I continue to conceptualise my sculptural piece for the exhibition. I have been gathering objects from my trip to Ireland, on the beaches of Tramore on the East coast and Connemara on the West. Playing and listening with these objects I reflect on their becoming into the temporary forms, or illusory staticity, of a shell, a rock, drift wood. I draw on them and gift them to people, imagining what their future entails.
The windchimes will contain a gathering of objects from our class; I have prescribed to the class that these objects be somehow durable and they won’t be returned, so the piece can have durability and perhaps be installed permanently after the exhibition. I am excited to learn about these objects and what they mean to my classmates, and learning about my classmate’s histories and cultures in the process. I feel glad and confident that my practice is actively constructing meaning from the critical analysis I have been forming. I feel like I can hold that critique of social alienation and ecological crisis through the action of making this object and connecting with people.
In my home town Tramore I went to Boyce’s Yard, a metal scrapyard, with my Dad. We found an abundance of used copper pipe, copper wire and hooks to form the chimes. Below are my notes for the neccessary parts.
The copper pipe is the tonal instrument. We cut it to random lengths, between 4″ and 11″, to find out how it sounds. I am not interested in tuning the sculpture to a certain scale as the choosing of this scale is problematic. After some trials we found a sweet spot between 6″ and 9″ for a 1/2″ diameter copper pipe. We formed it onto a set of chimes using some stones from Connemara, a board from a chest of drawers and a grimey plug. Apart from fishing line to connect the pipes and objects to the board, all materials are recycled. I felt a joy to hear the sound of this new instrument, and imagine the gathering of histories in it’s sounding. I was happy that this project is also a bridge to connect with my father and make memories together.
I left the chimes in Tramore between my mother’s house and my father’s house, so they can both hear the tones on a stormy night.