Ben Kaller Project 5 Step 3
Ben Kaller Step 2 Project 5
Spike Away by Siew Meng Cheng
I like that over-the-top absurdity and humor, which I will incorporate into my sculpture
Ben Kaller Project 5 Step 1
Dangers:
- Global warming
- Being alone
- Allergies
- Loss
- Crowded spaces
Body enhancements:
- Fly
- Increase intelligence
- Jump high
- Run faster
- Teleport
I decided to go with an idea that is a little less serious than my other projects this semester. I want to create a space suit type device that a user would wear to protect themselves from the dangers of pollen. I have horrible allergies but love to be outside, so I find myself in a struggle to both spend time outside and also be able to breathe. The suit would separate the users head from the rest of the environment, and I want to go for a futuristic space-age look. One version will be blacked out, aggressive, detailed, advanced, and tinted glass and the other will be more modern sleek, and white design. The suit would be very thin and light for everywhere except the head, where I want a vintage diving helmet look.
10 things:
-pollen
-space suit
-air filter
-diving helmet
-futuristic technology
-outdoors
-gas mask
-PPE suit/hazmat suit
-tinted glass
-trees
Project 4 Idea Ben Kaller
My object is the model of the sphinx, which is a create from ancient Egyptian mythology. The sphinx is a very dangerous being and extremely evil, and was often portrayed as a man. It is most well known from the large sculpture near the pyramids of Giza. At the time of building it stood for the might of the Egyptian empire and the devotion to their religion. Now it is still an icon representing how great the Egyptian empire was, but also it is quite withered and eroded due to time. Ancient Egypt is filled with mystery and I have always been trying to find the many answers I have about their society. I want to include the mystery of how they built these unbelievable structures, so I want to distort it to some sort of “impossible” structure with parts appearing to float.
Ben Kaller Art Report
https://www.dwbowen.com/wilderness
1) I first noticed the up and down movement of the bags. It is very rhythmic and wave like. I briefly looked over his other works, and noticed that he often uses real time data or real world data to influence his sculptures. And this one, the bags are floating in a way that makes it look like they are on the surface of the ocean. There’s also a lot of noise from the motors that is very apparent in the video, and I assume it is much louder in person. I wonder if this was intentional, to add to the chaos of the sea. The use of plastic I believe is smart, as the amount of plastic in the ocean is unbelievable, and is has the capability to ruin our ecosystem.
2) There are approximately 15 bags suspended by a wire in a room. Their lights below these bags, shining upward, and the bags move up and down in a wave. The bags almost resemble jellyfish as they float up and down gracefully, and even though they’re all separate, they appear connected through their movements. The area is quite large, likely around 20 feet across and 10 feet wide. The lights that are facing upwards, illuminate the bags almost making them look like lanterns. The bags go between what is approximately two and around 10 feet in height.
3) I think the meaning of the work is very powerful. At a time where we have more plastic in the ocean than ever in the history of the Earth, it is important to bring light to the matter. The vast technical skills required to make this are very impressive. Also, he used actual data of wave movement taken from a journey through the Pacific Ocean to base this off of, adding a sense of realism. The plastic bags are not meant to be very exquisite in appearance, but I’m more to serve the purpose of representing pollution in the ocean. The whole room is centered around this piece, although there is another work of his next to it. The piece is not exactly interactive, but is more meant to be viewed from a close or far distance.
4) plastic bags represent a item that is a cost of huge material, waste and pollution. They are one time use and take a vast amount of resources to produce. At the same time, they are very hard to recycle. I believe he chose these to represent the epitome of human waste, a one time use items that is dangerous to the environment. This also relates to the great Pacific garbage patch, which is a large mass of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. The use of wave data from the Pacific Ocean is likely on purpose, as due to current slots of plastic ends up there.
5) the meaning of this work boils down to environmentalism. There are bags floating in what appears to be waves. This is a direct representation of the plastic waste that fills our oceans today. It is not necessarily deep, but still, it is important to bring light to these issues. The fact that they are real plastic bags floating around in the ocean, hurting marine life, and that the wave data is from Rio waves on earth, create a sense of dread. It is a reminder that if we do not clean up or act, we will face the consequences.
Metaphorm Idea Ben Kaller
The experience I want to write about is my major accident hat occurred in October of 2021. I was using my electric longboard on campus, stupidly without a helmet, going around 30 mph when my brakes failed heading downhill. This caused the board to spin out and I next remember laying face down on the road. I could barely move and pretty only moan for help. A car came close to running me over, but stopped in time and came out to help me. I was left with a fracture in my spine and a medium-grade traumatic brain injury. The recovery was, without a doubt, the worst few months of my life. All of this was due to my own fault. I want to make a piece about the skateboard itself, as the hardware failure caused the fall itself.
Words that describe this experience:
-Pain
-Longboard
-Balance
-Disaster
-Perseverance
-Setbacks
-Fall
-Hill
-Brain
-Break
ArtsXpose 2 Ben Kaller
Art Expose Ben Kaller
Ben Kaller, Cloud Gate
Immediate Response: When viewed in person, the flawless shine of Cloud Gate is remarkable. It is one actually seamless shape that you may even imagine is solid. I was surprised by its scale compared to the surrounding gardens, and the reflections it creates are beautiful. Being able to view yourself in a distorted fashion on such a large shape is strange. It is an absolutely perfect geometry, which is both in the shape of a bean, but I could see how it is a shape of a gate made of a cloud. It almost looks as if it is a blob of mercury.
Objective Description: The sculpture is very simple visually. It is a continuous bean-like shape made of a mirror surface. It is very large at forty two feet tall, and stands out even against the taller buildings around it. There is absolutely no visible welds and the bean is cleaned daily leaving a perfect reflection. You are able to go under the sculpture and look up, where it is darker but where reflections are still visible. It is often quite crowded so what you see is a blend of colors from viewer’s clothing.
Technical Decisions: This piece was painstakingly created through thoughtful welding and weeks of sanding and polishing. It was made of over one hundred smaller panels that were attached together, yet it looks as if it is one seamless piece. It was meticulously engineered to make it look like it was barely resting on the ground, when in reality thousands of pounds of metal are resting on a small area. The choice to use steel was likely for construction purposes, but it also has the ability to be polished to a mirror finish.
The Work in the World: The work seems to look like a blob of melted metal. I’ve played with gallium before and sometimes the shapes it creates are very similar. Mercury also creates this effect, as it beads up when liquid. The massive size of the object mimics the skyscrapers and tall buildings that make up Chicago. Also the higher areas of the sculpture reflect to the sky, connection the ground and what is above.
The Story it Tells: This work was created to be an icon that would attract people to go to Millennium Park. It needed to be big, attention grabbing, and very photographable. Now, the bean is one of Chicago’s landmarks. Kapoor likes to remove the artist and the fabrication from the art. There is no telling if there were any welds or connections at all without prior knowledge. It almost looks alien, which I think is what Kapoor wanted. He sought to put an object in the park so strange that it had to be an icon.