Samantha Sam's profile

Manifesto: Process Art

Manifesto: Process Art
Project Type: Exhibition
Site: NTU CCA, Singapore
Year: 2019
CONCEPT

Process art is a tendency from post minimalism reacting against minimalism. The word “Minimalism” evokes rigid, geometric forms, void of emotion and evidence of the artists’ hand.  Process Art places its emphasis on the process and act of artistic creation rather than the actual finished work that comes out of it.  “It’s the journey, not the destination”.

Works chosen are imbued with human expressiveness therefore people should not be coming here to expect the most finished and polished works. This exhibition is to appreciate and take into consideration the way art works are being produced. These art works here are a documentation of the process as it brings the audience behind the scene of what is displayed in front of them.
The first two room that visitor enter shows the evolution of art movement from minimalism to post minimalism also known as process art. In the first room, the two sculptures by Eva Hesse and Tony Smith is placed side by side to create a direct comparison of how a geometric cube can be transformed into something soft and dedicate with the hands of the artist. To bring across minimalism, the removal of distraction, the lights in the room are uniformly lit and the four walls are structured and rigid. As for the second room, it will be lit up by the light sculptures itself.   


After the visitor exit the second room, the light intensity will be controlled to give a smooth transition from the dark room through a narrow walkway that subtly becomes brighter. The walkway will also starts to get wider while the rigidness of the wall is broken down into vertical steel rods that allows light from behind the wall to seep into the walkway. A translation of process art breaking away from the strict guidelines of minimalism is conveyed through the physical partitions of the exhibition space. 

Art works displayed along the walkway are works by artist that made them transcend from a minimalist to post minimalist. Therefore, I chose these artworks to take visitors behind the factor for the shift of art movement in 1960s.
Another categorization of art works in this area are works that document the evidence of artist hand. As such, these art works allows visitors to visualize the movement of artist actions during the creation. With the idea of remaining work process visible with traces not being erased by subsequent interventions. For example, the minimalistic cube by Ulrich Ruckriem challenges viewers to reflect on the manner in which the stone was processed and to comprehend the procedures involved in its violation, including the process of restoring it to its original condition. Evidence of the fundamental techniques of splitting and cutting is still visible as scars in the form of drill holes, broken edges, and cut lines on the otherwise unprocessed surfaces.
Two of the art works are placed at the very end of the exhibition to convey the message on global concern. This is to create awareness for visitors as a topic to ponder about even after leaving the exhibition. The first message is the creation of city dump caused by modern existence shown by Leonardo Drew through materials subjected to the process of weathering, oxidation, burning and decay. The second message by El Anatsui on slavery in regards to global consumption is shown through a labor-intensive work of composing sheets of crushed liquor bottle cap collected in Nigeria that was used for trade.
The main idea I want my audience to take away from this exhibition is the idea of not being afraid to flaunt the creative side of oneself as art should not be restricted to certain rules and regulation. It should be a platform for the creative juice to flow and not be afraid to make mistakes during the process as it is what that would led to the beauty of the end product.

Therefore, the activity space is created for parents and children to use paint as a medium to create art works on the canvas. The idea of process art will be reemphasize through this activity as visitor enjoys the process of creation.
Manifesto: Process Art
Published:

Manifesto: Process Art

Published: