“Seeing Sustainability” Opening Reception

Last Thursday evening I opened my show; Seeing Sustainability: Art as Research of the Design, Aesthetics, and Efficiency of Gallery Lighting. The following day I gave a 25 minute presentation of my work to the St. Mary’s community. As my first solo art show, I am exceedingly proud of the work I have done this summer. Below I have included photos of the show, as well as the written description I have presented at the gallery.

The artist (myself) describing the building process to several gallery viewers.

The graph, running in real time, projects on the wall as audience members interact with the sculpture’s photocells.

For the show, I chose to light the gallery only on the works, removing ambient uplights. This forces the viewer to interact with the lights and think about its effect on the art.

“Growth,” the central piece of this exhibition, harvests wild bamboo and repeats the pattern of the circle, in the process creating order out of the chaos that we associate with the natural world.

As climate change, environmental degradation, and the forces of time transform our world, we must adapt. The sustainability movement is one important expression of this adaptation touching every aspect of our lives, culture, and economy.Even art and curatorial practices, tasked with the duty to display and to preserve art and please the eye –  seemingly so far from ecological principles – must adapt with changing moral, ecological, and technological imperatives. Light is something that we are constantly surrounded by and held within, an essential but often overlooked part of gallery design. This show utilizes art as a research tool in order to find more sustainable practices in the art gallery, and in particular gallery lighting.

This is more than an art show, it is the culmination of a two-fold research project. On one hand, my work focused on technical data and research in order to find the most energy efficient gallery lighting option. On the other is the art you see before you, which supports this data, and offers a physical research and feedback mechanism. Each work displayed here delves into light’s affect on art, studying how it behaves and examining different possibilities for more sustainable lighting options such as LED bulbs. The central sculpture in the show records gallery light level data in real time and projects it on a screen. Small photocells located throughout the sculpture capture real time light level data, which can be changed with the interruption of a shadow, a passing hand.

The installation enables us to see in hard numbers the light that is so elusive. Beyond ‘seeing’ light, I wish to reveal its context and importance in gallery lighting, and art’s relationship to sustainability. It was more than aesthetics that guided my material choice of bamboo; the plant is biodegradable, hand-harvested, and is an invasive species. My art helps me understand the world around me, as well as my own self. Nature teaches similar lessons; like self-portraits emerging from the shadows, nature helps one find a sense of self. Art and the natural world both teach us how to see, a new way of thinking. We must see our lives and actions in a new light in order to build a better future. This is ‘seeing sustainability.’

“Studies for a Self Portrait: Light and Shadow.” Inspired by Francis Bacon’s piece of a similar name, I investigate my own self, searching in darkness. These works also function to compare two different LED bulbs; lit with a 3000k color temperature bulb in the middle, 2700k on the left and right.

“Glow.” Two from a series of five collograph prints (sustainably made with recycled cardboard and vegetable based inks), these works act to show a side by side comparison of LEDs (right) over Halogens (left.) As you can see, LEDs produce a richer, cleaner, brighter light.

The show will be on display from now until August 15th in the Boyden Gallery. Tours can be scheduled by appointment. Inquire at 240 -727-8327 or bhderlan@smcm.edu.

Final Research and Art Show Installment

As of today I have less than a week until I must present my work at the SMURF symposium. In this time I must complete all my artwork, install lights, complete testing on retrofitted fixtures, and finish all preparations for the show and my final presentation. As if that is not enough, I also have my final research paper to complete, and must finish last minute wiring for the sculpture. Still, in the past days I have made great strides towards completion.

After finishing the sculpture build, my main objective became coding and wiring for the photocells. I spent hours researching code for the Arduino Yun, the small computer I am using to record the photocell data, and wrote the code necessary for my project. The Arduino will work by wirelessly transmitting data from my sculpture (where it will reside) to my computer and a projected display. This data will be converted with more code into a graph, so that viewers can see in real time changes in light levels in the gallery.

The Arduino Yun board wired to photocell circuits.

