Community Harmony stemmed from the idea of two people working together with a tool to do a basic action of screwing a large bolt into a table. Beginning stages of construction of this piece evoked many thoughts. For instance, I began to reminisce of the times I spent getting to know my father-in-law by working on our future home. We did many repairs on this property from all new windows to repairing electrical problems. Through this process our relationship thickened. We gained insight into each other’s life history, aptitudes and much more.
I began to question if the end result of “screwing a bolt into a table” was enough reward for the two participants. What if they were to work to together to create something? By reacting to the found materials around me, this slowly began to evolve into the use of a record player. Instantly the idea of this sculpture thickened and questions such as: What record do place on the player? Will the participants be able to reach harmony or the right speed?
Once again, one of my goals was to make a tool that could not be used by one person. To accomplish the task you would have to work with someone else interlocking the two created tools. I accomplished this partially. I found that once the tools are locked, they can rest on the small platform I created, although, I was happy with the design and overall accomplishment of these tools interlocking to one another. I painted an “A” and “B” on the tools and on the sculpture. Hoping that as the viewer approaches the sculpture they would understand where to place the tools.
When approaching tools one must consider different aspects than when one approaches the creation of a painting. For instance, one does not have to consider the reliability or the durability of a painting. For example, if people are expected to be handling these sculptures? One must consider that people may drop these items or numerous years of hand oils on the objects may begin to deteriorate them if for instance the were made of paper. I spent a couple of weeks on the design of this sculpture thinking about how I can create something that is lasting, can withstand wear and tear, and be reliable.
Once completed it was time for a test run and much to my surprise I found that no matter how fast you walked around the piece using the given tools you could not get the record player to turn quick enough to create music. It basically played static. I am now in the process of researching gearing. I would like to find a way to get the record player gear to move at a faster speed than the tool’s side gear in hopes that it would reach the proper record size speed through some sort of “upgrade gear flywheel?”
Lastly, in the end I may find that the simple act of screwing a bolt into a table could be enough for the sculpture or maybe it is another sculpture completely?
Questions:
- Will people understand what to do when approaching this piece? Or how it works without explanation?
- Is it apparent that the viewer is allowed to touch the sculpture?
