Fine Art The final day 6th November

The final day 6th November

With today the last day of fine art, and the last of the subjects, it was important to go out on a high. I had to get in early to get everything ready for my installation. With a list of things that needed to be done, and with only a short time to do it, I worked out what would take longer, and what other things I could do while I waited.

I started with a trip down to 3D. I wanted to make my box heavier and fix my lid on with glue and nails. I also asked about hanging my cube up in the room. This was a very important part of the process because the weigh of the box was an integral part of the interaction I hoped for with the finished piece. I wanted to draw attention to how much mental "weight" depression could have on a person by letting the viewer physically hold the work and experience the 'heaviness'. Secondly, I wanted the viewer to think how difficult it would be to do normal day to day things whilst having that weight on them. I know from carrying it round the college and back to my house it is very difficult. It was such an effort for me to carry it around, to walk and open doors, that by the end of the day I felt physically exhausted. In a similar way, having a "mental weight" would make it very difficult and stressful to do anything.

As for the cube hanging in the room, I had an idea to make it more noticeable as well as deceptively light. However, I wanted it so once the viewer tries to hold it the box, the weight becomes apparent. This is a way of trying to get people to understand depression. It may appear to be light to an outsider, but in fact it isn't. People with depression might appear to be coping, but in their mind they aren't. This is a danger of depression, the person may not feel like they can reach out for help which can lead them to becoming isolated and more depressed.

With the lid fixed and the chain sorted I then had to make sure my cube was ready to be fixed to the ceiling. First I had to paint the black dog on it. I wanted the face to be noticeable, but not too much. It was like in the engraving with the skull in the truncated rhombohedron, only when you look at it closely will you notice the shape of the skull. This being much like depression, it can be something that is not easily noticed by other people.

With some spray paint and templates, I quickly sprayed the dogs head onto the corner of the box and some ribs on the side. I wanted the face of the dog to be protruding out of the box as if it was ready to strike the viewer. I also wanted to have the dogs ribs on the sides. While researching about depression, I found that one of the many signs was the loss of appetite.

After the paint had dried, I could have it fixed up on the ceiling with a chain. The chain itself was also a symbol. It represented the trapped and confined, held back feeling associated with depression. I then fixed up the paint a bit before moving onto the background. With such a dark black box, I wanted a contrast with white, not only so that the box itself would stand out, but also when the light shines on it there is a clear shadow cast on the floor.

Time was up. I was happy with my installation. The only thing left to do was present it to the group for feed back. I started by talking about the engraving and how I interpreted the angel being too depressed to create despite having all the tools around her, and how in today's world there are 'tools' to help people with depression. The problem is that depressed people can feel too isolated and cut off and cant use the 'tools' that are available to help them.

My initial ideas for this work started off as an image of a person in a box in the centre of a maze unable to get out because they are cut off from all exits. I also envisaged a black dog looming over the figure as if to cover and envelop them. I decided to change the idea, making the artwork more of a physical thing, a tangible object to enable the viewer to physically experience a weight just as someone suffering from depression feels that mental weight on them. I was going to paint a maze on the box, but with little time to do that it wasn't possible or practical. Also, too much detail might have detracted from the feeling I wanted to achieve. By painting the box all black, the cube itself has a presence in the room that I was happy with.

After explaining the meaning behind my installation, it was opened up for comments, which were mostly positive. There were a couple of questions on how and why I chose the chain, or about the dog, and if there was anything I would change. If I was going to take this work further, I would make the dog's face a bit bigger, and higher on the box. I would also smooth the edges of the box, but keep the corners sharp. I would also hang it a little lower so it would be easier for people to lift and feel the weight.

Fine art has been an interesting journey with both projects done in only a week. It shows just how much you can do with three days of hard work.