I was thrilled when I uploaded the code to the Arduino, executed the commands on my computer, and a real time graph appeared on my screen. I waved my hand over the test photocell I had set up, and the graph’s line plummeted, only to climb back up when I took  my hand away. Things were looking up; for about a minute and a half. At that point the graph froze, something in my code is making it crash. This is a hurtle I must yet overcome. I moved on from the coding to the physical wiring of the circuits. This was done with help from Dr. Michelle Milne, a professor in our physics department. She was kind enough to help me solder the wiring and review my circuit board. With this done, it was fairly simple to integrate the wiring into the bamboo.

One of four photocells, now installed at various points on the bamboo sculpture.

An example of how the Arduino board will reside in the sculpture. Bamboo will rest on top of the housing I built, hiding the electrical components out of view.

I have been working other artworks over the past weeks as well. I wanted to make work that would investigate light and support my sculpture in making light tangible. I have been using art to understand light better, and so completed three self portraits under heavy lighting. By drawing in charcoal the light I see, I am better able to understand how it plays off objects and travels through space.

The studio space where I have been working on my charcoal drawings. These works are loosely inspired by Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies for a Self-Portrait.”

In other news, the LED bulbs have arrived. Excited to test them, I have set up the bulbs in the gallery track. They look good, much clearer, crisp light. Still, they have a bit of a redder tone than the ‘yellow’ of the halogens to which we are accustomed. I am pleased to say that the bulbs have been in place for almost a week now, and have been working without flaw. I drilled into some of the old track lighting fixtures to make air holes to test with the non-closed canister compatible LEDs. I have yet to complete heat testing, but these too provide a nice, warm light.

On the left is the halogen bulb, much browner when dimmed than the crisp LED light on the right.

My final art show; “Seeing Sustainability: Art as Research on the Design, Aesthetics, and Efficiency of Gallery Lighting,” will open Thursday night, with a reception from 4pm-6pm. I will be presenting my research at the SMURF symposium on Friday, July 10th. I will post at least one more blog update about this project, drawing conclusions and outlining next steps for my research, my art, and the implementation of the lighting project.

Building Phase II: Installation in Boyden Gallery

In the last weeks, I have been working hard harvesting and cutting bamboo. Every time I go to the forest, I never cut down enough. If only I had a chainsaw. A typical day of work begins around 9AM. I usually spend some time checking my email and sketching out ideas before my meeting with the rest of the research fellows at 10AM. On Mondays, the meeting is from 10-1130 or so. After the meeting I grab lunch and then meet Selwyn Ramp, the gallery’s Technical Director. We talk about what I need to do for the day, and he provides me with access to the sculpture studio’s equipment. I then bike over to the forest with my saw, and cut down bamboo plants for an hour or so. When I am done, I haul the bamboo back to campus with the help of my friends, or my mentor Barry Muchnick. From 2-4PM I measure the bamboo and cut it into the sizes I need with the miter saw. It is slow going to install the work; each piece outside the center section is free standing, and so I have to set up each on individually. I spend the rest of the workday setting up the sculpture parts and working on my final document.

I add bamboo to the diameter of the sculpture piece by piece, a time consuming process.

I have a draft developing which will be a document outlining all my research and the lighting options available. I will be able to begin comparing lights in the gallery space soon. I have ordered several LED bulbs from different companies. One company, SORAA, advertises their lights as working in closed fixtures. Priced at 27 dollars a unit, this is an extremely viable option for the gallery to implement. I found the correct models from this company with help from the curators at Dickinson College; the Trout Gallery. It is satisfying to have actually bought some lights. I have spent so much time reading about lights online and researching various options that I am thrilled to actually test some out ‘in the field.’ I will use sensors both imbedded in my sculpture and in handheld devices to measure the lux and performance of the new bulbs at various light levels.

Above view of the sculpture, the soon to be home of photocell sensors which I will install to measure light levels.

With the lights ordered and my sculpture built, my final steps of this fellowship are to:

1) Complete a document reviewing all my research for use as support for acquiring funds and to help other gallery operators realize green solutions.

2) Wire my sculpture with photocell sensors so that it can collect data from the lights in the gallery. I will also be making additional two-dimensional artworks to see how the LEDs look in comparison to halogens on the flat surface of the walls. Accurate color rendering is an important part of lighting art, and so I will make works to test the look of color under LEDs as well.

A view of the sculpture and above the track lighting system using halogen bulbs, which have weaker color-rendering ability than LEDs.

The final symposium of SMURF is fast approaching. It is amazing how quick eight weeks goes. Still, I am not dissatisfied with the amount of work I have accomplished. I have learned so much, in an array of fields including contemporary art economics, environmental art, curatorial concepts, and computer science. I look forward to the future, not only in completing this project (with the hopeful acquiring of funds for a complete replacement to LEDs) but also continuing on past this project. My art has found a new ground in something I will call ‘conscious’ art. I do not wish to become an ‘environmental artist.’ Instead I want to work with the environment in mind, and work with responsible materials to create the things I wish to create. I hope this approach will spread, not only to other artists, but across the board. We need to take the environment into almost any decision, but it shouldn’t be the only focus. I think we often view someone as ‘sustainable’ or ‘not.’ Instead of a societal role, we should classify eco-friendly behavior as a paradigm shift, a perspective tool which we can use to positively influence our behaviors. I can be an artists who is environmentally conscientious. I can also be an environmentalist who enjoys art. The more flexible sustainability as a paradigm becomes, the wider an audience it will reach. Donella Meadows aptly explains this idea of worldview flexibility in her writing on systems thinking:

“There is yet one leverage point that is even higher than changing a paradigm. That is to keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible, to realize that NO paradigm is “true,” that every one, including the one that sweetly shapes your own worldview, is a tremendously limited understanding of an immense and amazing universe that is far beyond human comprehension. It is to “get” at a gut level the paradigm that there are paradigms, and to see that that itself is a paradigm, and to regard that whole realization as devastatingly funny. It is to let go into Not Knowing, into what the Buddhists call enlightenment.”

A bit of existential and spiritual turn away from a simple lighting and art research project, but nonetheless is where my work fits in the bigger picture. This is what I hope to accomplish with my art; a change in the way we think, a paradigm shift to lucidity, so that we may make positive change both in science and art, research and action; so that we can both improve society and our planet earth.

Sculpture takes form: building phase I

It is now week four of my eight week research fellowship. In this time I have researched various models of LED bulbs which could replace the current Halogen flood lights of our campus gallery. I wish to find an environmentally-friendly alternative to art gallery lighting for the Boyden Gallery. I have found many bulbs which would provide museum or gallery quality light, but most are not able to handle excessive heat which builds inside our closed canister fixtures. Without great knowledge on the practicality of retrofitting the fixtures (perhaps simply drilling holes to allow air flow to the LED bulbs,) I will need to purchase several bulbs and conduct efficiency tests; reviewing the light quality, beam angle, and heat resistance.

It is for these tests that I am building my sculpture. I wish to use art as a medium of research. To many, this tactic may seem an obscure or inadequate form of research. I argue that art is almost always a form of research. Many artists draw to understand. Drawing requires close, intense study of the forms being drawn. In this way, it is a better study than that of hard data. In our society, where rational, ‘unbiased’ science is the only truth, visual studies lose their worth. Sometimes though, it is through art that things become most clear; our emotions, thoughts, and even physical understanding of the world. My sculpture will work to explain light to the audience in a way that will increase their understanding. It will also allow me to see how the LEDs effect art and let me judge if appearance is either better or worse than the current halogen bulbs.

Measuring bamboo to be cut.

In the field of lighting, and in particular gallery lighting, it is important to physically see the light in order to understand its value. It is also important to measure its intensity, brightness; things than cannot be measured by the human eye alone. This is why my sculpture will be incorporated with photocell light sensors. I will code a small computer unit to transmit the data on light intensity, in the form of lux, from various points on the sculpture to a computer and projector, which will graph in real time the levels of light. This way, I will be able to record how each LED bulb effects the art with hard data, as well as explain to viewers the relationship between light and art; as they see the graph (projected on an adjacent wall), change with different light levels.

I have been planning and designing the technology to use these photocells and have ordered the necessary parts. Now, to a review of my building so far. As I said in my last post, I have been collecting lots of bamboo and cutting it for my project. This week came time that I had enough to begin assembly. I began with a central pole, attached to a base of plywood, screwed on tight in order to support the rest of the sculpture. After this, it was simple enough to lash subsequent rings around the central pole (see photos).

