ashleymartin_PROSE
Ashley Martin
ART 291
Art Installation Project
Project
I am an ally who, along with BLM consultants, would like to participate in the discussion about the struggles of minorities, especially black citizens, and the violence visited on them by authorities. Together we can make a positive change and eradicate the systemic racism that infiltrates many US institutions. I would like to bring attention to some historical atrocities by building an interactive social justice installation that confronts inequality and police brutality. It will start with the civil rights movements and a Martin Luther King Jr sculpture cast in mirrored steel, and will end with a line of riot police and a city on fire. Throughout the installation the viewer will come upon various scenes of real police brutality all done with blank mirror faces (except for Emmett Till and Martin Luther King). The point of the mirror is to engage the viewer in thoughts of themselves. When you look at a faceless sculpture and see yourself how does it make you feel? You are both the victim and perpetrator. Which is which? The distortions to your reflection may seem monstrous which is the point. The cityscape will also be made of a reflective surface that will have chaotic fire and riot scenes projected onto it. There will be a soundtrack of chanting, explosions, bullhorn orders, etc being played in the background. This is the cost of turning a blind eye to injustice. What once affected one will eventually affect us all.The number of sculptures is meant to show a timeline. We should be aware that this has been happening for an obscenely long time, but now we have to ability to record in an instant. Reallocating funds, education, social services, and mental health checks should be in the conversation.
I have designed my installation for Cheesman Park in Denver, but it could be placed anywhere.
George Floyd Image (image source)
Rodney King
Michael Brown
George Floyd
2. Emmett Till, due to the graphic nature of this piece it would have to be behind a fence. On the side facing the walkway will be a funeral like portrait done in steel and a directional sign to the viewing. Inside will be a sculpted version of the famous photograph of Emmett’s mutilated body lying in a casket with mourning parents viewing the body. The parents faces will be smooth mirrored steel with no features. Emmett’s face will be faceless mutilated mirrored steel so that the reflections will be beyond regular
distortions. Because Emmett face was so badly mutilated during the lynching I would like to have an embossed portrait of him that shows him as he was. He was just a child so this is important.
3. Rodney King on the ground and a ring of 4 police in the act of beating him up. All smooth steel faces with no features.
4. Michael Brown hands up, a bullet leaving the gun of the police. All faces smooth steel.
5. Elijah McClain being grabbed by 2 police. All faces smooth steel.
6. George Floyd with kneeling cop. All faces smooth steel.
7. Finally, a row of riot police with mirrors for face shields. They will be blocking the entrance to the cityscape.
8. Behind the riot police will be a structure made to look like a cityscape where there will be riot scenes projected as well as a soundscape of a riot.
Use technology to present a realistic virtual tour of park with sculptures. See map of Cheesman Park (above) showing where all the statues and the cityscape should be placed. (To be used in grant proposal).
Consult with BLM of Denver and bring in their experts.
Find a foundry that can take a 2D drawing and turn it into a sculpture.
Seek local artist with experience in large sculpture installations and consult with them.
There will be a total of 44 sculptures and one embossed portrait that will need to be rendered. The cityscape will also need to be added to cost. My research indicated that each sculpture will be around 75k. This would mean that just for the sculpture we would need 3.3 million.
Consult with audio and video experts on the projection of riot scenes. Right now I have Auerbach Consultants as the company to explore
https://www.auerbachconsultants.com/av/services/
Will need lighting to be strategically placed so that the sculptures can be viewed at night. Night viewing is suggested because this is a realistic time of day when protests turn to riots. Clutch is a local lighting company in Denver that could be used: https://clutch.co/agencies/design/lighting/denver
Hire a sign company for warning explicit content signs to be place near installation and the Emmett Till signage.
Procure permit from Denver Parks and Recreation.
Hire company with equipment and crew capable of moving large
sculpture. https://heritageindustrialservices.com/safe-art-transport-
moving-sculptures/
Travel/food/lodging schedule.
Search the web for grants being offered in Denver.
Write up a proposal rough draft for grant
Redline Contemporary Art Center is a Denver area resource for artists that can help get grant money for projects like this. They can even help artists with paperwork, budget, and planning.
