Loss & Rememberance

Installation art is a three-dimensional work that is site specific and stimulates the senses of the viewer. It can be temporary or a permanent display. Materials for installation art can be anything that creates an experience for the viewer in specific site. Some examples are video, sound, flowers, and objects in a room. Artists that make installation art are intrigued by the way people are brought together, focuses their energy and intensifies life for a moment. The most interesting fact is when they were talking about the sand sculptures and how all the hard work is gone by a single wave. I know how they feel. I use to spend weeks on decorating demolition derby cars just so it could be smashed. People thought I was crazy but the enjoyment and satisfaction I got to see the final piece was great. The high you get when you hear the crowd cheering for your car is exhilarating.

Ann Hamilton mantle inspired me. Flowers are colorful and beautiful but set in a certain way they can create feelings that run the gamut. My installation theme fits under the themes politics and the social order and the human experience. I want to touch on the loss of the Vietnam War and honor the veterans who are still with us. My father is a veteran and it still affects his life everyday. By doing this I memorize the POW/MIAs and honor the veterans. There are still 1,702 people still missing from the war if I could I would have a poppy for each one. They are lost and still not found, dead or alive just to have closure for their families. I searched the internet to see how I could make poppies out of paper because I can’t plant them. I bought tissue paper, craft paper, styrofoam balls, dowels, glue, and paint. The installation will be placed in a field or grassy area because I want the area to represent the fields and jungles that the soldiers walked through. 

 I saw a field that had red poppies scattered throughout. They seemed to just appear in the field as you were walking through the brush. Each poppy had a toe tag attached to it, which had name, military branch, race, and taken/missing date. I used red poppies because it symbolizes Veteran’s Day, consolation, and death. The color red symbolizes blood, war, and love. By placing them in a field of green, emphasizes them with that pop of color. Placing the poppies with some space in between them created rhythm by creating your eye to go to each bloom. I made the proportion of each flower larger than found in nature so it catches your attention, also. My thought about the installation at first was very conflicting. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I was worried about the time. I don’t usually work in 3-D so it took me out of my element but I was going to put my all into it. Creating the poppies was very relaxing which I needed for this week. I was having a hard time thinking where I was going to place them because I didn’t want them just in my lawn. I wanted them in a field so I brainstormed and I found a place where I could go. Setting up simple but just had to make sure you could see the toe tags. I’m very happy with the end result and hope everyone else gets the feelings of remembrance, loss, consolation, and what feelings and experience the viewer brings to it.