The final project, entitled simply, Particles from the line, is installed inside the Cohen Studio.
The project contains 4 different weights of wire, 1 singular nail, and 16 glass tubes filled with particles from the line.
The piece is secured onto the wall with 4 large staple-like bent wire forms. The remaining wires reach out from those supports. There is also one nail in the center of the piece that acts as a central support for the arching wire armature.
The tubes are filled with various materials found on the line including pine needles, pebbles, brown leaves, red leaves, evergreen bush, garbage, styrofoam, hay, twigs, wooden boards, etc.
Each tube is filled with material solely from one source. There are a few tubes which contain leaves, but each of those tubes contains only the leaves of one specific type, for example.
For the remaining part of my project, I constructed a wire form that held the test tubes in place. I chose to work with wire because the lines it creates are very thin and unobtrusive. The whole idea of a particle is something small that you have to examine closely to truly understand, so I wanted my whole project to go along with that concept.
My Workstation
The structure contains 3 different weights of wire and 1 nail.
I began my project by preparing and filling the test tubes with particles from materials that I collected along the line.
The first thing I did to begin this process was to clean the marks and numbers off of the test tubes. I did this to make the particles inside more visible, and also to eliminate the scientific and measured aesthetic.
Once all the tubes were cleaned, I began breaking up my materials. I broke them down into the smallest particles I could make using only my hands and a utility knife.
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Filling the tubes with the materials was the most time consuming and tedious part of the project. I tried many different methods, including creating miniature funnels. The size of the particles were very irregular, however, which made the use of such tools more burdensome than efficient. Simply loading the tubes pinch by pinch with my fingers seemed to be the most effective method.
As I started work on gathering materials to form my final project, I realized that the project I chose (proposal #1) may not be the best way to convey the ideas of particles on the line.
I had to think of another way to force the viewer to examine things on a smaller scale, and look more closely at the particles.
I already had a few bits of leaves, grass, wood, etc crumbled up and fed into a glass tube, and I thought that that was a better way to prompt the viewer to look at the subject up close. Using the test tubes, the particles are not as easy to discern from one another, and they are also in smaller bits and pieces.
I also liked the idea of having a space against a wall, instead of hanging from the ceiling to the floor. I think I am going to create a wire structure that juts out from the wall that will hold dozens of the glass tubes for the observers to examine closely and understand all the different colors and shapes of the different particles on the line.
intention – to give the observer the understanding and sense that every space including “the line” and their own body is rich with particles. The piece should provoke the observer to enter the empty space in the center of the piece, filling it with their own body particles. This also forces the observer to view the world through all the literal representations of particles that are suspended all around them.
space - the mobile type circular installation will be hung from the ceiling in the Cohen studio. The piece will be about 5′ to 6′ around and must be able to be observed from any and all angles around it.
installation - circular mobile style installation with all the objects/particles suspended in space by clear fishing line or white or black thread. The piece will have different layers with different particle sizes and densities.
An explanation of the layers involved in the installation
Things in question - the test tubes that are seen on the left side of the poster in the image at the top of this post are possible ways to display the smallest bits of particles. I am still trying to figure out more dynamic ways to efficiently hang the tiny particles of branches, leaves, grass, rock, etc. Also, the space inside is still in question. I will either leave it blank, to allow the observer/participant to fill the void with their own body particles. Or, I will dangle more non-descript particles to wade through in the center to enhance the experience of a particle saturated world.
I have 3 line project proposals regarding the word “PARTICLES” 2 of my ideas are on this board.
PARTICLE WAVE DRAWINGS
intention - to show the formation and movement of some of the miniscule, subatomic particles on the line in a large scale.
installation - a series of 3 particle wave 2D drawings using mixed media (collage, paint, ink, gesso, etc.)
space - about 13′ by 5′ of wall space.
UNFORMED PARTICLES
intention - to portray basic concepts of particle physics and quantum physics in an interactive installation based piece.
installation- place a box of “unformed particles” on a pedestal in a relatively open space. The viewer is prompted to dip their hands into this box and scoop up a handful of the “unformed” un-identifiable particles. Once the viewer has these “unformed particles” in their hands, they are inadvertently creating formed particles.
How does this work?
Before a particle is created it is part of a wave of energy. This wave of energy is always in motion. Chaotic, non-directional motion. When a particle wave of energy, or in this case, “unformed particles” is observed by a conscious mind, the exchange and acknowledgement collapses the wave function and forms a particle. Once a particle is formed there is matter and space.
Every time this occurs, the observer is creating out of chaos.
For this exploration, I used the 1st definition of particle.
1. A small quantity of matter.
I collected different specimens from the line and displayed them in a way that only allows the viewer to see the small particles from the whole object. This forces the viewer to think of things in bits and pieces, and hopefully piece the small particles together to create the object as a whole in their mind.
This exploration deals with the subatomic, physical definition of the word particles. In this context, a particle is much smaller than an atom, or any of its protons, neutrons, or electrons. Everything we can imagine, touch, hear, smell, feel, is made of vibrating, energy-charged particles.
Particles are essential to our existence, and even more importantly, the line’s existence.
Without particles, there would be no line. There would only be negative space, or anti-matter. Less than nothing. It’s a difficult concept to understand because no such thing can exist in our world.
Before a particle is created, it is part of a wave of energy. This wave of energy is always in motion. Chaotic, non-directional motion.
Any time a particle wave of energy is observed by a conscious mind, the exchange and acknowledgement collapses the wave function and forms a particle. Once a particle is formed, there is matter, and space. Every time this occurs, the observer is creating out of chaos.
The observers beliefs, knowledge, and perspective on the world determine how the particles come into existence in a certain place with a specific outcome.
a. A minute fragment or quantity of matter; the smallest perceptible or discernible part of an aggregation or mass; (formerly often) an atom or molecule.
b. Christian Church. A piece of bread blessed as the antidoron in Greek Orthodox worship or consecrated as the host in the Roman Catholic Church and a number of eastern churches, esp. consecrated as the host in the Roman Catholic Church and a number of eastern churches, esp. those where communicants receive a piece of a larger loaf of bread rather than a separately made host.
2.Math. A hypothetical object that has mass concentrated at a point but no physical size.
3.Physics. Any of numerous constituents of the physical world that are smaller than an atomic nucleus, such as protons, electrons, neutrinos, and quarks.
Tracks of charged particles in a cloud chamber
II. General and abstract senses.
4.
a. A small part, portion, or division of a whole. In early use also: a part or organ of the body (obs.) Now rare except as merging into sense
b. A very small part of a preposition, statement, or text; a clause or phrase; an article of a doctrinal statement. Now rare.
5. A small piece or plot of ground. Obs. (in later use Brit. regional).6. Grammar.a. Any of a set of words (sometimes treated as a minor part of speech and sometimes including affixes) that are typically short and indeclinable; a function word. Also: a prefix or suffix. b. The adverb or preposition used with, and in certain constructions separated from, the verb in a phrasal verb. 7. A very small or the smallest conceivable amount (of an immaterial thing). Usually in negative contexts.
Pronounced “par ti cleez.” He was the Greek god of quality-looking cheap furniture and the spokesperson for Rooms To Go.
Speaker 1: “Hey, Chuck got a new case for his home entertainment center. I heard it’s pretty nice.” Speaker 2: “No. I saw it, and it’s pretty cheesy. He’ll be praying to Particles the first time someone puts a cold cold drink down on the wood.”
tɪ
