Creation Spaces
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Transcript of Creation Spaces
CLARK 1
23 ARCH 546: PLACE AND DWELLING
William Clark
Place and Dwelling
Final Case Study
Creation Space:
How Artistic Media Effects Space, and the Effects of Space on Artistic Media
As humans, we have come to develop a non-stop, and deep, relation with
the space that we inhabit on a daily basis. Our jobs, our homes, and even our
cars all carry an important special element that helps us personalize our territory
in a special way. Space is an obsession to the human kind. We define spaces
as personal, public, introversive, extroversive, and beyond. Along with this
obsession comes the human need to augment space to specifically work to the
whim of the individual. This particular condition is found in the artists�’ world,
and becomes a condition beyond any similar one found in the lives of other
professions. By taking a closer look at the spaces that artists inhabit, is it
possible to reveal a particular character that invokes a creative spirit, or are
spaces of creation similar to other personalized spaces, where privacy, comfort,
and Ideas of home play deeply to the individual responsible for such a space?
The world of the arts is full of blurry lines and vague boundaries. The
term �‘artist�’ can be applied to a person with a paintbrush, cello, typewriter,
voice, skateboard, and countless millions of other possibilities where a refined
sense of skill and creative input are combined with raw human form and
emotion to evoke like thoughts to any person participating in the act of the
artist. When we look at the countless realms of the term �‘art�’, a not so obvious
relation is the necessities of space that each of these different forms may
require. Where a painter may get along well in a 100 square foot studio with a
window, a dancer would fair much better with a larger amount of space. A
photographer would enjoy a dark, humid room with the right chemical solvents
necessary to develop his film, whereas a draftsman depends on a well light and
arid area to work. Now that we see our becoming into the digital age, the
special component of the digital artist�’s workspace must have access to a
computer, where a painter might do best without the inherent cost of such
technology. If one is to accurately study the space in which creations are
conceived, it is only proper to be able to capture input from a vast array of
artistic disciplines and then we may come across a common form, or template,
or even a common phenomenological essence that unites the spaces where we,
as humans feel comfortable to expand our creative conscience and work on the
artistic media that we invoke. Different realms of art may exist in separate and
very alike environments. Is there a common aesthetic or spatial element that
invokes the human creative spirit? Is there a way to design for creativity? Is
there a common quality shared that could be applied across the many
disciplines of art?
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THE FINE ARTS
When we look at a field typically known as the �‘fine arts�’ we find studios
attributed to painting, drawing, and other media that are visually engaging.
Most of these works are uninteresting to the ears, nose, and tongue, yet our
eyes are in the focus of these genres. When the actual art is put aside, the raw
studio comes in to view and it is in this area that we encounter inputs through
the smell of the air, the feel of the materiality, the sound of the space. When one
is trying to invoke their creative mind, a very careful balance is necessary to
successfully achieve the art that they envision, and correctly translate their
thoughts to the media. There is a real personality to the space that exists in
these studios, because unlike dancing studios, kitchens, dark rooms, and band
rooms, the painting studio is a space usually meant for a single person. It is this
attribute that makes the fine art studios so much fun to explore because, like the
fingerprint of its resident, the studio is completely unique from any other.
Whether it is in a large complex of studios, or just a room in a residence, the
studio takes on multiple little trademarks of the artist until we are provided with
a unique space.
(Clark Filio�’s Studio)
An interesting trend found within the artistic community is a trend of
urban reclamation. So often we are given a closed down warehouse that
eventually becomes artistic studios. Clark Filio, a Boston area illustrator
provides an example of the transformed warehouse studio. When we look at a
studio of his earlier in his career it is actually a room in his house. Although the
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work produced is similar, we are given a very different special quality in the
studios provided. The earlier studio was an effect of finance, or lack there of.
Now with a larger space in a setting more attuned to his personal preference,
the quality and quantity of work has increased. (Filio)
The studio atmosphere is an important factor due to the effect that space
can have on us especially as modifier of our creative mind. When one feels
frustrated, claustrophobic, uncomfortable, or other negative emotion, the quality
and ease of the work created becomes more untenable. So we see the ways
where the artist takes license over the space and makes many minor additions
to the space to give the atmosphere wanted. As we see in the picture above,
the artist provides a small area rug to his immediate work area. Although the
rest seems bare, Clark gives the assurance that he enjoys the �‘raw unfinished�’
feeling of the space. The achromatic and aesthetically plain surrounding leaves
more time and intention to the work on the easel.
