George Square Revisted

I had my tutorial with the visiting artist today and it has been very helpful in giving me focus and direction for how I am going to bring the work to a 'conclusion' for the pitch next week. Going over my ideas from the inception of the project to where I am now, the central themes of my interest have not changed and continue to be based around light, rhythm, space and motion. However, what has defined what the work is going to be and what it is about is the site. Reading about Daan Brinkmann's work has made me reflect on why I want the work to be sited in a public place as it is about how people occupy space, specifically urban space, and how they interact with others, with a strong element of play! I keep returning to the idea of George Square as a space for the work as it is an iconic public space in Glasgow, but also has had recent media coverage over its redevelopment plans. The article I came across was on the Scotland Guardian online blog and basically highlights the controversy over the redevelopment plans for the square with critics claiming that priority had been given to commercial interests/uses of the site rather than its use for the people of Glasgow, as 'a park in the heart of the city'.

Photoshop impression of the work

This has really struck a chord with me and created the suitable context for siting the work there. On that basis, I have decided to redesign the idea of the work and rather than have a projection on glass as I had originally considered doing, I want the projection to fall on the square itself. In doing this, I feel it opens up the work far more than having it projected in an enclosed space. I am still going to use the spot as the visual form of the work as it connects with my interest in organic and manmade forms in the environment and the spot itself a universal symbol that has strong art historical links from Kandinsky to Kusama. However instead of spots falling and drifting in a vertical install, the work is generated by  pedestrians as they walk and move through the square. Each footfall will generate a coloured spot that will 'evapourate' in time, whereas a static position will generate a spot that increases in size until it intersects with the spot of another pedestrian/participant. The converging spots will create beautiful overlapping colour and trigger a cascade of coloured spots. The square becomes a 'canvas' for the 'participants' motion as the pedestrians activate the space, whilst also becoming more aware of how they relate to the space and each other in a public space.