What does peace of mind feel like in a space?
Art as space and sculpture
Welcome, If you’re new here, I’m SLART an outsider artist, documenting my art journey whilst trying to free up more time and headspace, to create more art. I have a new studio space by a beautiful lagoon that I’m currently navigating with an artist friend.
I looked up at the ceiling in my office because the air con was dripping like crazy.
While I was looking up, I noticed a single cobweb stretched across the ceiling. There was a spotlight above it, lighting up the middle section. It looked beautiful. I stared at it for a few minutes before catching myself and remembering I was in an open-plan office. People were probably wondering what I was looking at.
It got me thinking about my first space that I will create.
How could I recreate that feeling of the light on top of cobweb? Maybe I could wrap wool around each of the five sides of the cube. It would still feel like a room, but the light would shine through it. The space would feel enclosed, but not completely blocked off to the outside.
I’m really enjoying the idea that all parts of my life can become part of the art. It’s like Miyamoto Musashi said:
“Do nothing which is of no use.”
Art doesn’t have to be something I only “do” in my spare time. It is more about who I am. How I think. It is a way of looking at everything.
Use your life experiences. Use the mundane parts. Use the things that happen during an ordinary, boring, bog-standard day.
The fuller quote from Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings says:
“Become acquainted with every art.
Know the Ways of all professions.
Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything.
Pay attention even to trifles.
Do nothing which is of no use.”
That feels very relevant to this project.
My mind is constantly looking for materials now. Someone from Facilities brought in some pig roll to soak up the water from the air con. I started wondering if that could work as a material, but it is about £50 for a box. It is basically strong tissue, so that feels too expensive for what it is, although the light does shine through it’s pinholes beautifully.
Then my mind moved on to fairy lights. I can get a net of fairy lights for around £25, which is cheaper than a lot of natural materials I could use to cover the cube. For the first version, I need to keep it low cost for obvious reasons. I have no real budget.
Now I’m thinking about smaller cubes as points of interest, almost like street art. Imagine coming across a random illuminated cube somewhere. You would stop for a moment and wonder what it was.
That idea is slightly separate from the main space idea, but it still connects in my mind. I’m following my curiosity, and I’m excited by where it is going.
My first cube space structure has come into form
I recorded a load of voice notes around this project last week, but I can’t access them at the moment due to not being able to charge my phone. I won’t lie, it’s been a welcomed sense of peace from a device that takes most of my attention. But when it’s back in action, I will share more.
After collecting the 3m tubes from the hardware shop, I went over to the studio and gingerly created my cube structure that will house the first art space. I clam up when doing any kind of DIY, I must have some kind of strong belief that I can’t do it. But I ignore that notion as false and went ahead and made it anyway.
Here’s how it looked in a timelapse.
After I completed the cube, I sat on a cushion inside of it and documented how I felt. This was on of one of those temporarily lost voice notes. In short, I noticed that it became a separate space of its own, separate to the room, but it felt incomplete. This seems obvious when I said it out loud, however, it’s noticing the beginnings of how it feels as a space and will evolve over time as the project progresses.
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You can also read more from my art partner on this project, Harrie Dearing, on her blog. We are also creating an outsider artist directory, so please fill in this form if you’re interested, it’s free.
A huge shoutout to Swindon Culture Collective and Hypha Studios for your support with this space.
Bye for now,
SLART
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