Other artists would prefer their studios to be surrounded in color and
inspirational aesthetic schemes and connections. With the case of an old
design professor of mine, Cathy Salchow, her home studio is a quaint room that
matches her personality. Being a strong proponent of Josef Albers, it came to
no surprise to us when she showed up to class with a bright yellow brace on her
knee after a small medical operation. Her space of creation was a custom
match to the creations that the space was responsible for and the same work
would most likely not be as realistic in the bleached studio of Clark�’s. (Salchow)
The raw paint and composition do not add the only form of creation to a
given piece, but the area in which it is displayed is equally as important. The
mood of a space does much to impact the art on display within the space. For
more modern and loose illustrations, it would be absurd to hang them in a
museum setting of yellow stone and a bourgeois clientele. A more meaningful
and well suited space is that of a smaller local gallery that serves plenty of
alcohol and offers the possibility of a disk jockey creating music with an obvious
groove, yet not prominent enough to dance to. Here we capitalize on the gallery
space to invoke the senses not quite realized by the painting or drawing. Where
the frame does not emit any sound or taste, the artist or curator of the event
works with the hors d'oeuvres, drink, and music choice to compliment both the
space and the work contained within it. (Meinenger)
In Cincinnati�’s gallery district down town we are encountered with a wide
array of different galleries of size and type. The main street district works with
smaller shop sized galleries where it is common to find the DJ and white wall
space where bright color and graphic work pieces are displayed. When we pull
the scope over to the Pendleton, we are confronted with the open studio format
where a multi story warehouse has been turned into a gallery and studio space
that houses many area artists. Most of the work is very traditional working on
bases of oil paints and graphite. Here the historic reapportionment architecture
plays well with the newly archaic forms of oil still lives. However, the most
interesting part of the gallery is the fact that there is little to no gallery once the
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viewer is inside. Here the studio of the artist plays both as the place of the
creation, and the exhibition space for the creation. One of the most interesting
studios I visited was one held by an Indian woman with a child in a stroller.
There were cubes of cheese, hummus, and pita. The work she created was a
reference to Jackson Pollock in the fact that there was no clearly recognizable
feature on the canvases except for the materials used: bright acrylic and gold
leaf. Every work was hung equidistant from the other, but there was one
exception, an almost negative of the rhythm to this point rather than having a
painted canvas on a white wall, there was the appearance of a white void in the
midst of paint splatter. As if a painting had just been done there and then
removed. Sure enough that was the case, yet the artist still decided to move
the piece out of its rhythm and off the wall into the middle of the room. This little
break from the pattern spoke much about the introvert mother and her studio.
After talking with her about her work for several minutes, I was able to figure out
the fact that she did not speak the best English, but her space and work spoke
out well and clear enough that I was left with a good idea of her personality.
Creative Spaces in Design
How does design differ from the creative arts? Design can vacillate on
the cusp of being art and even dive deep into the depths of art, yet still remain in
the realm of design. Why? Is the method of design so much different from that
of art? Can an artist be capable of design? Many questions of this caliber are
up to argument and one is destined to receive a whole flurry of different
responses on this topic. What truly have become interesting are the similarities
between the spaces that artists use to create as well as the differences that are
commonly seen in the spaces of designers. When analyzing the idea of an art
studio, we encounter smaller spaces meant to house the artist and maybe a
guest, where as in the world of design, inter-personal collaboration is key to
success. This is why we see less design studios meant for a single person, and
more spaces that will involve other designers together to work on a common
problem.
Design is described as a graphic form of problem solving, and a true test
of creative thinking mixed with analytical knowledge. It is the problem solving
aspect that creates a more extroversive space that welcomes other designers in
to greater spread the discourse through out the entire studio. In this format, the
spaces occupied by designers are less personalized due to the greater
population density, and more often are property of the company for which the
designer works.
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(James Zanoni�’s Office)
Working in a local office, LPK, James Zanoni works on elements of digital
design. Creating logos that we encounter in cyber space we are not given a
presentation space nor do we see the space that the designer exists within
when working on a project. All that we encounter is what we see on the extents
of a computer screen. Even though the design works with artistic influences
and media, the viewer of these animate and colorful schemes has no idea about
the intentions of the designer, the process involved, and the inherent cost that
the particular project runs with. When working on the digital media, we are so
often left with a product that technically does not exist, and the conceptual
realization and skill that goes into digital design is that much more inherent in
the designer. For this reason we find James�’s particular studio with small
inspirations and much personal work. The space where these conceptual
elements are realized plays as a very important modifier to the creation of such
pieces. (Zanoni)
Musical Space
The need for space extends ever so much to the musician. Where the
fine artist is content in a smaller room, the musician must pay keen attention to
the resonance and acoustics of a given area as well as containing an interesting
and involved aesthetic. If we are to look at the spaces that the musician acts
with in order to perform his or her music, we must find a space comfortable to
the viewer�’s age, socioeconomic class, health, and preference. Much like the
artist in the gallery, there must be much care taken to the special presentation of
the space that houses the musical presentation. A symphony is going to play in
a theatre with seats and with the tectonic elements arraigned in a way to amplify
and resound the noise of the orchestra. Meanwhile a louder modern band will
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use amplification methods to play to an open floor where the viewer is free to
move around and even dance. The allure may change based on countless
thousands of spectator preferences but the special element is not so easy to
change. The augmentation of music hall for a hip-hop show would be a painful
and potentially dangerous condition. So we see the majority of hip hop shows
happen in spaces that are very open with little ornament. We find spaces where
we count on the music to draw the full attention of the viewer so they cannot
look up to the unfinished ceiling.