• This is a rough estimate. I would probably ask for 5 million to be safe.
Sculptures - 2 years
Permits - 2 weeks to file Sculpture installation - 2 weeks Travel/lodging - 20 days Access to location - 8 weeks
The sculptures would be sent to one of the museums and moved by the company hired for this purpose. These estimates are a rough guess. (The explicit content signs need to be in place.) Once in place lighting and audio visual components could then be installed.
I would like to have a speaker from BLM on opening day to talk about Current events and solutions.
(Contact Redline Contemporary Art Center for help with all of this)
Research
George Floyd Image (image source)
Tear of the Cloud (image source)
Chicago Bean Image (image source)
How to make stainless steel sculpture (image source)
Links for costs and manufacturing:
Foundries for artists: https://www.sculptor.org/Foundries/foundries.htm
Fabricators: http://www.sinosculpturegroup.com/index.php? m=&c=index&a=lists&catid=2
Sculpture commission fees: http://www.flickingerstudios.com/commissions/ commissiondetails.html
Martin Luther King Jr Sculpture
How to make stainless steel sculpture (image source)
Links for costs and manufacturing:
Foundries for artists: https://www.sculptor.org/Foundries/foundries.htm
Fabricators: http://www.sinosculpturegroup.com/index.php? m=&c=index&a=lists&catid=2
Sculpture commission fees: http://www.flickingerstudios.com/commissions/ commissiondetails.html
The following Photos and collages are going to be used in reference to build each incident.
Martin Luther King Jr Sculpture
Emmett Till
Rodney King
Elijah McClain
Michael Brown
George Floyd
The Map
The Plan in prose
1. Martin Luther King behind a podium in mid speech cast in bronze. The first stop on the walk. He will be the guiding sculpture.2. Emmett Till, due to the graphic nature of this piece it would have to be behind a fence. On the side facing the walkway will be a funeral like portrait done in steel and a directional sign to the viewing. Inside will be a sculpted version of the famous photograph of Emmett’s mutilated body lying in a casket with mourning parents viewing the body. The parents faces will be smooth mirrored steel with no features. Emmett’s face will be faceless mutilated mirrored steel so that the reflections will be beyond regular
distortions. Because Emmett face was so badly mutilated during the lynching I would like to have an embossed portrait of him that shows him as he was. He was just a child so this is important.
3. Rodney King on the ground and a ring of 4 police in the act of beating him up. All smooth steel faces with no features.
4. Michael Brown hands up, a bullet leaving the gun of the police. All faces smooth steel.
5. Elijah McClain being grabbed by 2 police. All faces smooth steel.
6. George Floyd with kneeling cop. All faces smooth steel.
7. Finally, a row of riot police with mirrors for face shields. They will be blocking the entrance to the cityscape.
8. Behind the riot police will be a structure made to look like a cityscape where there will be riot scenes projected as well as a soundscape of a riot.
Objective
The purpose of the installation is to not only bring awareness to the social injustices thathave been inflicted upon people of color, but to also shed a bit of humanity onto those who
risk their lives daily to protect us. Real conversations and change can happen once we
stop fighting each other and look deeper into ourselves. It often becomes an “us versus
them” when in reality we are in this together. This doesn’t mean that we take the blame off
the perpetrator, but rather, try to understand the motives behind the act. Once we
understand the reason behind the fear, then we can act to eliminate those fears through
education. Until then, we will be in this endless loop of violence. We must also understand
education. Until then, we will be in this endless loop of violence. We must also understand
that how we react matters, and that violence inflicted on a person will lead to violence in
the streets. For those who have been lucky enough to have escaped living in or near a city
which has erupted in violence this installation will give you a feeling of what it is like. The
viewer will be led through a series of historical instances of police brutality until finally,
they are met by a wall of riot police as a city burns in the distance. I want the viewer to be
immersed in what it was like for each of these people. The installation will be open during
the day, but after dark until 11pm (or noise ordinance) the projector and audio will be
turned on. Night time viewing is optimal.
Strategy
Design individual sculptures in 2D.Use technology to present a realistic virtual tour of park with sculptures. See map of Cheesman Park (above) showing where all the statues and the cityscape should be placed. (To be used in grant proposal).
