Thursday, September 13, 2007

Installation - Robert Smithson



















Robert Smithson's Sixth Mirror Displacement - 1969

7 comments:

ahmed said...

where did you find the image on the right? or is the image your diagramatic response to the work?

Noorah Al-Sabah said...

No, it's my response to his work

marc said...

so explain this drawing...how did you make it?

Noorah Al-Sabah said...

The drawing was a result after reading the following quote (and several others from Smithsons writings):
"Below the jungle extinguished the ground and spread the horizon into a smoldering periphery. This perimeter was subject to a double perception by which, on one hand, all escaped to the outside, and on the other, all collapsed inside." It's a charcoal piece that might be too literal now that I look back on it. I wanted to create a sense of the duality of the mirrors, having then exist in two worlds or 'realms' but being in the same one at once... "The double allure of the ground and the mirrors brought forth apparitions...In this line (the horizon) where sky meets earth, objects cease to exist" ..."A horizon is something else...it is closedness in openness; it is an enchanted region where down is up."... There are several more quotes but I don't want to crowd the page or get too repetitive. I will mention any that are relevant to my argument during my presentation.

Noorah Al-Sabah said...

I've seen The Passenger and have written a running commentary on it comparing it to Robert Smithson's piece. Here I'd just like to mention a few things I'd like to address during my presentation. I'd like to focus on the issues of landscape in both the installation and the film (with regards to The Passenger I do agree with the notion of alienation however I believe the filming invites the viewer into the frame and is inclusive - more on this in my final writings and the presentation [ex: think C.D. Friedrich's paintings])
I'm also interested in discussing the issue of the 'I' and the 'me' from the Robert Morris reading and the identity switching of Locke and Robertson while relating this to mirrors and the reflection of oneself in relation to tenses.
The topic of mirrors within mirrors, screens within screens will also come up (the infinity of these objects within their respective dimensions) - I am reading John Berger's On Seeing and that has proven helpful.
The overall metaphor I'd like to start forming, hopefully more articulate than the previous passage would be along the lines of the identity coming to grips with its reflection in this world and that place (which is placeless) "The camera is a portable tomb" "The mirror is an ongoing abstraction that is always available and timeless - reflections, on the other hand, are fleeting instances that evade measure."

marc said...

that drawing is nice. it doesnt read as charcoal at all in the image...maybe glass.

marc said...

dematerialized...