Minimal interventions research/performance based practices:
Fluids a happening by Allen Kaprow:
I love the relational aspect of Kaprows Happenings. Fluids has two different audiences, the one who builds the ice structure and the ones who happen upon it. This creates different experiences for the two parties. I love the fluidity of the project that no one structure will perform the same as the next. The structure is in partnership with the sun and its environment. They have to work together to create the art. “each occurrence is unique and each person’s experience different.” Depending on when you encounter the structure your experience will be different even if you visit it multiple times. I really like that concept and will try and work it into my final proposals.
Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty:
https://publicdelivery.org/robert-smithson-spiral-jetty-utah/amp/
His concept is very simple, mainly playing with the passage of time. It isn’t created to draw lots of attention. It is more of an invitation for critics to interpret the installation in their own way. I really like that depending on water levels over the years it’s not always visible. It weathers with its environment mutating through the different seasons. I thought it was interesting that many critics didn’t feel the need to actually visit the site unlike Kaprow’s works which rely on the audience to be fully realised.
Laying out the map
Did something come out of the documentation that might drive these proposals?
– the history of the beach being a hazardous place
– the beach is a communal, shared space not just for all people but animals and wildlife as well
-a lot of observing happens at the beach
Any hunches, intuitions, gravitational pulls?
-there are a lot of knock on effects that can happen in the environment. eg. tides affect how many people go walking on the beach, people laying down towns makes people alter their path to go around.
Has something emerged from the documentation of others, that might shift the direction of the project?
-the way I feel towards different interactions could either develop the concept or hinder me from exploring ideas further.
Do you want to extend social activity that occurs, or introduce?
-i’m wanting to extend social activity that occurs in a more abstract way. Using a concept that applies to the site but in an unusual form of presentation to the norm.
My Parameters:
- a performance space
- highlights social behaviours in a new way
- connects people through their actions in the past to people in the present/future
- connects people to their environment
- Abstract presentations of common concepts
‘Like-minded Projects’
Proposal development:
I have chosen to situate my proposals on the area of Orewa beach that sits in front of the Koho Street entrance.
Proposal one:
Beach Yoga
To lay down a handful of yoga mats in an orderly format with one at the front of the others. The concept I am wanting to explore is the idea of physical activity on the beach being something of a performance. My intention for this proposal is to bring attention to the extent that people look into others space. This intervention would have to occur during mid-low tide to ensure they have enough space.
Proposal Two:
Hazard Sign by the water
Drawing on the old ideas about the beach that it is a dangerous place, I will erect a hazard sign on the waters edge cautioning people about entering the water. I would use the bright yellow and black that is universally recognised as a warning sign so even if you can’t read it you know what it’s trying to say. My intention for this proposal is to highlight how dangerous the beach/ natural environment can be. Overall Orewa is a pretty tame beach but there are times when it is quite hazardous. As New Zealanders we think the beach is our friend and but mother nature is friend to no one.
History of the Beach:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inventing-beach-unnatural-history-natural-place-180959538/
Spatial Fabrication 