Andy Goldsworthy

For my leaf transfer project I was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy's ephemeral sculptures. He too uses photographs to document his work. Their connection to place is as important as the art itself.
Goldsworthy works with nature as a state of constant change which is incredibly important to my Louisiana/Wisconsin project. Not only does that change make up the subject matter, but it also allows the art to be sensitive to weather and season changes. Bringing leaves to their unnatural environment forces a state of change that wouldn't ordinarily occur.

Eva Hesse- Sans II

Eva Hesse's Sans II was one of the original inspirations for my work. I was interested in the minimalist aspects as well as repetitive forms. The techinique of replication was important in my concept, as if it inhabits a constant and mindless creation.
Hesse uses assistants but I'm using technology in place of the artist's hand.

I also wasn't sure of the medium of this piece when I first saw it but found out it's discolored resin. I also like that the pieces are separated and displayed in different locations, only sometimes coming together to make a whole.

Floating Shelves

These are the instructions for building floating shelves I used with a few manipulations by Tom.

The minimalism-inspired shelves are white (same color as the wall) to not call attention to them as art forms, when in fact they are the base for the "assembled form".

Emotion/Pain Charts

 

Range of expressions for emotions. The only way we can measure them??

 

If emotion/pain detectors rely solely on facial expression, what happens when that facial expression is absent?
It's our way of making something abstract into a concrete thing we can see and analyze. Without asking someone how they "feel", their faces often give it away.
Additionally, this pain chart indicates that something as intangible as pain is easier to assess when paired with different degrees of frowns.

Wisconsin Leaves/Louisiana Leaves

Wisconsin Leaves/Louisiana Leaves

Disgust, Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Surprise

Disgust, happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and surprise are six emotions considered universal across cultures. All other emotions can be classified as products of combinations of these six.
I've researched Paul Ekman's tests for studying emotions in terms of facial expressions, and our general association of a smiling person as a happy person, a frowning person as an angry person, etc.

Using muscles in brows and mouths, we are able to express an atlas of emotions.
Right now I'm interested in the loss of facial expressions in communication online and through cellphones. (with the exception of emojis indicative of those muscles used).