SachsSculptureStudio

shsachs@smcm.edu

Project 3- Site and Installation

For my installation project, since it was going to be done at St. Mary’s, I wanted it to relate to my feelings about the college and my personal observations from the three years I have been here. Along with the intensity that comes along with any college atmosphere, the thing that makes this college campus different, in my eyes, is the overall effort of the students to find time to relax and enjoy life in the midst of all of the stress.

I used the hammock as a symbol of this attitude that makes this school so unique. The site I chose is right off the path and borders the woods but is still sparse enough to let in plenty of light for grass to grow. It is off a highly trafficked area of the path and can be seen from a distance as students walk through the center of campus. You can also see the pond and the river through the trees in the distance.

My idea for the forest of hammocks came from a dream that I had as a child and I wanted to incorporate the dreamlike feeling into the reality of the installation. I used multiple hammocks to exaggerate my idea. (I didn’t think it would be a very effective statement to just put up one or two hammocks because it would look like nothing out of the ordinary!) I used cotton, off-white matching hammocks that would stick out just enough but not look too unnatural. This campus is so naturally beautiful and even though people have made quite an impact here, I think that the college complements the natural beauty of the area quite very well. I wanted the hammocks to also show how this school respects the land, and how we can inhabit it fully without overwhelming it.