Drawing for site specific proposals

Occasionally I decide to look at one particular artist or artwork in order to highlight a certain aspect of drawing practice. I have looked at Krzysztof Wodiczko before but in this case what I wanted to do was to show how important drawing can be for project visualisation, and as a help when thinking through how to communicate site specific proposals. 

Monument for the Living

'Monument for the Living' is a work typical of Wodiczko's practice and it shows how he can fuse a political message with a gripping visual image, in this case a talking statue. Political art can so often be dry and visually uninteresting, but Wodiczko is aware of the need for messages to be contained within seemingly magical structures, especially if they are to have resonance beyond the particular and go on to have mythical impact. 

'Monument for the Living'

Wodiczko has always used drawing as a way to think through his ideas. 

Mobile Home for the Homeless 

Drawing for projection

Ideas for various previous projects

In developing 'Monument for the Living' Wodiczko uses drawing to work out how it would be possible to project onto a statue and where a projector needs to be sited in order to achieve his ambition. 

Drawings made to work out the positioning of a projector 

The drawings above are working drawings and would not normally be exhibited, but they are vital to an understanding of Wodiczko's practice. Look at this proposal  that Wodiczko put together for a different but related site specific public monument. Once again drawing is central to the communication of the idea. This time he is using a drawing to communicate how the piece would work to the project commissioners rather that as a way of thinking his way through to an idea's solution, this is why it is a far more 'finished' drawing. But I would hope that the relationship between the two sorts of drawings is clear. Without the initial 'thinking the idea through' drawing, he would not have been able to put together the finished drawing for the proposal.  

Speaking statues: installation proposal drawing

It's interesting to compare his practice to Michelangelo's who also had to propose large scale public monumental art works and convince people to pay for what he was making.

Michelangelo working drawing

Michelangelo: 'Finished' drawing for a client

Using drawing to think through proposals and to communicate your ideas to other people is perhaps going to become more and more important, especially if as artists we are going to find ourselves having to communicate more on line. Wodiczko is a particularly interesting artist to research if you are wanting to think about the potential for site specific projection work. 

See also: 

Drawing for site specific proposals: Part two

Drawing for site specific proposals: Part three

Another post on Krzysztof Wodiczko
Drawing as exhibition proposals
A detailed document exploring 3D visualisations for planning proposals, this includes planning for sculpture in public sites.

Krzysztof Wodiczko

Mobile Home for the Homeless 

There were several drawing related issues that could have been highlighted as a result of going on the trip last week to the Liverpool Biennale. However I am just going to pick out what for me was the standout exhibition; Krzysztof Wodiczko at FACT.

From the video installation 'Guests'

The Krzysztof Wodiczko exhibition was particularly interesting in relation to how he uses drawing to visualize his ideas. He uses video, projections, objects and prosthetics to explore themes of immigration and displacement. As well as his immersive video projection installation ‘Guests’, on display were his body extensions, wheeled carriages, mobile home for the homeless and initial technical drawings and sketchbook drawings for his various pieces of work.

'Guest' used the device of filming all the participants from behind a 'frosted glass' set of windows, only their shadow could be seen, they were never in full focus. However their voices could be heard and text moved across the screen giving us an English translation. This device ensured that the 'migrants' who were at the centre of the piece were unrecognisable as individuals, they were in effect shadow people, a strong metaphor for their actual existence. They are captured by the lens in such a way that the process of capture, becomes an analogy for their status in the 'real' world. 

Walking machine

Drawing for Mobile Home for the Homeless

Some of Wodiczko's drawings are very technical and others more informal, but in both cases what you realise is that he needs to use drawing to work through what it is that he wants to do.

Drawings for various projects

He is a very interesting artist to look at, in particular he has been making work in response to the refugee crisis well before it became a big media story. His support for the ‘outsider’ and his interest in highlighting where power resides in our various institutions are both important issues, and demonstrate that an artist can be both politically active and still make interesting art.

It's interesting to look at the drawings above in relation to the actual video projection below, you can see how much is worked out in drawing before he sets out to make the video. 

Krzysztof Wodiczko: Projection

See also:

 More on Krzysztof Wodiczko