The central pole.

expanding the sculpture: ring one.

expanding the sculpture with help from my lovely assistant, Megan.

This sculpture is simple in design, but labor intensive. I think the work put into the project is part of what makes the art. It is made of all natural materials, and so the hand of the artist is hard to trace. It seems to me that the viewer will be interested in the construction; for this reason in part I am keeping this blog as a record of my methods. I have hit a roadblock of sorts in the design. The central section grows larger and larger, and eventually it will become next to impossible to move. I have stopped adding pieces until final installation in the gallery. Once it is placed for display, I can add bamboo to create its full width; around 10 feet (oblong and wavering, think coast of an island rather than a perfect circle.)

I finished the central building of the sculpture the beginning of this week. Since then, I have been working on my final paper. This will be an amalgamation of the sustainable options available for the Boyden Gallery. It will be a working document which will help the gallery director, Cristin Cash, argue for funds to improve gallery lighting. It will also help me in my search for funds through the Student Government Association or perhaps other organizations. A lofty goal, but I have considered publishing an article on the uses of LEDs in an art gallery setting; not much literature exists in the field. In addition, I have been learning through drawing, working to improve my skills so that I can see the world with a more critical eye. I hope that my art can capture a new way of seeing, both in terms of sustainable thinking and lighting design.

The sculpture as it stands in the studio currently.

Harvesting Art

It has rained every day this week. I feel as though summer has come and gone already. In the midst of this rain, I have also continued the harvesting process for my sculpture. Every day, after my meetings and usually once I have some lunch in me, I drive my car across campus to the grove of bamboo. I park on the side of the dirt road maintenance uses to access its burn pile. Conveniently placed for my work, as I can not only cut my own bamboo but find some pre-cut in the discards of groundskeeping.

I take only a handsaw. This is partly for simplicity and sustainability of using only human power, sweat and furrowed brow to cut my art. It is also because I have no other alternative. It is laborious, so much so that I am thankful for the rain, because it brings refreshing cold so that I don’t sweat in the typical summer-hot sun.

Myself felling a tall bamboo shoot, tree, plant, what have you.

Bamboo is a great building material in that it comes prefabricated into poles, but it is simply unwieldy when carrying several pieces at once. It is necessary to drive; I was thankful when my girlfriend offered that I use her larger van, my small 5 seat Subaru was less than optimal to say the least, not to mention it was suffering from transmission troubles. 

After long work with the saw, I carried a large load of fresh wood (is it wood? I find bamboo unclassifiable as wood, but what else is it?) to the car to drive back to the studio. I always need more bamboo, my sculpture requires more volume than I had originally anticipated. I can only carry so many pieces in one load in the car without further cutting on location. This is where an electric or power saw would come in handy.

Several days ago I was scrolling my Instagram feed. In the mindless intake of images and mostly pointless words, I find a contemporary use of bamboo in the art world, subtly supporting environmentalism and nature much like my own. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was hosting a ‘Party in the Garden’ event, and used bamboo as an integral part of the sign. I feel that if the MoMA is using bamboo as a pleasing aesthetic, it gives my work credence.

Bamboo in pop culture. This might be an instance where once you start working with something daily, you start to see it everywhere.

How fitting that I wore a shirt featuring a panda while I cut bamboo; unplanned irony.

Bamboo Goes Big: Scaling up for my final sculpture

Yesterday morning the president of the college, Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, spoke with the members of the SMURF program. We were invited to ask about her experiences with undergraduate research. This was my first close interaction with the president, and I was pleased to hear her speak about her past. She was a biochemist, and her passion for research was inspiring of my own. After the meeting and a quick lunch, I met with Selwyn Ramp, the technical director of the gallery. Cristin Cash, the gallery director, was also on campus and free to talk. We discussed the future of my project, and I showed them my progress, both on the test sculpture and the lighting research. It seems as though my research this summer will end with simply a document and some test lights, I will have to work all next year in order to succeed in getting the LEDs installed. It seems as though the gallery has extreme difficulty in receiving funding. Still, I have hope. It is possible that we could purchase bulbs at roughly $13 per unit, which would only cost  around $663 total for all fixtures in the gallery.

