Exhibition: Just a Part of the Scenery (Landscape)

Just a Part of the Scenery (Landscape) -Alex Gerbec

Photo, collected object

So, I was interested in the concept of irony of bringing pieces of such a large area (landscape) into a small area tucked away from its ‘natural’ environment. For a project using this idea i collected some more of the line landscape, and put it into 10 small plastic plant containers on a table arrangeed according The Alfred Line. i also gave each box a photo of the landscape where i found the object.  in the end the viewers would hopefully be left with an idea of how the beauty of landscapes is made of many little things, and the irony of keeping a part something so large locked away and separated in a small container, yet no one really knows that they are now missing, and tyheres no proof the objects were actually there.

When i was done setting up my project, i was worried. I felt like i could’ve done something else, and made it better but i just couldnt figure out what to do. i’m not going to lie, between the printer thing not working out, and comparing my table to the other project things everyone else was building, i was intimidated. I’ve never done an instillation before, i had no idea how to approach it, or plan it out thoroughly enough at all. And i could tell it showed a bit in my work unfortunately, but i tried. But I felt confident about my concept, of the relocation of small pieces of a large environment.

However, i know i learned a lot from this project. After the friday review class thing, and hearing what questions people were asking, and their comments, i realized that i was missing something that brought it all together. Connection of the photos with the objects, with the line, with the landscape, and with my idea was something that wasn’t as clear as it could’ve been. After talking to Michelle and Brett, i realized a lot of other things about installation works, and how it is about making the objects/materials your own, so they can emphasize your concept, and how aspeects like type of material, how they are presented, where they are from, the different meaning they can have, (like how some people misunderstood the meaning of my use of the plastic plant containers), and of course clarity, connection, and letting the work speak for itself. Every aspect of the work must be considered in order to avoid such confusion and unclarity. I was glad that even Michelle said i had a good idea, i just needed to expand and give it more, and i totally understood and agreed with her. Even having a great idea won’t be worth much it it can’t be presented effectively.

Overall, i think it was a pretty good first installation to have; either way, i definitley learned something from it that i know will help me later. I know i’m a little disorganized when it comes to speaking my mind and trying to convey information to others, but just because it makes sense in my head doesn’t mean it will for everyone else. No matter how much i hated roaming around in the cold, snow, and rain doing random things on this imaginary line, it ended up being one of those pretty beneficial “hated-in-the-moment-but-thankful-it-happened” experiences this semester.

The Proposal

Alright, after a day of some serious pondering, i came up with a few ideas. Not wanting to resort to something cliche or something everyone would expect, i tried to dig deeper into what interested me about ‘landscape’ and how it can be connected to the line. The first idea i came up with drew from my collection exploration from last post.

the concept of irony and bringing pieces of such a large area into a small plastic box really got me thinking. For a project using this idea i would collect some more of the line landscape, and put it in to about 10 or 15 2in x 2in smaller boxes on a table. then i would arrange the boxes in a line according The Alfred Line, and use it as a sounvenir kind of thing that people can interect with. i would also give each box a photo of the landscape where i found the object. Maybe i’ll even use it as a post card idea, and have it say something like “I experienced the alfred line!” or some other cheesy thing like that. in the end the viewers would be able to take the souvenirs and hopefully be left with an idea of how the beauty of landscapes are being commercialized or taken advantage of due to the irony of keeping a part something so large locked away and separated in a small container.

For this project i would need to go collect a few more things, and a few more landscape pictures. Concerning a schedule, i would go out on the line sunday for the collecting and photos, then use the rest of the day to either find or make the 10 small boxes and label them. the rest of the week i would organize the rest of the writing and photo/postcards aspects.

My second idea is to collect about 15-20 landscape photos from along the line, and present them  on a wall lining them up randomly with the horizon lines connecting them. for this i would also just need to go collect more photos. I’m not exactly sure what the concept is yet, but it would be something having to with the fact of the number of changes on a certain area and environment, and the variety one thing can include.

    

Lastly, for my last idea, i thought back to my blog post before about the pieces of line in a small box. i started wondering how those pieces would feel if they represented people in a large population (landscape). I started asking questions like “how would it feel to be a part of something so large and respected? is the landscape really respected as much as i think? because i know theres a lot of trash and pollution ‘found objects’ around Alfred. but also, how would it feel to be removed from that area? to be singled out? would you feel important? or insignificant? knowing that no one would probably ever know you’re missing from the landscape anyway.” So for this idea i’m going to give 10 people a piece i collected from the line, and imagine they were a part of it. i would ask them these questions and record their answers, and display it as video, and give an explanation of the project, hopefull leaving the viewer with the same feeling of irony concerning landscape, insignificance, humans, and finding the true importance of things. Starting sunday i would begin interviewing people, and have half of them done by class thursday.

The Word: landscape

So, my word is landscape. yes, one may think this the easiest
topic to have with a project like this. In a way, yeah of course; anywhere you
g o on the line, there’s always some sort of nice view of the landscape to take
a pictutre of, and pick up interesting things. Although the nice scenery of
autumn at Alfrred is peaceful and nice to appreciate, i don’t want to just go
around taking pictures of the landscape all over the line, it would get
annoying eventually, and probably not be very interesting… but here it is anyway for
now.

