Sensation and Transformation

In research for the crowd and sensation work, I began to play with the material I was using. Bleaching the fabric and seeing the effects created.
however as I played with this material I reverted back to my sketch book, thinking of my early ideas of "imposing shapes" to create an intimidating atmosphere.

this brought me to using sheets of steel that I have had stored for a piece of artwork at home for years, if I could produce an image on this metal, and have the sheet metal standing alone, I feel I could create work which is both alluring and imposing.

I began to pour vinegar, bleach and various other acidic liquids onto the material to encourage it to rust. this was the result.



Metal sheets, rust, detail












This effect created by the rust is something I will continue to look at. I feel the abstract shapes relate well to my ongoing paintings "elements of travel"

there is a combination of styles in sculpture and painting that I want to research further and develop.





Image of metal sheets, rust.



















This use of rust also influenced my work for my philosophy elective; A piece of work in response to a certain philosophy text, i chose, Heidegger's The Origin of a work of art.

The content of Heidegger’s the Origin of a work of art is an attempt to explain the essence of art, using language and philosophy as a tool summarise it. Heidegger challenges that artwork are “things”, a definition that brings forward the question of essence, creation and meaning. He expands upon the properties and traits of things in art, the usefulness or purpose of objects and mans instinct to question the world around them.

Defining the origin of art is a difficult concept, as art is often about personal experience, sensation and interpretation. Personal moments of inspiration and illumination practised by the artist while creating, or thrust upon the viewer of the work, are open and intangible transformations. This makes the very idea of a definition of art through language alone almost an illogical thing.

However it is a thing that Heidegger attempts. Heidegger believes that through recognising artworks thingly character one is able to define what the work is; my interpretation of his writing is that a work of art has to be transformed from a “thing” into a “being” by this process lousing its recognition as an object, and gaining a meaning or an essence.

This interpretation is one method I used when I approached creating a work of art based on Heidegger’s writing; the idea of transformations of objects. A thing changing from being a useful object to something of meaning is like a creation of the divine. Heidegger uses language that draws reference with such ideas that suggest the creation of human instinct, drawing parallels with the celestial and theological language.

“What seems natural to us is probably just something familiar in a long tradition that has forgotten the unfamiliar source from which it arose. And yet this unfamiliar source one struck man as strange and caused him to think and wonder”

This idea of question the origin, made me think irresistably of paradise, lost book six, when Adam questions who he is, who is god and where creation came from.

The second and most important point of inspiration for the creation of an art work in response to Hiedeggers writing was his style of writing altogether. I couldn’t help but be entertained by the repetition of the word “thing” as a base point of explanation. The word “thing” is second only to the word “nice” as the single most uninspired word in the history of language. Heidegger’s use of the word thing, thingly element, thingliness, thing-concept and non-thing, (sometimes contained together within the same sentence) couldn’t fail to interest as well as hilarity as I read “the origin of a work of art.”

The artwork which I created in response is a mock religious symbol, its property somewhere between decorative sculpture and ready-made object, one which was once useful, but has fallen into decay. It is intended to stand and resemble an allegorical symbol; it is balanced in a way that appears impossible and unnatural, begging the viewer to question its construction.

“The being of being is a sense of presence” -149

The sculpture is a rusted tool box, balance on a point with a decorative part of a clock with aluminium beams nailed to one side. The tool box is an object which due to rust has lost its original purpose. It has been transformed physically through the decay of the material and conceptually by becoming a work of art. The beams on one corner, since made of aluminium, have not rusted, but provide a stark contrast. The two metals where selected to represent the two elements I interpreted from reading the origin of the work of a work of art; the thing, transformed into a being.

I hope to provoke the humour through the tile of this work:

All hail thy things thingness.

– Emma Bridgeman, 2012