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The Sculptural Encounter As an Embodied Cognitive Experience

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Making Connections: The Sculptural Encounter as an Embodied Cognitive Experience A project submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Fleur Elizabeth Summers Master of Arts (Fine Art) RMIT University Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) Hons RMIT University Bachelor of Science University of Queensland School of Art College of Design and Social Context RMIT University December 2019 i Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the project is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Fleur Summers 20 December 2019 ii Acknowledgment of Country RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business. Acknowledgements Dr Kristen Sharp (Senior Supervisor) Professor David Thomas (Associate Supervisor) Dr Jenny Robinson and Associate Professor Keely Macarow (Interim Supervisors) Special thanks to: My partner Stephen Dixon and our children Oskar, Lillah and Stella Summers Dixon for supporting, enduring and celebrating the PhD process. My family and friends – especially my mum, Margaret Summers. RMIT Sculpture Studio staff and the School of Art. Dr Kristen Sharp for her unflagging support and encouragement. Professor David Thomas for his insights into art practice. Workshop participants: Angela Clarke, Stephen Dixon, Sione Francis, Duncan Freedman and Jaki Gemmel. Thank you to the galleries that have exhibited my research: Blindside Bunjil Place Counihan Gallery Future Estate (Alderman, Brunswick) Kings Artist-Run RMIT Design Hub RMIT Gallery The Substation West Space Special thanks to: VicTrack for funding my public artwork Making Sense for the Jewell Station Sculpture Commission, which was awarded in early 2017 and completed in 2019. Making Sense was inspired by the work Merge in Chapter Four of the dissertation. RMIT ETHICS HREC/CHEAN APPROVAL: 0000018710 iii Table of Contents Page Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Figures v SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Chapter ONE SCOPE AND BACKGROUND 12 Sculpture and the Encounter 12 Sculpture and Embodiment 16 Sculpture and Cognition 19 Chapter TWO EXPANDING THE FIELD 22 Part 1: Mirrors, Doubling and Bodily Boundaries 22 Part 2: Modelling Sensation and Play 33 Part 3: Transpositions 40 Conclusion 50 Chapter THREE THINKING MACHINES 52 Part 1: Supreme Red Rods 53 Part 2: Dissociative Dialogues and Daydreaming 62 Part 3: Studio Thinking Machines 67 Conclusion 76 Chapter FOUR DARK ADAPTATION 78 Part 1: Making Sculpture in the Dark 79 Part 2: Dark Adaption 89 Part 3: Feeling the Way 94 Conclusion 100 CONCLUSION 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY 104 SELECTED VISUAL DOCUMENTATION 117 APPENDIX 1 167 ETHICS APPROVAL iv List of Figures Page Fig. 1: Richard Serra, Running Arcs (for John Cage), 1992, steel, dimensions variable 14 Fig. 2: Physical therapist, Jeremy McVay, demonstrating mirror therapy, 2011 22 Fig. 3: V.S. Ramachandran’s mirror box, line drawing, 2006 22 Fig. 4: Robert Morris, Untitled, 1965 (reconstructed 1971), mirror, glass and wood, 23 each cube: 914 x 914 x 914 mm Fig. 5: Ron Mueck, A Girl, 2006, mixed media, 110 x 501 x 134.5 cm 24 Fig. 6: Fleur Summers, Hand and mirror experiment, 2013 26 Fig. 7: Fleur Summers, Experimental photographic series of hands and mirrors, 2013 27 Fig. 8: Alexa Wright, After Image LN2, 1997, digitally manipulated C-type photograph, 28 56 x 75 cm Fig. 9: Olafur Eliasson, Seeing Yourself Seeing, 2001, glass, mirror, wood 31 Fig. 10: Jeppe Hein, Semicircular Space, 2016, stainless steel, dimensions variable 32 Fig. 11: Fleur Summers, Studio models, 2013, balsa wood, mirrored cardboard, paper, table 33 tennis bat and ball Fig. 12: Fleur Summers, Testing studio models, 2013, balsa wood, cardboard 34 Fig. 13: Fleur Summers, Visual research for library furniture and polling booths 35 Fig. 14: Fleur Summers, Model for Sensory Field, 2013 36 Fig. 15: Still from Jacques Tati’s film Playtime, 1967 36 Fig. 16: Fleur Summers, Playtime, 2014, plywood, mirrored acrylic, steel, artificial turf, table 37 tennis bats and balls, plasticine Fig. 17: Fleur Summers Playtime, 2014, table tennis library carrel, mirrored table divider and 38 mirrored box with plasticine, plywood, mirror acrylic, steel, artificial turf, table tennis bats and balls, plasticine, dimensions variable Fig. 18: Fleur Summers, Playtime, 2014, Detail of mirrored table divider 38 Fig. 19: Fleur Summers, Playtime, 2014, Close up of lower legs and mirrored table divider 38 Fig. 20: Fleur Summers, Playtime, 2014, Body with mirrored table divider 39 Fig. 21: Joan Jonas, Mirror