While thinking of ways to make this more interesting, i found this
quote about landscapes, which disheartened me even more:

“Following a lengthy analysis concentrating on the German
term landschaft,
Richard Hartshorne^[4] defined landscape
as referring to ‘the external, visible, (or touchable) surface of the earth.
This surface is formed by the outer surfaces, those in immediate contact with
the atmosphere, of vegetation, bare earth, snow, ice, or water bodies or the
features made by man.’

Hartshorne differentiated the term from region which he considers is
larger and more flexible in size. He eliminated sky on the basis that the
atmosphere is simply the medium through which the Earth’s surface is viewed and
also excludes underground mine workings, the soil beneath vegetation and
rainfall. However he included moveable objects noting that a view of Broadway
(New York City) without traffic would be incomplete.”

great.

So one of the things i did was walk up part of the line on the AU
side through the woods uphill. Every few minutes i took a picture in front of
me and behind me.

I had an idea after that. If that quote is the definition of landscape as a human, I
wondered what a landscape is to a different animal or something else on the
line…

To an ant or
little insect on the surface of the ground, a landscape would probably look
like this:

To a deer:

skunk:

inchworm on
a tree:

to many people, a landscape also means beauty and appreciation. So
along with viewing the natural beauty, I decided to find some ‘unnatural’
beauty, or the not so beautiful landscape areas

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Later I went out at night. i tried the best i could to get some decent shots, but  yeah…forgive my digital camera who likes flash too much, and is inconsiderate without it

Eventually, I got bored with the same, trees on the bottom and sky
on top view. Out of frustration I had to do something different, and completely
flip things… and ended up with some interesting perspectives looking
upside-down at the landscapes. Besides
the fun of doing handstands at random places doing weird bends on steep hill
while hanging onto trees,  and getting weird
looks, this was my best idea yet.

[Slideshow]

Also, I collected pieces of the ‘landscape
line’ and stuffed them in a small box. This was an ironic concept once I thought
about it. How could these little pieces all be fit into a little plastic Tupperware
box to be brought into class, when they were a part of something so large on
the earth that people appreciated? Yet no one knows they are now missing from
the view? This idea of these small pieces making up something beautiful, but
still almost unnoticilble made me think for a while. Does it mean these pieces
are unimportant to the whole? But if you took away all the pieces, it would be
a totally different experience. Do people not care enough about the little
things in life? Are they too concerned with the larger picture that they are
willing to be ignorant, or sacrifice other things that may seem not as
important? This can be related to ideas of how people say that they are just
one person, what difference can one person make? Good connection…I wonder what
effect all of the Foundations students’s collecting so much of the line had on
the environment and habitat of the line also.

As I was typing this I just thought of another exploration to do
for next time. I’d use a mirror and observe indirectly that way as well at the
landscape and see how it effects what I think or see about the line. Hopefully I’ll
think of some better ideas too.

Word Definition- Landscape

land·scape
click here for audio

http://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/d/g/speaker.swf

Pronounced: lændˌskeɪp/  Spelled [land-skeyp] /Show IPA noun, verb, -scaped, -scap·ing.

  

Origin: 1590–1600; 1925–30 for def. 6; < Dutch landschap; cognate with Old English landsceap, landscipe; akin to German Landschaft. See land, -ship

Related forms

re·land·scape, verb, -scaped, -scap·ing.

Synonyms 1. view, scenery, vista, prospect.

Noun

1. a section or expanse of rural scenery, usually extensive, that can be seen from a single viewpoint.

2. a picture representing natural inland or coastal scenery.

3. Fine Arts. the category of aesthetic subject matter in which natural scenery is represented.

4. Obsolete. a panoramic view of scenery; vista.

Verb (used with object)

5. to improve the appearance of (an area of land, a highway, etc.), as by planting trees, shrubs, or grass, or altering the contours of the ground.

-Dictionary.com

   

However, I like the wikipedia explanation of the word also:

“Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as (ice-capped) mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of land use, buildings and structures, and transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions.Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created over millennia, landscapes reflect the living synthesis of people and place vital to local and national identity. Landscapes, their character and quality, help define the self image of a region, its sense of place that differentiates it from other regions. It is the dynamic backdrop to people’s lives.”      -wikipedia

Using Thesaurus.com, i found some synonyms:

mural, outlook, painting, panorama, photograph, prospect, scene, scenery, sketch, view, vista

Considering the Alfred Line using Landscape, it is a very suiting word. Pretty much anywhere on the line can be used either as a landscape or an area to see one. Here are a few examples of photos i took.

