SachsSculpture

shsachs@smcm.edu

Project 2- Kinetics and Interactivity
ARTIST RESEARCH

Christo and Jean-Claude say that they want to create works that are beautiful and that bring joy to themselves, to their friends, and to the public. They think that all humans are afraid of what is new, and they never do they same thing twice, so before they embark on any new project they have to convince the public that it will be beautiful. Their pieces are monumental in size but Christo and Jean-Claude don’t think they are actually that big in comparison to other things. “human beings do much bigger things: they build giant airports, highways for thousands of miles, much, much bigger than what we create. It appears to be monumental only because it’s art.”

Because their work is so big, people are forced to interact with it in ways that could never be achieved in a gallery. The Arkansas River project is a good example of the factors that are taken into account in choosing the perfect site for a project. They wanted a river with a road running along the side so that as people drove by they could see the piece through the trees. They wanted a river with high enough banks so that people could also experience the piece from underneath while rafting through. Each project is unique to the site and they take so many factors into consideration for each piece that they say: “To understand our work one must realize what is inherent to each project.”

While Christo and Jean-Claude’s works are colossal in size and interact with viewers in a way similar to a person’s interaction with a mountain or river, for example, Mowry Baden’s interactive work is more experimental or “task” oriented. Bowden is interested in the “physical and perceptual interaction between viewer and work of art”. He explores the interactive potential of his sculptures and he wants viewers to experience his art by physically interacting with it and by focusing the experience on his or her personal sensory perceptions/responses. Baden’s work provokes questions like “Does this interaction transform the way we see the work? Does it change our perceptions?” He wants his work to help us see the potential of art’s intersection with life. He tries to show the transformative power of art.

All three artists can be referred to as kinetic artists because their works interact with the environment. Christo and Jean-Claude’s works interact with a larger scale audience/environment while Baden’s works interact with a more personal audience. But both are examples of artists who really want the audience’s role to be incorporated into their works in a major way.