Self-portrait (sandbags)
October 23, 2007Dun dun dun! New artwork and it’s not a photograph!
I’ve created a new piece titled, Self-portrait (sandbags). The dimensions are variable since it is a sculptural installation. There are six sandbags made of cotton jersey in rainbow colors suspended by nylon rope and tied to hooks. Here, the bags are hanging from the water pipe in the space, but otherwise, they would be hanging from pulleys. The viewer is invited to control the height of the sandbags.
I love large-scale artwork. (Ooo, secret number seven of the mystery that is Jeffrey Augustine Songco…) I really like to see something that I created taking up such a large presence. It’s as if, for once, I’m bigger than you. Total boy art! The boys like size: Richard Serra, Matthew Barney, and Bruce Nauman.
Then whip out the rainbow colors and you’ve got total gay boy art. Add the fact that the bags end up looking like testicles, and well, it oozes sex.
In essence, the sandbags represent the sandbags in the theatre that would act as counter weights to the set pieces that would fly in from above the stage. Pictured here, the spotlight adds an additional effect of focusing light on something that is never focused on. The guts of the theatre that keep the viewer’s magical experience going are ripped from their context and put center stage in a beautifully quiet way. I’ve brought the inside out and exposed what is usually hidden. Add the interactivity and the work speaks about my vulnerability and an invitation to pull my strings. Yeah, touch my balls—it feels nice.
interactive large scale artwork – AMAZING!
Happy Birthday Jeff!!!!
These are great. What happens when the audience wants to just let them drop?
Have you thought about using these in a video?
In terms of audience participation, I’m all about it. But when it comes to finding the limits to the piece, I’m definitely apprehensive about letting them drop all the way. In that case, I’ve got to tie a knot or put a simple clamp somewhere on the rope that would get caught in the pulley and prevent the bag from hitting the floor. Because it’s sand, it molds and gets all ugly when its touched. I really think the ‘teardrop’ shape is really beautiful and unless someone took the time to mold it back to that teardrop, it would be easier to just have it never leave that shape. But, of course, in the end it’ll be someone’s art for whatever price and they can do whatever the hell they want with it!
I think that the sandbags ultimate medium is a sculptural installation that is totally in your physical space and interactive. I think capturing it on video would be like the movie version of Rent–never as good as the staged version. I use that analogy because my work involves the language of the theatre, so I guess it’s a joke, har har. Anyway, there’s something really physical about my work lately, even my latest video pieces and the way I present the television sets. By watching a video of me or whoever interacting with the bags, I feel like the viewer will have this desire to interact with the bags, too, and that desire is something I want them to be able to act on at that moment.