Exploring the Alfred Line

This is a visual representation of the line using the objects where I found them.
The left side starts at the Alfred State end of the line, and on the right is
the University Area. I noticed that there was a lot more man-made influence on
the State side, probably due to the construction and campus center the line
went through; The University side shows how the line went through the woods
with a lot more organic material. This little ‘exploaration’ I invented
reminded me of an exploration in the book also…

Exploration #24- Combinations

Man-made vs. Non- Man-made

vs

Exploration #40 – Altered Experiences

 

To have different experiences on the line, I went out at drastically different
times; during the day and at night. During the day, there were obviously more
people and things going on. A positive of that aspect is that I could clearly
see for a good range around me. At night, there were less people around, but
the people that were out seemed more open and in groups to hang out. Also, I
waled slower trying to discern things in the dark with a small flashlight.
Though I took longer walking at night, I know I probably missed a lot more.

Exploration #19- Found Paint

While on the woody area of University, I came across some various berries and thought
of this exploration. I collected some of these materials and smashed them into
liquid pigment i could paint with.

 

Exploration #53- Found Writing Utensils

I used various plants to demonstrate how the can be used with india ink to create
a working utensil to draw/write with. I liked this exploration a lot!

Exploration #27- Accidental Art

I found many things that could be considered art while on my walks on the line.
Here are a few examples:

       

Alright, so I went out a few times for a couple hours in the line.
Tools I used were mainly a camera, a bag and my senses to experience the Alfred
Line. I collected a multitude of object as seen above, as well as many more not
pictured in this post. One of the most interesting things was at Alfred State
where the construction was on the line. At night, I got the chance to
experience the line going through there, and being able to go and see what not
many others saw was a great opportunity to learn even more. There were many
interesting things due to the construction: metal, equipment, interesting ruts
in the dirt, a fire extinguisher and various other objects made the mysterious
world behind the covered fence seem like a partly illegal ghost town. I spent a
lot of time there.

Another thing I did on the Univeristy side was take a picture
every 5 or so minutes looking ahead to the end of the line, and then also
across looking back towards the State side. That resulted in way too many
pictures, so I won’t put them all up here

I think this was in interesting assignment: at first I hated the
idea of going out in the cold and snow for hours just having thing to look for.
But looking back, I spent a lot more time on this than I intended because i
actually enjoyed it, Being able to take time and just lose yourself in just
looking and exploring at things that interest you, and stumbling upon some
amazing things was a needed experience. I remember being skeptical of Michelle
saying, “you want to have memories out on that line!”

After this week, I do have memories.

Here are some more pictures and memories from exploring the line

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Personal Territory Tour

      

So, my Territory is found less than a 5 minute walk from the back of Cohen studio; Its the green and wooden bridge across the little creek that Alfred State students use to cross over to main street to get to the post office or unimart. I chose this area because it seemed peaceful and scenic, along with many interesting things to find..

Here’s a list of some things I noticed:

• I can see State dorms/ apartments from my territory
• theres also a street paralell to the creek about 25 feet ahead
• there’s alot of trash around
• a Student just walked by
• another one on a phone
• there’s a huge rusty wall down near the water..
• Steve is in his Territory writing
• faint aroma of marijuana when the wind picked up
• the water is cold
• many rocks and leaves
• a lot of trees
• it’s actually prettty secluded here
• a couple just walked by
• the bridge shakes when people walk by
• about half the the trees have lost thier leaves
• 2 old guys walked by, one had a camera
• beer cans
• beer bottles
• empty beer boxes
• red bull can
• there was a big foam target yesterday, but now it’s not here
• logs/dead trees decomposing
• random little forest plants
• nop grass really
• guy with a skateboard walked by; it had orange wheels
• there’s a lot of graffitti under the bridge on the concrete
• coffee cups
• concrete foundation
• plastic bags
• downhill stream empties into creek
• mini pumpkin in the water!
• empty pack of swisher sweet cigars
• lichens on wood railing
• arizona cans
• dead tree immersed in vines
• theres a downed tree that is like a bridge across the creek
• taco bell trash
• there’s an area that the water is really hsallow, someone could walk across
• guy with a cool hat just walked by
• theres a parking bar that fell and is broken on the incline
• the bridge is probably about 10 feet up from the water
• group of 3 guys walked by, one had a package
• the wooden boards bend when someone walks on them
• Guy with Bills hoodie
• plastic fork on the bridge
• there’s a metal fork on the railing! it has like chinese food rice on it..
• a sticker on the left rail
• cool hat guy came back with a pizza
• another guy with groceries walked by; gave a weird look to the girl (me) sitting on the floor of the bridge writing things in a notebook…

Alright, now for some fun Explorations…

#37- Time Observation

Come up with several ways to document the passage of time where you are sitting.

I documented time by:

• the number of people who walked by- the more people, the later it is
• how often people walked by- about every 10 minutes
• how often leaves fell down on the bridge- about every 2-3 minutes
• number of cars passing by on the Alfred State side- 5 mins
• about once, maybe twice, every hour i saw a squirrel or chipmunk

#41-Found Faces

Take pictures of faces you find

I found this face on a tree near my territory!

Tour Guide

Blog Exploration 1

List of 10 Things in this Room:

1. gallons of water
2. Zebra gum wrapper with tattoos still on them
3. found small brick with number 186 on it
4. plastic cup from a dining hall
5. plastic mug from dining hall
6. small dried rose
7. plant that hasnt been watered in 5 days
8. random paper square on cork board
9. lamp under a bed
10. broken fan piece