elizabeth jane hayesJust another MassArt People site

here it is:

rupture of the sublime

here’s hoping i’m not too crazy and it all makes sense too…

Rupture of the Sublime Ehayesfinal

I have begun my final paper which is based around the topic of the sublime. It seems to be an outdated term, yet still has relevance today. I’m interested in how things can exist without existing while evoking a fear or terror. This is what I am calling the new sublime.

If you are interested, check out some of these links:

Trevor Paglen

Rhizome: Epistemological Rupture

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Baudrillard

While I may still struggle with understanding how machines function, I did find something I could grasp: programming. The lateral arrangement of data on a computer screen seems to be something my mind can wrap its head around. While Fred was demonstrating a program, MacSPM (or something like that), I found myself wanting to tinker with the program. While aspects of the computer program didn’t always make sense, it was what I was most drawn to. Being able to see the entire construction of a sound provided much more for me than machines with hidden components.

I only wish we had more time to explore computer programs like this particular one where construction was lateral and completely visible. I think that an aspect like this would aid those that do have “blocks” for a left-brain.

What is there, but isn’t there, represents a new definition for the sublime: the void. How a place can exist without existing provides a new alternative and terrifying response that is now present in artwork today. Referencing contemporary artist Trevor Paglen and the philosophy of rupture, I aim to redefine the sublime to make it more relevant to artworks today.

Can you say brain pain?

BRAIN PAIN.

Anticipation. This is one major skill that I believe is extremely necessary when attempting to construct automata. Sure you also need perseverance, creativity, and a slew of other skills, but what I want to focus on is the importance of anticipation and foresight. I found myself quite stumped several times today; this wasn’t working, that wasn’t working, and so on. But when I began to think ahead to what the next step was, I was often able to combat what was challenging me.

For example, in this photograph here you can see that I have the wire inside the box. I didn’t think about it beforehand and began to bend the wire in loops far too large for the space. No longer could I rotate the wire a full 360 degrees, but instead only 180 degrees. As I would say, It was broken.

And then I put the wire structure outside of the box and was able to have a full rotation occur. But how would it stand? I needed to build poles with loops and find a way to secure the poles in place. It was only when I began to think ahead to the next step that issues were diminished (or made less severe).

For me, constructing pieces like this is difficult. All day I felt as if I was walking around with a brick laying heavily on one side of my brain. Even now, hours later, my left side of the brain sits numb from the days activities. I plan on taking my brick of a brain out for a walk to the store.

Understanding mechanics no longer comes naturally to me. Being able to understand how simple machines work I find to be quite challenging and difficult. So much information goes into the how, what happens when you pull this button or crank that knob, but very often is little said about the why. Throughout the day I kept going back to this idea and recalling Gina Kamentsky’s talk.

While she did discuss the functionality of her artwork, it was her words about why she makes what she does that I found to be the most intriguing. They were also what filled in the gaps for me, the places where I am stumped as to why you need this part to do that. I think it is very easy for people to hear the word “machine” and immediately associate it with something void of human-like qualities, but this is not the case for Kamentsky. She truly expresses how her hand is used in the creation of each piece, thus bringing a sense of life to something that appears to visually lack such.

This idea of the machine being filled with life isn’t something I typically think about, but recognize must be made more present for me to truly understand it. While there are occasions where machines make the machine, this is not always the case and somewhere along the production line a human hand was used to design an aspect of it. In a way, this made me think more about my own research paper on the sublime. One might consider the machine a form of the sublime. On the surface it’s truly frightening to think about, an object performing an action without the help of a human. Yet it is often the simple mechanics of these machines that come from human elements, such as joints in the body, that make them a spectacle to observe.

Trevor Paglen @ The Influencers, Barcelona

Trevor Paglen is considered to be an experimental geographer who happens to use photography to reveal the hidden. Having recently received his Ph.D from UC Berkeley in geography, he is now a professor there, using the resources available to him. However, prior to this he received his M.F.A from the Art Institute of Chicago, and a B.A. in music composition and religious studies from UC Berkeley. He has published several books, some of which are art based and others that are literature. Paglen’s work has been exhibited across the globe and he has most recently received a grant from the Smithsonian to continue his research.

