4/30/24
On the nature of arranging:
(Connected to Alternate Sides Art Project)
I arrange in ways where there is a certain amount of space between objects. I try to feel how much energetic tension exists within this space and to bring the object just up to the point of tension but not beyond that.
A consideration is, how does it affect the arrangement if the objects are fragments of a whole vs whole object within themselves. Does that change the nature of this energetic tension that exists within the space. Perhaps that is a rhythm or a vibration whose frequency is defined by the space between the pulses.
Secondly, another consideration is the number of iterations that can be generated given the objects. For each object added to the source collection, this introduces a new exponent for iterations. It is very much like calculating probability based off of variables.
When selecting which object to start with for a new iteration, I select with intuition. Where does the energy lead me. Is this based off the visuals or the actual presence of the mass, or a combination of both? Then each successive object is added in relation to the whole. It is like a road that is constantly unfolding one step at a time.
Within my project, the objects ie wooden blocks with a painted image are arranged with a play of making sense of images vs disassociating and making an arrangement based off of sensory information.
But what happens when the object is not an image. What if the object is an actual object that has its own material properties. Does one still arrange based off of visuals or energetic relations or both?
These are considerations for exploration and do not necessarily need to have answers immediately.
(Pictured here are sea shells that I have arranged in my garden)
1 hr later: I have just made a further realization. I have been making arrangements of this nature my entire life. If I sit a table somewhere, let’s say at a diner, I will be compelled to arrange things in front of me energetically. That is, based off the tension, or lack of, they create based on the space in between the objects. I may place and point the fork to my left a certain distance from the plate, and similarly the knife on the right side a certain distance and direction. I do this with furniture as well, I guess that is unknowingly a sort of feng shui. Although present in this project, it was subconscious. From this point forward it is conscious.