Sen’s Modernist Post Structures

1019_1411walkri

Walk right in by Sen McGlinn in the Whangarei Quarry Gardens, New Zealand. Oct-Nov 2015.

 

1019_1415walkriOne of my sculptural interests is large outdoor works that can be entered and seen from the inside out. These works are sculptures on the scale of buildings, or buildings that use the visual vocabulary of 1019_1413walkrisculpture, rather than the language of architecture. As a sculpture, ‘Walk right in’ responds to the Russian modernist work known as ‘Tatlin’s tower,’ and Hossein Amanat’s Azadi monument. As a building, it demonstrates a technique for creating dynamic spaces in wood, with an effect completely different to the static effect of standard timber framing. The material is high quality Pinus radiata, with MCA treatment (an environmentally preferred product replacing tanalising). So the work is also a reminder of the important role of P. radiata in the New Zealand Northland economy, and a thank-you to those who have developed better cultivars, management plans and treatments.

0109_1536_spinoff.jpg

Spin-off by Sen McGlinn, in the Wharepuke Sculpture Gardens, Kerikeri, New Zealand.
On show until September 2016.

0109_1540_spinoff

My sculpture practice lies somewhere between micro-architecture and
autonomous sculpture, as I am interested in creating internal spaces
as well as surfaces and shadows. A sculpture can be as well designed
as a building / a building can be as sculptural as a work of art.

I’ve been working on a series of built sculptures that I call modernist post structures, using reciprocal frame structures as a sculptural form, and common fencing and farming supplies as a material. The repeated sloping pattern of the elements and the constant measurements make for a dynamic space, both inside and around the work. 0109_1536c_spinoff

 

 

Works in
the Modernist Post Series:

Every Angle, 2014
Lemon Squeezer + Domino theory, 2014
Walk Right In, 2015
Spin-off, 2015

The potato eaters at Chateau Bethlehem, Day 3

12 May 2013, Land Art Maastricht, Day 3

The potato eaters at Chateau Bethlehem, Willem (left) and Guido (right)

The potato eaters at Chateau Bethlehem, Willem Fermont (left) and Guido Ancion (right) prepare the ground
for Willem’s installation “Einstein’s Jaarringen” (Einstein’s Growth Rings).


Site specific installation by Guido Ancion at Land Art Maastricht, 12 May 2013

Site specific (Tree Slices) installation in progress by Guido Ancion at Land Art Maastricht, 12 May 2013


"Tama" a floating flower form made out of plastic donated by Tama McGlinn.

“Tama” a floating flower form made out of plastic donated by Tama McGlinn.


After the radio interview for “Timo à la Carte” (information online in Dutch) in the Maastricht ‘het landhuis’ an alternative space for cultural and ecological initiatives, I then set out the first ‘garbage’ flower, “Tama.” Each flower is named after the person whose plastic litter I use.

More about Land Art Maastricht is here. Go back to Day 1 on this blog or to Day 4.

Land Art Maastricht, Day 1

Sen and Sonja start a new sculpture in the grounds of Chateau Bethlehem, for Land Art Maastricht

Sen and Sonja start a new sculpture in the grounds of Chateau Bethlehem, for Land Art Maastricht.

Artists at work at Land Art Maastricht

Artists at work at Land Art Maastricht. In the foreground Sjoerd Schwibettus (Arnhem).

22 artists from seven countries came to work for 9 days to make site specific sculptures in the grounds of Chateau Bethlehem, which is currently used by as a campus for the Maastricht Hotel School.
See the website for a listing of the artists.

Between 4 and 6 each afternoon are artist presentations.
Today Johannes Gérard (Berlin) and Paul Hoftijzer (NL) presented their work.
To day two >>

“Oratory at Tahora,” sculpture / land art

Sculpture made out of dead tree branches and wood by Sen McGlinn + Sonja van KerkhoffThis is one of the sculptures we made for Tahora High-country International Sculpture on Kerry Turner’s sheep farm.

Sculpture of 9 seats in a circle covered by 5 branches by Sen McGlinn + Sonja van Kerkhoff

Click on any image to view a larger photograph
in a new window

Detail: Teachers and children from Marco school try out the seats by Sen McGlinn + Sonja van Kerkhoff.A circle of nine seats made out of the remains from a wood chopping competition underneath the shade of five branches collected from dead trees.

More photos are here >>

 

Video installation / sculpture out of recycled materials

Viewed from above: a sculpture / video installation made from recycled materials on Jan 31st in Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.