Consult with BLM of Denver and bring in their experts.
Find a foundry that can take a 2D drawing and turn it into a sculpture.
Seek local artist with experience in large sculpture installations and consult with them.
There will be a total of 44 sculptures and one embossed portrait that will need to be rendered. The cityscape will also need to be added to cost. My research indicated that each sculpture will be around 75k. This would mean that just for the sculpture we would need 3.3 million.
Consult with audio and video experts on the projection of riot scenes. Right now I have Auerbach Consultants as the company to explore
https://www.auerbachconsultants.com/av/services/
Will need lighting to be strategically placed so that the sculptures can be viewed at night. Night viewing is suggested because this is a realistic time of day when protests turn to riots. Clutch is a local lighting company in Denver that could be used: https://clutch.co/agencies/design/lighting/denver
Hire a sign company for warning explicit content signs to be place near installation and the Emmett Till signage.
Procure permit from Denver Parks and Recreation.
Hire company with equipment and crew capable of moving large
sculpture. https://heritageindustrialservices.com/safe-art-transport-
moving-sculptures/
Travel/food/lodging schedule.
Search the web for grants being offered in Denver.
Write up a proposal rough draft for grant
Redline Contemporary Art Center is a Denver area resource for artists that can help get grant money for projects like this. They can even help artists with paperwork, budget, and planning.
Budget | ||
BLM Speaker | 1k | 1k |
Scultptures | 75k each x 44 | 3.3 million |
Equipment/construction crew | 2k x 47 | 94k |
Audio/Video Equipment | 500/day x 56 | 28k |
Labor cost for sound Design at 46/hr x 40hrs | 46/hr x 40 hrs | 2k |
Labor cost for on sight | 8k x 2 | 16k |
Labor cost (5-10 people at 2k/week for 8 weeks) | 16k x 10 people | 160lk |
Lighting | 100k | 100k |
Labor cost (5-10 people at 2k/week for 8 weeks) | 16k x 10 people | 160lk |
Signage | 200 each | 1k |
Security | $35/hr x 10 people x 1344hrs (8weeks round the clock) | 456,960 |
Permits | 2k/day 8 weeks | 16k |
Travel | .51/mile (200/day x 20days) | 2k |
Per diem | 35/day | 700 |
Hotel | 100/day | 2000 |
Collaborating Artists/ Consulting Artists | 100/hr x 3000hours x 5 artists | 1.5k |
My fee | 50/yr at 2.5 years | 125k |
Sub total | 4,763,660 |
• This is a rough estimate. I would probably ask for 5 million to be safe.
Execution/Evaluation
Time Line 2.5 yearsSculptures - 2 years
Permits - 2 weeks to file Sculpture installation - 2 weeks Travel/lodging - 20 days Access to location - 8 weeks
The sculptures would be sent to one of the museums and moved by the company hired for this purpose. These estimates are a rough guess. (The explicit content signs need to be in place.) Once in place lighting and audio visual components could then be installed.
I would like to have a speaker from BLM on opening day to talk about Current events and solutions.
(Contact Redline Contemporary Art Center for help with all of this)
I really liked your PROSE proposal. I think a large timeline installation piece will be very impactful. I think the idea of mirrored faces and bodies is an interesting concept for relating these acts of violence to more people. Its a good way to have people understand what has happened to minorities. As for the cost breakdown, I think Blogger messed up the formatting of your graph because I wasn't able to read it. I think it would be cool if you brought in specialists such as artists who are very predominate in contemporary art and have gone through injustices. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThe whole proposal is extremely detailed which I believe is important, such as the budget chart and the map. I also really like how clear and detailed the objective is. While reading the proposal, I can see how much thought was put into the sculptures. An example would be how you chose to use mirrors to engage the viewers. As you said during your presentation, I agree that talking about how you would measure the effectiveness is a great addition to the proposal. Overall, I truly like the idea and proposal!
ReplyDeleteI love how your whole proposal was very exact and detailed. Our ideas were very different, I didn’t think about the project as you did. You went above and beyond when creating this huge and meaningful monument, great job!
ReplyDelete