Field Polaroid #2: Influences

This is the second Polaroid out of seven to be released in the lead up to the Archimedes' Field exhibition in July. It was taken on the first afternoon just after the sun set. The balloons were full and bouyant and moved in unison with the slightest breeze. It was beautiful to watch.

Leading up to the shoot and even after it I did a lot of research into other artists who were exploring similar ideas to my own or who's work interested me. Eva Hesse and Andy Goldsworthy were key influencers in the development of my ideas.

Eva Hesse is of particular interest to me because of her minimalist creations and use of non-mechanical repetition. This is one of my favourite works:

Repetition Nineteen III, 1968 (click to view)

Apparently, she was not particularly happy with this work because she found it too beautiful and against her search for a “non” aesthetic. Despite this, I love the simplicity and repetition of the circular cylinders and the hand-made aspect of the work. I love the imperfect nature of it.

Most of her work was not made to last- she often used materials such as latex which she knew would deteriorate. She said her work was about ‘the process’, ‘a moment in time, not made to last’. I like that she see’s the impermanence of her work as an attribute rather than a flaw.

"She seems, in fact, to have been incorporating an anticipation of aging and, especially, the unknown into the creation of her art.” Elisabeth Sussman (curator of Hesse’s only solo show before she died).

Her anticipation of the unknown is an element I can relate to in my own work.

Andy Goldsworthy: I love the impermanent nature of the majority of his works and how they (often quickly) succumb to nature. This particular piece by Andy Goldsworthy captured my attention in the way the beauty of nature is documented and played with:

Extract from Rivers and Tides (click to view)

This scene in his documentary ‘Rivers and Tides’ is similar to what I hoped I have achieved in the Archimedes' Field installation. Goldsworthy spends many hours creating a beautiful dome of sticks, just next to the tide line. The documentary then shows an aerial view of the dome as the tide comes in and lifts and breaks apart the dome he has just created. In his documentary he talks about how his work is about the transience of life. He fights it by not trying to make permanent things but rather to accept and enjoy this transience.