Interflections

I would use the UB Department of Media Study $200 starter grant to defray expenses I am incurring in the process of constructing my installation "Interflections," which has been accepted for the February 26, 2011 Squeaky Wheel Peepshow, and is in the final stages of construction.  I include the artist's statement for the project and a detailed diagram of it below:

“Interflections” is an installation constructed to make the participant experience and reflect upon the nature of individual introspection and one-on-one interaction.  Designed to attract and draw the viewer in, it responds differently depending on whether it is approached alone or together, thus provoking reflection on subjectivity and otherness.

The budget for the project is as follows:

(I already owned the software, the breadboard, and other electronics required for this project.)

Lumber and cutting: $100.00

Black paint: $35.00

LED lighting: $45.00

Resistors: $12.00

Transistors: $3.00

Power Jack: $3.00

Plexiglass: $35.00

Solder: $10.00

Total:  approximately  $243 

This project, my first formal installation, will continue to advance my interest in self-reflection and redefining human interaction as developed over the course of my BA and the first year of my MFA Program in Media Study and as expressed in my thesis proposal "SUBLIMELANCHOLY":

Melancholy is the reverberated projection of identity. That is to say, melancholy results from intense introspection that can then flash out as creation. The sense of self and one’s surroundings—in particular, melancholy and its connection to the role of the artist—appeals to me. While depression, by modern medical standards, is a chronic condition that immobilizes one’s mind, melancholy is acute and, ultimately, can be freeing.

The sublimation that occurs from melancholy holds great power in the making of art. The Renaissance witnessed a multifaceted paradigm shift that involved humanism, art, science, religion, and movable type, all of which revolved around the person: the subjugated subject rediscovered as sublimely self-conscious subject.  This rebirth also created disestablishment and polarized thinking. Here we begin to see a split between the scientific community and the artistic community. The sciences become empirical / impersonal and the arts become holistic / personal. I want to explore the role of melancholy on consciousness as a positive force.

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