Reduction

Following the line of development, I've decided that 'Reduction' is a suitable title for this series of work that I've been producing.

Because, logically, 'reducing' the form of these objects is exactly what I am doing. From the moment in the Catalysts project when I decided to deconstruct the CD player, I was reducing it's form to simply the screws. Whether or not this action has any particular meaning can still be debated - I prescribed no meaning to it besides 'destruction' when I started, and only later did I contemplate what it could have signified.

After developing a pattern of behaviours (find item, unscrew item, glue screws together, bin mess, rinse, repeat...) I felt that I was making no progress. Whilst I had very much enjoyed reducing these items, I've simply ended up with a collection of reduced forms, and how can I change that? How can I possibly continue without getting bored? Once you establish routine, you normalise the forms and from that point on it becomes repetitive and dull.

In an attempt to explore the other possible forms, I've totally avoided the super glue. Below are the screws found in a broken typewriter I liberated from my local dump. 

I laid them out neatly on an A4 sheet - it occurred to me later that this was fairly ironic, as a white A4 sheet of paper may be exactly what we put in the typewriter, so the presentation forms what is almost a parody of the destroyed function. 

In addition to the screws, an interesting metal form was found as part of the leverage to pull the letters to print the page. These little hooks were a vital part of the structural tension of the typewriter. After I sorted them out by their specific shape and curvature, I photographed them on an A4 page of my sketchbook. I decided to glue them in, in exactly this form, as I found it aesthetically pleasing.

To progress with the screws, I researched into forms of kinetic sculpture - the antithesis of the static sculptures I had created. I also had wanted to try fixing the screws together using some other medium, so I tied them together with string. Unfortunately within moments the strands became tangled, and the string was too fragile to pull it all apart. 

To recover this, I did nothing.

Instead, I simply experimented with the mess that I had. If I stretch it out it looks like fruit on branches. If I shove it all in a bunch in the middle then it looks more dense, as it occupies space on the page in a shape that we can understand more easily.

By changing the shape, I can change the perception of the mass present.

The last image shown above is the string left over after removing the screws. I'm not sure if I like it, mostly because it was born out of a deep frustration and untying all the knots hurt my fingers. Also quite frankly the string bundled up looks strangely reminiscent of noodles, and any significance in the transformation of the space/mass is lost in the viewer thinking of noodles.

So I feel like I've reached a dead end here, unless I want to bring new materials into the mix. 

With the screws now separate, I decided to fix them together with a piece of wire. Here they are in the chain created.

This now appears as some awful crack through the white image. It's also a much more awkward shape to display, and creates a larger volume of space around it in the image.

I don't know what line of thinking I wish to develop - whether I consider new materials and continue reducing (but by introducing something 'new' this seems to have shot itself in the foot already) or start reducing another object in hope that I will discover an idea that I believe is suitable for the project.