Both Selwyn and Cristin liked the sculpture idea. I had drawn designs for my larger scale work, around 12 feet long and 6 feet tall. They convinced me to scale back to around 5 feet by 5 feet. I plan to expand if I have the time after my research is completed. After our meeting, I went off with a handsaw to the bamboo forest across Mattapany Road. It is hard work to cut bamboo, and I only came away with 7 pieces, rather long. Since I was cutting them down to various lengths, I then had to go to the studio and measure and mark each cut. I used the chop saw and quickly my sculpture is taking shape. I harvested more bamboo this morning. I hope to have a solid form of the sculpture completed by the end of this week.

Handsaw in hand, ready to harvest some bamboo.

Tomorrow I give a 5 minute talk on my work. I have been writing and practicing today, in the hopes of reducing my reliance on notes.

Finding Inspiration: Bringing the Brilliance of Environmental ‘Land Art’ to a Gallery Setting

As I began to develop ideas for my sculpture, I became more interested in an wholly environmentally conscientious work. I found it frustrating that I would use materials such as metal, plastic, treated wood; while still trying to convey an environmental message. All of these materials harm the earth in some way to be harvested and built. This led me to researching environmental artists.

Since the 1960s, the art world has seen the development of environmental art. Artists began to not just capture the world in representational images, but sculpt it in itself. A good example of some of the work the first ‘Land artists’ accomplished is Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. This famous work in Utah redefined what the canvas can be, stepping outside the traditional gallery setting to a work which viewers can walk upon and the weather can change.

Protruding into the Great Salt Lake of Utah, Smithson’s sculpture is actually submerged under water some of the time, a much different location for art than the clean walls of a gallery.

Although this medium was a novel idea for modern art, human influence on the environment is timeless. Even thousands of years ago, we can see brilliant land art in feats such as the Nazca Lines or Stonehenge. Still, Smithson and his counterparts blazed a new trail for the high art world, which has developed and grown since. Artists like Nils Udo work solely in the outdoors, developing temporary sculptures from rock, earth, and leaves. I have been studying Udo’s work, along with Andy Goldsworthy, Patrick Dougherty, Richard Shilling, and Anish Kapoor. Each of these artists interacts with the environment in a unique way, and I wish to learn from them in my own work.

Clemson Clay Nest — South Carolina’s Botanical Garden, 2005

I have developed several designs for sculptures, and have worked on testing them today. I desired to use a natural material, and preferably one which would not harm the ecosystem to harvest. Across america, and so here too on the St. Mary’s campus, copses of bamboo have popped up. These invasive species grow fast and take over the local forests, and are a detriment to the ecosystem despite their aesthetic appeal. This makes them an ideal material for art. I am not only developing a language for sustainable art, I am actively helping to reduce the amount of invasive plant matter in the local forests. And so today I have went and cut down several lengths of bamboo, and began the development of my sculptural plans. My vision is that of a large mass, around 12 feet in diameter, undulating in height and made from cross sections of bamboo. My mentor colloquially gave the design the name ‘the island.’ This island will stand tall and have various surface heights and angles, which will act perfectly for the investigation of light. I will research more on the use of light sensors in the work, which could provide the audience with tangible data on how light works. My test sculpture turned out satisfactorily. Below are some images of my process and the test structure.

I began by measuring a length of bamboo at increasing intervals of 1″ 2″ 3″ and so on, and then cut several pieces of each size.

The finished product; a small scale model of my final sculpture.

Detail of the sculpture.

I might also experiment with the ‘honeycomb’ appearance of bamboo cross sections.

How to Draw Sustainability?

My project has been going smoothy. I have contacted several companies about lighting options, and I think it will be fairly easy to switch to LED lights in the gallery. The average LED lasts for 25,000 hours, which would last around 14 years with our use at the gallery. The current incandescent bulbs last only 1,000 hours and therefore need to be replaced around twice a year. Factoring in the longevity of these bulbs, as well as the reduced electricity use (13 watts as opposed to 39 currently) switching would save thousands of dollars.

The issue comes now with attempting to communicate the uses of light in gallery spaces though art. I want to use shadow, and perhaps light sensors in the sculpture, but I also want the sculpture to be organic in nature. I have made sketches using bamboo, but I am unsure of how to make the work more representational and not simply abstract. Perhaps I don’t need to. The gallery has offered to provide me with plywood and 2x2s, but for some reason that medium doesn’t seem able to capture sustainability in the same way as using natural materials.