The Other Night Sky

Paglen’s series, The Other Night Sky, depicts the evening sky in a sublime manner the most enticing and dreamy stars dashing about. As viewers, we are astonished by this natural beauty many of us are not able to experience. The long exposures exaggerate the colors and movement, making it seem as if there are thousands of shooting stars existing right above our heads.  But Paglen is actually paying an homage to the medium of photography, specifically, Muybridge, O’Sullivan, and Watkins: three photographers who were funded by the Department of War to conduct survey missions. What appears to be a starry sky in many of his photographs, are actually spy satellites. How this idea changes the viewers perspective is drastic. Suddenly we are no longer viewing natural and sublime beauty, but instead we are facing a disguise.

The work was created with the assistance of amateur satellite observers who provided observational data. Using this information, Paglen joined computer scientists and engineers at Eyebeam Center for Art + Technology where they developed a software model that helped to describe the orbital motion of the spacecraft. This provided a timing and place of position for Paglen to be in in order to photograph the scenes using large-format cameras and telescopes.

Paglen’s photographs document things that aren’t meant to exist, but nonetheless are there. For this particular series, he calls upon the early astronomers of Kepler and Galileo, who documented the unknown moons of Jupiter. In turn, “Paglen wanted to ask what it means to see the traces of “secret moons” in the contemporary night sky.” (The Other Night Sky, Trevor Paglen)

Black Spots

Black Spots is a term used to describe hidden military locations, such as Area 51. These restricted access places exist within the world, however to the majority of Americans remains off-limit. Using a technique he calls “Limit Telephotography,” Paglen creates photographs that are not typically visible to an unaided eye. Lenses with focal lengths between 1300mm and 7000mm allow for him to photograph these landscapes from many miles away to document these hidden aspects. The word “limit” was chosen by him because in a sense “we’re seeing these places, but we’re also seeing the limit of seeing these places.” (Trevor Paglen Review) Many of the locations Paglen reveals are located in some of the most remote parts of the United States, deep within the deserts of the west.

I am most interested in Paglen’s work as he is able to create a world that exists off of secrecy. What he is photographing is the void, the things we cannot see, the things exist without existing. This is a powerful idea, but even more intriguing are the actual images he creates. Marked by their surreal colors and natural beauty, Paglen begins to challenge our idea of the sublime in modern times. For hundreds of years we have understood the sublime to be something natural, or perhaps even beyond natural and capable of fulfilling spiritual and intellectual worth. But Paglen’s images tear this idea apart as we stand witness to a night sky inhabited by creations of mankind. It’s as if we are again young children just experiencing the veil being lifted off our heads as we come to realize the major things in life.

Read More:

Hitching Stealth with Trevor Paglen, Archinect

The Other Night Sky, Trevor Paglen

Trevor Paglen, Rhizome

Initial Reaction: What did I just read?

And now I sit stumped and confused. Did any of what i just read actually make sense? Was it even logical? When I think of diagrams, I am immediately thrown back into my 5th grade math class where the blackboards are covered in venn-diagrams and my teacher stood above, warning me that this would not be the last time I saw a diagram. To think that he was right…

I began by looking up what a diagram technically is. According to Merriam-Webster, diagrams are:

1.) A graphic design that explains rather than represents: a drawing that shows arrangement and relations (as of parts).

2.) A line drawing made for mathematical or scientific purposes.

And so I still sat a bit stumped, until I remembered the work of Laura Letinsky.  I began to study her photographs and noticed how highly diagrammed the objects are in terms of placement. At a lecture of hers, she spoke about how at first she wanted objects to appear as if they had been left there randomly following a dinner party. However, with time she began to notice that relationships are built between the objects in the picture. This was an idea the article just slightly touched upon, but I feel needs to be indulged in more.

Yet one further issue I think needs to be clarified is what exactly a still-life is. I  have struggled with this concept for the past year after attempting to clarify the term for students. I have come to the conclusion that in these modern times there is no such thing as a definition for the still-life, but rather an intention for a still-life. When looking at the work of Jeff Wall, I see photographs that depict ordinary scenes and nothing more. But I know that he aspires to more than that, like any good artist, and has actually created each scene right down to the object’s placement. We must begin to consider this term more broadly as more and more artists challenge our definitions.

Read the article here: Diagram, Bender & Marrinan

Laura Letinsky & Jeff Wall