Piece, 1968–1971 39 Fig. 22: George Maciunas, Fluxus Ping Pong, 1976 42 v Fig. 23: Gabriel Orozco, Ping Pong Pond, 1998/2015, Museum of Contemporary Art, 44 Tokyo (Photo credit: Oskar Summers Dixon) Fig. 24: Fleur Summers, Transpositions – A Proposition for the 21st Century Library, 2014, in the 45 West Space Reading Room, Melbourne, 2014 (Photo credit: Christo Crocker) Fig. 25: Fleur Summers, Series of photographs from Transpositions – A Proposition for the 47 21st Century Library, 2014, in the West Space Reading Room, Melbourne, 2014 (Photo credit: Stephen Dixon) Fig. 26: Bruce Lee in the mirror room in the film Enter the Dragon, 1973, directed by Robert 48 Clouse Fig. 27: Yayio Kusama, Studio Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life, 49 2011, installation, Tate Modern Fig. 28: Fleur Summers, Transpositions – A Proposition for the 21st Century Library, 49 2014/2016, in Design and Play at the RMIT Design Hub, 2016 (Photo credit: Tobias Titz) Fig. 29: Fleur Summers, Transpositions – A Proposition for the 21st Century Library, 50 2014/2016, in Design and Play at the RMIT Design Hub, 2016 (Photo credit: Tobias Titz) Fig. 30: Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Painting: Eight Red Rectangles, 1915, oil on canvas, 54 80 cm x 62 cm, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Fig. 31: Fleur Summers, video stills from Supreme Red Rods, 2014 55 Fig. 32: Fleur Summers, Supreme Red Rods, 2014, Blindside, wood, video monitor, 56 dimensions variable Fig. 33: Montessori Red Rods, Montessori Academy, 2017 57 Fig. 34: Olafur Eliasson, The Cubic Structural Evolution Project, 2004, white Lego, table, 58 dimensions variable Fig. 35: Fleur Summers, series of configurations of Supreme Red Rods, 2014, Blindside, 59 wood, video monitor, dimensions variable Fig. 36: Olafur Eliasson, The Cubic Structural Evolution Project, 2004, white Lego, table, 60 dimensions variable Fig. 37: Fleur Summers, Dissociative Dialogues, 2014, cloth, pedals, polystyrene 65 Fig. 38: Fleur Summers, Dissociative Dialogues (close up), 2014, cloth, pedals, polystyrene 66 Fig. 39: Fleur Summers, Dissociative Dialogues, 2014 (opening night) 67 Fig. 40: Fleur Summers, treadmill in the studio, 2016 69 Fig. 41: John Kilduff from Let’s Paint TV, 2019 70 Fig. 42: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, clipboard with handwritten text 72 vi Fig. 43: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, (excerpt 1) 72 Fig. 44: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, (excerpt 2) 73 Fig. 45: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, (excerpt 3) 74 Fig. 46: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, (excerpt 4) 74 Fig. 47: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, (excerpt 5) 75 Fig. 48: Fleur Summers, Walking the Studio, 2016, video still 76 Fig. 49: The Tactual Museum of Athens, 2019 (Photo credit: Michael Turtle) 80 Fig. 50: Fleur Summers, Studio at night, 2019 82 Fig. 51: Fleur Summers, Merge, 2017, wax form ready for casting 83 Fig. 52: Fleur Summers, Merge, 2017, Close up of wax showing fingerprints (left) 84 Fig. 53: Fleur Summers, Merge, 2017, Close up of bronze showing fingerprints (right) 84 Fig. 54: Peter Corlett, 2004, Father John Brosnan, bronze 85 Fig. 55: Fleur Summers, Merge, close up, 2017, bronze 85 Fig. 56: Fleur Summers, A selection of works from Merge, 2017, bronze 86 Fig. 57: Fleur Summers, Holding works from Merge, 2017, bronze 87 Fig. 58: Fleur Summers, Making Sense, 2019, clay modelling 88 Fig. 59: Fleur Summers, Making Sense, 2019, close up of bronze showing impressions of 88 fingers Fig. 60: Fleur Summers, Making Sense, 2019, bronze, stainless steel, installed at Jewell 89 Station, Brunswick, Melbourne Fig. 61: Fleur Summers, model of Passage, 2019, scale 1:20 90 Fig. 62: Fleur Summers, model of doorway of Passage, 2019, scale 1:20 90 Fig. 63: Scott Miles, Nothing Under the Sun, 2016, West Space, plywood, wood 91 Fig. 64: Fleur Summers, Passage, 2019, plywood and pine 92 Fig. 65: Bruce Nauman, Performance Corridor, 1969, wallboard and wood bracing, 93 2.4 x 6.1 x 0.5 m, Guggenheim Museum Fig. 66: Lisa Roet, Chimpanzee Hands, 2007, bronze, 110 cm high 95 vii Fig. 67: Dorothea Tanning, Canape en temps de pluie (Rainy Day Canape), 1970, 96 tweed, upholstered wood sofa, wool, ping pong balls, cardboard 32 x 68 x 43 in Fig. 68: Fleur Summers, Phantom, 2019, felt, stuffing 97 Fig. 69: Fleur Summers, studio model of Phantom and Passage, 2019, felt, MDF, paint 98 Fig. 70: Youth Imploring, 17th century, clay 99 Fig. 71: Sharon Price-James, Sensory Homunculus, resin 99 Fig. 72: Fleur Summers, Experimental photographic series of hands and mirrors, 2013 117 Fig.
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