Thesis Idea - Studio Journal

     The summer of 2007 I studied at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), as a sculpture major, in their pre- college program. For their end of the summer exhibition, I created a sculpture of a mushroom made of foam insulation, wax and mesh wire. The night I finished the piece, I apparently set it down near a trash can and it was discarded the next morning. I was very upset but really enjoyed making the piece, so I decided to look on the bright side and make an even better one.

Final Mushroom Piece

     I always felt this piece had more potential, so last year for my Video 1 B final, I created a video and projected it onto the mushroom. The projection was of a music video by artist, Aphex Twins titled Window Licker, overlaid onto clips from videos I had edited. I decided to choose this music video because of the strange and obscure things going on throughout it. I spliced it with clips I had edited of spirals of color and other "trippy" things I could find. Im really drawn to imaginative and whimsical themes  that are just out of the ordinary. 

Video Projection on Mushroom

     For my thesis, Im thinking of bringing Mushroom back to the public. I want to create a large installation including sculpture, video, and photography. I will create a series of things found in nature, made from man made objects, and have them on display in front of a large photograph I will shoot in the woods. I then want to project a video, that I will record in the destination I choose for the photograph, onto my installation. These are not definite plans, but just thoughts going through my head. I think this would create an interesting and interactive  piece so I'm excited to get the ball rolling on any new ideas I will come up with throughout my senior year.