I am under the pressure of time to make this a reality, so it is better that I just get started. Often inspiration comes in the act. I will go out into the world and collect various sample materials to test in sculpture. I have been bringing my digital camera with me everywhere in order to gain inspiration from the light in the world. Art is a form of visual communication, and for this installation I wish to use it to teach. It is strange how hard it is to find the right images in order to accomplish one’s goals. I wish to draw sustainability, to capture the ideas ecological mindfulness while also drawing attention to the way light influences art. The best work is one that does this subtly, while still appealing aesthetically. I have my work cut out for me.

St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellow Program

Three days ago, on Monday, May 18th, I began my work under the St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research, better known as SMURF. This program provides undergraduate students in various disciplines funding in order to complete research over the summer. My project is a sustainability initiative to improve the Boyden Gallery lighting to something more energy efficient. Along with this, I will be installing an small art show of my own work which will investigate how lighting effects art.

The sun setting upon the St. Mary’s River, the scenic location of my campus.

My project grew from my deep concern over environmental degradation and climate change. I am passionate about our duties to reduce our impact on the world, and I wanted to find a way to do help at my school. In the spring semester of 2015 I worked on a project for my Applied Sustainability Practicum in which I researched and started the implementation process for occupancy sensor lighting in all four of the traditional residence halls on campus. I am proud to say that this change has been approved by the Student Government Association and administration and installation is set to begin this coming fall.

With this successful project under my belt, I felt experienced and ready to take on another sustainable project. I heard about SMURF through an all student email and asked my professor about being my mentor. He was interested and encouraged me to apply. The only question was of where to make a change. I have been working and volunteering with the Boyden Gallery this past year. Art is a passion of mine, and as I learned more about sustainability, I began to realize a controversy between my two interests. Art is typically about making new things, using materials, and in the process, creating waste. I decided I wanted to make art more green, and in particular, the Boyden Gallery. The lighting track for the gallery is original to the building, from the 1970s. It uses incandescent flood lights, these bulbs burning lots of energy and lasting short periods of time before needing replaced.

My research is tasked with the goal of finding an alternative light source. The most likely candidate is Light Emitting Diodes, commonly called LEDs. Art galleries hold a particular challenge in lighting design in that they must accurately display the art, create a pleasant mood; and with my added goal, be eco-friendly. Things like light level adaptability, accuracy of color, tone, and shadows will all be taken into account in my research. For this purpose I plan to use art as a means of investigation. I want to see how light changes our perception of art works, and how lighting should be used to create the best appearance, the ‘truest’, possible. I will do this through a main sculptural element, with supporting sculptures and two- dimensional works. Materials absorb and handle light differently. Some can be harmed by too much light. These are things I want to communicate to the audience in my art, and also find out for myself what option would work best for our gallery.

Through the examination of light, our perspective of art changes. All of art is simply reflections of light. I will use the visual communication of art, of light, to change the way we see sustainability, change how we approach research, in order to improve our planet.

Zen Art: a visual communication towards mental clarity

I have been recently introduced to the concept of ‘zen art.’ While researching Katsushika Hokusai, the Japanese master printmaker, in the St. Mary’s College stacks, I stumbled upon a book titled Zen Art for Meditation by Stewart W. Holmes and Chimyo Horioka. Published in 1973, this book acts as an introduction to Zen Buddhism tenets from the Western perspective, with ancient art acting as the primary teacher. There are 15 tenets, with a haiku, art work, and interpretation to supplement meditation.

        Clear Weather in the Valley, anonymous, circa 15th c. Japan

As instructed by the author, I sat and meditated with the image and haiku provided in the text. This process was pleasant. As I ‘read’ the image, soaking in each detail, my mind became focused on the process at hand, letting my thoughts calm. Eventually I began thinking only of the artist’s message, and my breath.

I think we all use art as meditation in a way. By gazing at a pleasing image, one is taken away to a different time or place, letting go of worries and thoughts of the present. I wish to use this technique in my art. By asking the audience to take time to process the art, a true collaboration can occur. The artist shares ideas from which the viewer can build.