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SPACE ODYSSEYS: sensation & immersion
Activities: Frames of Reference
The following Frames of Reference activities have been designed to assist teachers in addressing some of the ideas and issues raised by the exhibition Space Odysseys: Sensation & Immersion. They may be adapted for use while viewing the exhibition or as post-visit classroom activities. They have been written in accordance with the NSW Visual Arts Syllabus Years 7-12, by the Public Programmes Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The Frames: Subjective - Structural - Cultural - Post-modern
SUBJECTIVE
FRAME
To move in and through space, whether physically or virtually, is to take
a journey. Even if that journey is revolving, dynamic, non-directional, it is
composed of a set of experiences that will in some form affect the sensations
of the person taking it.
Victoria Lynn, Curator
Sensation
Journey through the exhibition and record your responses as you walk
through. Start with listing the sensations you feel when viewing each artwork.
For example, do you feel a sense of wonder, curiosity, excitement or anxiety
when you encounter each work?
Explain how your experience of one artwork affected how you felt about
the next. For example, how did you feel in The Blinds and the Shutters
2001 by David Haines and Joyce Hinterding, in contrast to Triangle Room
1978-80 by Bruce Nauman?
Create a map of your experiences, recording the key moments in your journey
with colour and symbols. Try to record the experience of moving from
one space to another. Consider your response to the presence of darkness
and light throughout the exhibition.
Immersion
Choose one artwork in the exhibition and consider these questions: What
is your first response to the artwork? How does the artwork surround or immerse
you? Do you feel absorbed by the experience of the artwork?
Think about the time you spent looking at the artwork: Did your responses
stay the same or change?
Draw what you see and feel. How does your drawing differ from the actual
work?
Write a letter to a friend describing your experiences.
Odyssey
Recall your experience of viewing the exhibition. What did the artworks
trigger in your imagination and memory?
Choose one artwork and guess what ideas triggered the artist’s imagination.
Look at Hold Vessell #1 2001 by Lynette Wallworth. What ideas may have
triggered this artist’s imagination?
Walking through the exhibition, did you take one journey or many journeys? At
what speed did you travel? What was the highlight of your journey?
How did you feel at the end of your 'odyssey'? How did your experience of the
artworks in this exhibition change your ideas about art or your understanding
of the world?
Materials and
Meaning
Choose two works in the exhibition. List the different types of
materials that are used to create each work. Also, consider 'non-materials'
like space, time, light, volume and sound. How does the artist's use of
these 'non-material' elements contribute to the meaning of each work?
Look at Between That Seen 1991 by James Turrell.
Imagine how this work is made. How would you describe the artist's
use of materials, simple or complex, magical or mysterious? Explain.
How do your perceptions and experience contribute to the meaning of this artwork?
Words and Meaning
Choose one artwork in the exhibition.
Before walking in, read the title. Imagine what your experience
will be. After you have experienced the work, consider the title again.
How is your experience different from what you first imagined? How has the artist
used the title to indicate a meaning for the work? Is the title descriptive
or evocative, realistic or abstract?
Consider the title of Gary Hill's artwork: Tall Ships (1992).
What ideas or images come to mind? Discuss the possible connections between
the title and the artwork.
Shape and Colour
Compare Triangle Room 1978-80 by Bruce Nauman and Link
1995-2000 by Mariko Mori.
Explain how shape could be considered a dominant element of design for
each artwork. Name the shape and explain its importance and meaning to
each artwork. Consider the symbolic value of each shape.
Compare Between That Seen 1991by James Turrell and Triangle
Room 1978-80 by Bruce Nauman. Explain how colour could be considered
a dominant element of design for each artwork. Name the colours and explain
their importance and meaning to each artwork. Consider the symbolic value
of colour.
Ancient Myth and
Contemporary Fiction
An 'odyssey' is a challenging conquest or journey. The term 'odyssey'
comes from Homer's ancient epic Iliad, which records the myth of Odysseus,
King of Ithaca (also known as Ulysses). His heroic journey takes him on many
adventures, which challenge and ultimately transform him. The myth of Odysseus
is an important story in the history of Western culture. It has been interpreted
through time in many different ways.
Research the myth of Odysseus. Discuss how the ancient myth of
Odysseus is connected to the exhibition. How does the activity of travel affect
people?
How do we tell stories today? What films can you recall that use the
theme of a journey or an odyssey? Write and illustrate a story
of your own odyssey or journey.
Space, Movement, Light
... the question of light brings us into the field of a new spatial awareness
...
László Moholoy-Nagy
László Moholoy-Nagy
was a pioneer of modern art who worked at the Bauhaus in the 1920s. His art
practice included painting, sculpture, photography and film and he was particularly
interested in the use of light as a creative element. He is best known today
for his exploration of photography.
Look at László Moholoy-Nagy's film Lightplay Black
White Grey, 1930. This is a film that depicts his sculpture Light Space
Modulator 1922-30. At this time, machine forms and electric lights had a
magical appeal to artists. Describe what you see. What makes this film
seem 'old fashioned'? Discuss the use of space, movement and light.
Why is this film at the beginning of this exhibition?
Research ideas of the future in early 20th century art.
Technology
There is now so much technology around us that we hardly notice it. Can you
name some important forms of technology in your immediate world?
Look at all the works in the exhibition and name which artwork
you think is the most technological and the least technological. Explain.
Recall The Visitor: Living by Number 2001 by Luc Courchesne. Describe
how this machine looks in the exhibition space. What does it remind you of?
Think about your experience within this 'transportive device'.
Compare your experience within the work to its outside appearance.
Research the history of the panorama. Discuss your findings in
class.
Present, Past,
Future
Consider Link 1995-2000 by Mariko Mori. How has the artist made
links between the past, the present and the future?
Name the cities and cultures that the artist uses to represent the past,
the present and the future. What devices has the artist used to create a sense
of time travel? Is the artist moving backwards and forwards through time or
is she endlessly circulating in time? Explain by referring to your personal
experience of the artwork.
Is there a beginning and end to the artist's journey?
How is the artist's vision different from how you might imagine and place yourself
in the present, past and future? Design your own space-time capsule.
Replays
We've traveled the Earth. We've been to the moon. Where do we go next?
An intense search for new space is apparently going on. Playing with scale,
creating places within places, colliding times, augmenting or simply inventing
reality, we find spaces embracing the onlooker who becomes a visitor. The frame
around the landscape turns into a doorway.
Luc Courchesne
Our imaginations could be considered
the original doorway into other worlds.
Reflect on the role of your imagination in The Visitor: Living by
Number 2001 by Luc Courchesne.
Recall the conversation that you had as a visitor. Compare your
conversation with that of a classmate. Watch their explorations on the
monitor outside the dome. Consider the differences. What different places
and spaces did they discover? Compare these encounters with conversations
in the real world
Discuss in class the opened-ended structure of this artwork. Find
words to describe the flow of the conversation. Compare the nature of
conversations with structured formal narratives that have fixed beginnings,
middles and ends.
Art and the World
Have you seen anything like these artworks outside of the Art Gallery? Where?
Describe the similarities and differences.
Are there any artists in the exhibition who are commenting on issues in the
world at large. Explain.
Are there any artists in the exhibition who are commenting on how the individual
experiences their world? What are those experiences?
Record your findings in visual and written form.
Compare your experience of this exhibition with the experience of either
a painting or a sculpture on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
How does each artwork in Space Odysseys: Sensation & Immersion invite
the viewer to participate?
Watch other viewers in each 'chamber'. How long do they stay? Do they
respond differently from you? What determines individual reactions to each work?
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