Nadia Soerjanto: Conceptual art

I’m taking a conceptual art class this quarter. This is definitely new to me – I’m not used to thinking so abstractly. The class is called “Structures for Art” but I feel like the projects show the complete opposite; it lacks structure and is very open ended. The mediums you can work with are not limited – you can use anything you want to convey the “concept” that you are developing. This is our class blog, if you’re interested in checking it out:
http://waltersutinvis111.blogspot.com/?view=classic

I sometimes feel that the things that we end up talking about make no sense. I guess you just have to try to keep an open mind because everyone has his or her own interpretation of what is “art”. Anyway, here are some of the projects that I’ve done this past quarter:

For the first one, we were told to bring a “meaningful” object to class and then trade our objects with our classmates, and then put a new meaning into the object and turn it into a piece. You can choose to include the actual object in your piece or you can make a piece inspired by the object. The object I had to work with was an old frame covered in gold coating with a picture of a girl in her graduation gown.

I chose to take out the picture and use the frame by itself. I used an old painting as the base of my piece (it is the ground where I would place the frame). Graduation is associated with a sense of determination and motivation, it is a milestone that shows that you’ve achieved something great and that now it is time for something new. I wanted to incorporate the actual frame because it is covered in gold; it has a sense of glory and success to it, which is exactly what I wanted to include in my piece. I chose to use the empty (gold) frame without the picture because it is to be used more than once – to frame the other things that we will be proud of in the future; therefore, it stands as the metaphor for that sense of determination to move forward in life and achieve things that will make us content and happy with ourselves.

Untitled (2012) - Mixed Media

The second piece is based on the idea of drinking water and the benefits of yoga and the sensation that is shared by the two, which is the feeling of being refreshed. (*I wrote a more elaborate paper on this idea but for the sake of keeping it short and simple for this blog entry I’m just summing it up!) So my project here resembles the “light” that is being restored in the human body by the act of drinking water. I used a night light fixture and covered it with plastic wrap covered in acrylic gel medium (to give its texture) and planted it on a piece of cardboard covered in gold coloured powder. The shape I created with the plastic wrap is very organic and non-representational, which emphasizes the nature of water. The gold is to accentuate the shining light and it stands as a metaphor of our functional and beautifully designed bodies that are being restored. I also included a candle, which creates a balance compositionally and also metaphorically – flame of the candle and water creates a neutral, which is the human body.