CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Everything You've
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Everything You’ve Seen is Real A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art, Visual Arts By Marc Potter May 2021 The graduate project of Marc Potter is approved: ________________________________________ ______________ Professor Tim Forcum, M.F.A. Date ________________________________________ ______________ Professor Erik Mark Sandberg, B.F.A. Date ________________________________________ ______________ Professor Christian Tedeschi, M.F.A., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Table of Contents Signature Page ii Abstract iv Chapter 1: Aspirational Objects 1 Chapter 2: Carnival and the Absurd 2 Chapter 3: Building and Perseverance 4 Chapter 4: Genesis of Sur Veillance 6 Chapter 5: Time Travelling Clowns 8 Chapter 6: Evoke 11 Chapter 7: History of the Uncanny 14 Chapter 8: To the Stars 16 Chapter 9: Contradictions and Connections 18 Chapter 10: Lighter Than Air 20 Conclusion 24 Bibliography 25 Appendix 26 iii Abstract Everything You’ve Seen is Real By Marc Potter Master of Fine Arts in Art, Visual Arts Utilizing the idea of the American carnival and its imagery, I investigate the symbolism and mystery that clowns convey. Cultural perceptions of clowns vary from happy to sad, tragic to comic. Their lighthearted absurdity intrigues me and informs the complex nature of humans and their relationship to the clown within. Hollywood, the media, and a few bad actors have redirected perceptions of clowns to evoke people’s deepest fears. People are more concerned with the person beneath the façade. Another aspect of my work explores the aspiration found in the simplicity of a kite. By rendering this familiar object in an unexpected material, clay, the object becomes stripped of its function. A kite is designed to fly; but when constructed from an impractical material like porcelain, the object is fragile and inadequate, while maintaining its aspirational intention. I am interested in this object’s inherent contradictions and the possibility of transcending them by actually flying. My attempts to fly the ceramic kite lives as a performance documented in video iv and photographs. The kite functions as art as well as a prop for a performance about frustration and futility. My repeated attempts to fly the kite fulfill the kite’s aspirational and visual reality, but its physical reality frustrates this possibility, and, in the end, I realize I have become the clown. v Chapter 1: Aspirational Objects My work investigates ideas surrounding aspirational objects. A ceramic kite is an example; its form is designed to fly, but its materials hold it to the ground, it’s fragile, inadequate, but determined. When I first started making ceramic forms of flight, it was mainly satire. I wasn’t sure if it would take flight or even survive the kiln. I am interested in how this object can exist within these contradictions or possibly transcend them. I used an industrial sewing machine, treating the clay-like fabric to facilitate a real kite’s look and feel. At times, the process was tedious and full of failures, but eventually, I found a positive result that made me wonder if the kite would fly, so I tried. The form’s documentation lives in video clips and photos from a beach excursion, where I struggle to get the kite to take flight for a brief moment. I employ clay to elevate objects and create visual tension through balance and instability. Pushing the boundaries of physics, my forms move beyond grappling with gravity to defying the medium of clay. The fragile materiality of clay underscores the idea of precariousness. The difference between fragility and breakability is the amount of value attributed to the object. This can reverberate as a reference to human life. While having a solid relationship with clay is essential, it is the act of making and building that is crucial for me. Experimenting with multiplicity and scale asks viewers to confront their beliefs. Larger-than-life sculptures encourage wonder and curiosity and place viewers into a child’s perspective. Color refers to vivid memories, where the absence of color invites viewers to decipher the form, mimicking a dream state and blurring the line between dreams and memories. Dreams become memories, and memories influence dreams. 1 Chapter 2: Carnival and the Absurd Recently my artwork has been focused on the idea of the carnival and the imagery of the clown. I explore the clown’s symbolism, looking to imbue my objects with some of the mysteries that I see. Clowns have different functions for different eras, reactions to them varying so much. Some like clowns; some hate them. Some find them cute and fun, and others are disgusted, scared, or even indifferent. I find this range of responses intriguing. What attracts me most to clowns and carnival imagery is their light-hearted absurdity. I am trying to capture the essence of silliness in today's time and poke fun at societal norms, as it is a clown's role to convey the satire connected to daily life. Though images of clowns vary greatly, my work distills the imagery, possibly transcending the red nose and displaying a complex state beyond the one- liner or the obvious. Jeff Koons blends the concerns and methods of Pop, Conceptual, and Appropriation art with craft-making and popular culture. Controversial and always engaging, his work explores contemporary obsessions with sex and desire, race, gender, celebrity, media, commerce, and fame. Jeff Koons’s most iconic works are his balloon dogs. They look like the kind of souvenir clowns make at birthday parties. Koons said, “I’ve always enjoyed balloon animals because they’re like us. We’re balloons. You take a breath, and you inhale, it’s an optimism. You exhale, and it’s kind of a symbol of death” (And somewhere, a clown just cried…) (DailyArtMagazine.com). A sacred object has many forms. The object can be cute, religious in nature, or even a magical object. While not having access to kilns due to the pandemic, I was forced to venture into other manufacturing means to convey my message. Using the two visual languages of Painting and Sculpture, crossing and twisting of genres, I attempt to say with art the things that I cannot verbally communicate. Who is the clown, and who is the joke? Although my efforts are earnest and wholehearted, sometimes the translation of thoughts into actions can vary dramatically. 2 3 Chapter 3: Building and Perseverance My work is laborious. I begin with a small idea, then add to it. In the beginning, I constructed small clowns to convey a feeling of overwhelming reproduction. Once I found this led to anthropomorphic interpretations, I ran with that idea and tried to build height out of them. Several failed attempts led me to the process of stacking in a more formulated manner. Building clown cubes, 3 x 3 x 3, making building blocks out of the clown form to transcend identity. Interlocking cubes was just what I needed, and I thought of milk crates as I created. The arch was something entirely different. Beginning with a wooden form, I began to stack the ceramic clowns like Legos, inserting each of their heads into the bottoms of the upright clown. Guessing and adjusting for curvature, I was able to make a flow of clowns that could support one another. This was fine until I reached the “key clowns”. I needed a central support system that could tie together the shape of an arch. Once completed and thinking this was the most challenging part, I needed to remove the form. Unfortunately, I had to fill all the cracks before removing the arch support. I began filling cracks on the front side, then the back. Once I returned to the front, I realized that they were drying and shrinking faster than I could fix them. After a long, 12-hour day of trying, I realized I was fighting a losing battle. As the clowns dried, they shrank, causing the “key clowns” to be unattached and the pillars to rise off the ground. Near the end of this excursion, the inner clowns began to pop and shatter due to the weight redistribution. There was one final chance to get the form out before it imploded. Using the help of another student, I lifted the arch while he attempted to move the form. The clowns were crumbling in my hands when I finally gave up. Pushing the material beyond its capabilities was once again my difficulty. It was at that moment that I saw a glimpse of light between the structure and the form. I had released it. The next few minutes were spent carefully sliding the form out and inserting a ready-made supportive pillar of clowns. It was free standing. About this time, another student walked by, and seeing the structure, exclaimed, “Wow, that thing looks 4 like it has a ton of tension,” unaware of the ridiculous energy exerted to keep it erect. The next several months were in exile. Banned from school due to Covid, every chance I could get, I would try to fire the defunct kiln and try to learn about the grafting of electric kiln parts to run a gas kiln with sticky solenoids that are obsolete and inferior. After 30 or 40 failed attempts to get the kiln over 200 degrees, I gave up. One year later I was finally back in the lab and got it to fire. Only making it to terracotta temperatures, it began to pop like popcorn. I immediately turned the kiln off, shut the damper, and was ready for any outcome.