When dealing with the creation of music, different genres will yield
different spaces for creation. A larger band is going to find and augment a
space that is large enough to house the members of the group where a single
electric musician can work out of their bedroom. Much like the artist�’s studio,
that of a musician is common to contain personal effects. However, a trend is
also visible where the musician chooses to practice their art. Due to the
portability of most musical instruments compared to the materials necessary to
make art, we find that the musician can also be very mobile. The musician may
define multiple spaces, indoors and out doors to be the space in which they
create. A guitar is easily transported to a different space where new inspiration
may be very relevant. In this way, a mobile musician can grasp several
concepts and influences from different areas and compose the output into a
single creation.
Mobility may work wonders for some, whereas for others, it may provide
for a creative �“vertigo�” of sorts. This is all dependant on the personal preference
of the individual artist, much like many other decisions about the special
existence of an individual.
Brodie Johnson is a cellist that has studied in Cincinnati�’s school of CCM.
The work that he creates is usually about taking the paradigm that the cello has
become and moving it to an all-new level. Combining his raw talent with
modern advances in music we are given a sound that is completely unfamiliar.
Voices looped over with cello percussion and bowing. Where space comes into
play, is when Brodie decides to play out for others. At home he simply finds a
quiet room, or finds another like-minded individual already busy with their own
instrument and joins along. There is little thought given to the special
surroundings of the impromptu work of Brodie. When he plays out, however, he
is usually draped in a canopy of color and sitting low to the ground with the
audience surrounding him. The visual component of the performance is one of
the most phenomenologically charged experiences I have yet witnessed. Once
this is mixed with the beautiful and strange sounds of the music, the mind
becomes clear of all conscious thought and instead becomes a sponge taking in
all that the entire experience has to offer. The spectators play a role in the
creation of the music in this space and even help to create the special aspect of
the concert. Surrounding the musician and often humming along in inordinate
frequencies, a sort of drone is created by the crowd as he projected color
reflects off the visages of those present. (Brodie Johnson)
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Hybrid Spaces
In exploring the processes behind local art scenes, of those that I have
encountered, I am a largest proponent of hybrid spaces. The hybrid space will
work off of both musical and visual art to incite multiple senses and provide for a
comfortable sensor overload where one is blissfully lost in seas of colors while
having every sense acted upon. Often times we are encountered with the term
reclamation again. If we take into example Skully�’s in Columbus, Ohio, we find
a large bar with a decent sized stage that brings all ranges of acts through town.
Yet we enter one of Columbus�’s bands that specialized in hybrid shows into the
mix and we find a bar draped in vibrant color and an even more pleasing
auditory sensation. Shin Tower Music is fronted by Tristan Suefert, a Columbus
area musician and painter. In the last few months he has been working on
combining a visually and sonically charged experience to give to unexpecting
crowds. Working with algorithmic sequences, Tristan is able to project a strong
visual component over the musicians on stage to compliment the already active
and charged music. When the same processes become applied to different
spaces, we notice that the spaces are temporarily changed. In a Cincinnati
basement, Shin Tower was able to change the special inflections and for a
moment the space was as large as a concert hall while still keeping the close,
personal, and comfortable feeling of a small communal space. A similar
occurrence happened at the Columbus Comfest musical festival. This time in
the opposite direction. When given an open-air stage, the band was
encountered with several new obstacles; the first being the open space was
entirely too big, the second being the fact that the daylight interfered with the
projections. Here the band had to count on good showmanship and an
impromptu white tarp to bring the passing crowds in. Eventually the group was
rewarded with success when a local paper happened on the small, yet active
group of individuals already on scene. (Suefert)
(Shin Tower Music, Pictures by Mumma)
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(Bunk Spot Warehouse)
In Cincinnati there is, or was a venue that housed some of the more
interesting hybrid acts to stumble into town. The Bunk Spot was an experiment
started by a local Cincinnati organization, Bunk News. The idea was to fight
urbanities decline by placing an interesting, and becoming venue in the heart of
Over the Rhine, A neighborhood ranked 1sr most dangerous place to be by
walletpop.com. Bunk News thought that the best way to fight this trend and
distinction was to bring a more trendy and intellectual crowd down to the area of
plight and try to involve the community better. The space was an old
abandoned warehouse on John Street. The space was zoned as a warehouse,
which ultimately led to the downfall of the bunk spot.
