how during the documentary episode Olafur talks about how one person can be experiencing it with negative emotions, how the topic of climate change is so dark and heavy, yet the person next to them is having a spiritual experience and feels inclined to do yoga. “You don’t have to be the same to share the same space.” The duality of this exhibition is incredible, yet so simple. Also to note that this was created in 2003, when the conversation about climate change was just starting and how relevant his work is still to this day, if not more important.
Final Thoughts
I could talk about this man’s work for hours. His playfulness, the impact he creates with the viewer, the interactive element combing both of those things and his genuine curiosity and love for art. But, my favourite thing about the episode was his prompts. Multiple times throughout, Olafur created an experience with the viewer. He spoke to the viewer, in this case, me, with instructions of how to interact. That in itself is amazing and created a sense of belonging and importance. What is art without an eye to see it.
“You know, like, just like swing the pen around on the paper and then just fill out the fields.. Of course it’d be abstract. It’s just an abstract drawing. So the exercise is actually the imagination or that you know fantasy and to sort of see things that are invisible.”
This quote/ instruction prompted me to follow it in relation to our brief and I am excited to explore this more. There will be a part 2 for this research!
Notes taken whilst watching.
Notes
[1] Dea Cvetković, Olafur Eliasson | 7 Mesmerizing Contemporary Installations. Access on 20 May, 2021. https://www.thecollector.com/loafer-eliasson-contemporary-artist/
Quotes were taken from Abstract: The Art of Design, Season 2 Episode 1. Olafur Eliason: The design of Art.
Hey James, thanks for introducing me to Larry Kagan this week! Here are some thoughts…
What I am drawn to in his work is the duality of the distorted wire sculpture, and the use of light and shadows to create an image. This links back to Olafur’s idea that the art does not exist without the viewer. If there is no light, there is no image. Only a sculpture that doesn’t make sense, or has no tangible context. It’s the familiarity and simplicity of the imagery the shadows creates in Kagan’s work that makes it relatable to the viewer.
https://lonsdalegallery.com/artists/larry-kagan/
The images themselves are simple. But the complexity of the sculpture and manipulation of light is where the technical skill and planning comes into place. If the light is moved slightly, the image becomes distorted.
The element of light and shadow is something I am going to explore more in my work!
From one of my original ‘tricks’ pieces, I found these elements I liked and as 2D linear drawings, I wanted to created them 3 dimensionally.
Play time in the 3D labs
I wanted to follow the general bends and shape of the first design but create it 3D. To do this I cut a bunch of different lengths of steel and bent them in half to create a right angle. I followed the shape but instead of keeping it flat, I changed the direction every time resulting in a 3D model of this 2D linear drawing. I noticed how it looked like an abstract spiral and how that reflected how I have been feeling recently – Spiralling in my brain, something I have dealt with on and off for the last couple of years.
During the making of the first one and using the tool that bends the steel to a right angle, I wanted to bend a single piece of steel as many times as I could. This was inspired by the second drawing above. I created approx 3-4cm spaces and repeated the right angle bend.
This created a stair like shape when leant or held at the right angle. On the ground, it created a triangular spiral shape which was an interesting shape to observe. During this making process, the repetition was soothing and mediative. Something I seek in my making process. A sense of calmness. I also realised from what felt like an uncontrollable spiral, I created a thought process to help me move forward in the right direction. Starting is always the hardest part. Yet we have these steps we need to take and work towards if we want to move forward in our lives. This is where the idea to replicate the shape again and join with bars to create the stairs came from.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Getting in the labs helped refocus my brain a lot. Once I got in there and started creating, I had a lot of fun exploring my ideas. The idea of the spiral and the staircase are concepts I want to explore more.
My favourite thing about both sculptures is that at every angle, you see something different. Sometimes it makes sense as a familiar image like the staircase and sometimes its a warped and distorted image. This is fun to experiment with and something I want to play with more.
I made the three images above. I didn’t expand on these images or use them to generate my first steel structures but I can see how they would have been a good place to start.