The warehouse, however, was low rent and low maintenance, so naturally
it became s space for instillation art, music, fine arts, sculpture, and about any
other creative common, even including skateboarding. The organizers of the
space would augment the space to create new and interesting views if an
interior environment as shown above with the �‘Bunk News Campout�’ where the
columns were dressed with cardboard as trees, televisions were piled into a
stack and turned to display fire. Benches and tents were provided as various
musical acts, some scheduled, others impromptu exploded all around the
space. Of the acts to inhabit the space, it was not surprise to fine Honest Abe, a
collective including the afore mentioned Brodie Johnson, playing there. With
various projections, hung artworks, and interactive kinetic sculpture, the space
was more of an experiment in experience rather then a venue. In late 2009 the
Cincinnati fire marshal ordered the space to close down due to the zoning of the
space and the difference it had to the actual program.
The closure of the Bunk Spot dealt a blow to the spontaneous creative
community, yet the community was able to adapt. When Bunk News moved the
space to the Mockbee, an abandoned brewery a block away from the original
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John Street location. The new location offers several new spatial elements not
encountered in the previous location. Being an old brewery, the Mockbee is
made up of several concrete vaults spread over three levels. The most
important distinction is the fact that the Mockbee has been a venue for a while
and has since then been retrofitted to serve that purpose. Obtaining the proper
zoning, and lacking a clientele, the Mockbee matched Bunk News well enough
to combine forces to host new shows and performance art. Although not as
homey as the previous location, there are different spatial experiments that can
be played with the vaulting of the interiors. Of the several times I have been
through the space there is always a separation in the theme of the spaces with
heavy concrete walls, the noise is completely dampened from space to space
allowing each space to have its own unique quality.
(Evolve Projects)
Of the acts that have been through the space, a very unique experience
was to be had when a group called �‘Evolve Projects�’ performed at the John
Street location. Evolve Projects links hip-hop with live theatre with visual art and
a strong political component. Several props were placed around the space and
the audience that eventually came into play. One of which, a cardboard tower
appeared to blast fabric out of the top until the spectators found out that the
same fabrics were the clothes the performer contained within. Interestingly
enough, the juxtaposition of having an animated nude form running around a
vastly open and public space, completely wrecked previous conceptions of the
happenings of such spaces. The simple act of performing his set in the nude
crushed the previous conceptions that the audience in attendance had of
performance space. (Projects)
Conclusion
The spaces of artists�’ house the very emotion that drives an individual to
create. When we look at the commons of all artists we encounter many different
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ideas and ways of expressing ones self. The space that an artist procures is
often times sacred to the individual, and other times, just another space to get
away to. Over wide varieties of the arts, reclamation of used and abandoned
space seems to be a trend. Is the reasoning for re-purposing space based
solely on cost, or is there a nostalgic austerity that surrounds old spaces that
are used in a new manner that all artists enjoy? Is it out of a warped trendy
belief in sustainable environments or is it a method of combating the negative
connotations given living in an urban environment? As far as my findings have
lead me, it is solely a personal decision. I have expected the answer to be as
such for the majority of the time I spent talking to random interesting people
about their spatial utopiate.
The augmentation of a studio space is a personal decision. Where the
work is showcased and how the work is showcased all plays along the same
strand of decisions. The truth is that a studio is an extension of ones self, much
like that of a home or car. Decisions are made based on ones�’ character and
their wants. A vibrant person will cater their studio with eye candy and
inspiration where a modernist will enjoy the simplicity of the white walls meeting
the ceiling in a simple, clean connection that is left void of any busy aesthetic.
The personal decision not only speaks to the creators about themselves, but
also speaks to the visitor when language or disability serves as an inhibitor. For
those few moments spent in the Indian woman�’s studio, I was able to break all
my stereotypical judgments against her based solely on her creations and
methods if sampling such work.
Like the art that the individual creates within a space, the actual space
and the changes that we perceive is nothing more than a method of
communication so primitive, that now it is barely recognizable by our modern
culture, yet we continue to read it. It is the same reason why one buys a certain
home in a certain place. The space that we occupy is in continual conversation
with others and us. By giving a good listen to a spatial conversation of an artist,
we are provided with some previously unheard insight to his or her individual
creation.