Viewed from above: a sculpture / video installation made from recycled materials
on Jan 31st in Puke Ariki, New Plymouth.

Sen and Sonja were in New Plymouth, Aotearoa / New Zealand, to participate in the 4th SCANZ residency at WITT (The Western Institute of Technology Taranaki). Their project was to create a sculptural form for the 5 video work “Kāinga a roto” using recycled materials as much as could be possible. Thanks to use of Ans’ camper we were able to transport the leftover recycled wood from our Rotorua project. The wood for the arches was recycled from the Govett-Brewster Gallery undergoing renovations, and most of the cardboard came from a construction site.

Thanks to the help of many and the use of the WITT workshop, it was finished in time for the opening on Feb 2nd, in Puke Ariki (the Taranaki museum of natural history + ethnology) in New Plymouth.
More about this work as well as images of the finished work is here >>
 

The RAVE furniture

Jam Session on Jan 13th in Rotorua. Barry (on the reject seat to the right of the Table seat) Don (on the macrapapa seat) and Anna (on the retro bench).

Jam Session on Jan 13th in Rotorua. Barry (on the “Reject” seat, so called, because it had borer in the wood) to the right of the “Table” seat) Don (on the “Macrapapa” seat) and Anna (on the “Retro” bench).

Sen’s art residency was to create new stuff out of old wood or old furniture donated by the citizens of Rotorua.
Sen flanked by a musician and a yoga practitioner

Sen flanked by a musician and a yoga practitioner


Here are the results of this. For the Jan 13th Hot Lakes Craft Fair we took the chairs outside and a jam session ensued courtesy of Don C (on Martin guitar), Anna on ukelele, and Barry on harmonica.

Sen’s proposal was to make a sculptural gazebo or temple form from diverse seats a bit like the June 2012 project however in response to the wood we ended up with, we made furniture (Sonja made the “Macrapapa” seat and Sen made all the other items. In the end 9 seats (benches or chairs) and one vanity were created.

>> The blog about Sen’s first three chairs
>> Sen’s proposal with illustrations
>> Our final project at RAVE: The exhibition, “Portraits of the Spirit – Ngā Whakaahua o te Wairua”

RAVE Rotorua Residency 2012/13 – Sen McGlinn

Sen McGlinn’s project for the December 2012 – January 2013 RAVE (Rotorua Artist Village)

Sculpture for community spirit

I intend to use furniture and recycled timber, and other wood if necessary, to build a sculpture in modules, each containing a seat. The modules can be arranged in a circle to create an internal space that can be used for a jam session or poetry reading, for a club meeting, a prayer or meditation session, or for a small open forum on community issues.

Jam session on 15th July 2012, in Galerie de Pieter, Leiden

Jam session on 15th July 2012, in
Galerie de Pieter, Leiden. More about this work
See a 5 minute video of this jam session

The only condition will be that the events have no charge, and preferably they should be open to the public.

Weather and space permitting I’d also like to place these structures outside at times, so that some of the groups could meet on the grass next to the RAV buildings.

The process will start with a number of wooden chairs, which will be transformed one by one into modules of the sculpture, by myself or others who join in to work with me or perhaps members of the public who would like to drop into the studio at RAV and learn some woodworking and/or sculptural skills.

If you wish to learn how to work with wood from scratch or have a lot of experience with wood and want to work on this project make a comment below giving an idea of your skills and I'll comment back with a time and day we could meet in the RAV studios from December 14th onwards. Later there will details below about the types of workshops that will be on offer.

By early January I hope to have a programme of events to occur inside the work, in the studio or outside.

However the point for me is not only that the sculpture should be used: even when it is not being used, it should speak of the possibility of community. Recycled wood, ideally from broken furniture, will also convey the message of making something new out of what comes to hand, which is a metaphor in itself. Since I will not be bringing broken wooden furniture with me (from the Netherlands), I will be asking for donations of light wooden furniture.

I am also interested in the potential of straw and clay as a sculptural material (and straw bale construction in general), and I would like to contact someone in the area who is building in these materials (architects or home builders) and invite them to give a session at the Arts Village.Detail of a nine part sculpture made from recycled wood in 2012 in The Netherlands.

I will offer workshops myself, on the themes of organic society (a philosophical approach) and of getting in touch with wood (a really basic hands-on introduction to the properties of the material and how to work it).

If you would like to use this sculptural structure for your club meeting, to give a talk, for a bingo session, you name it …, then make a comment below about the type of event you’d like to have or drop into the RAV studios between Dec 14 and 24th.

More photos of the June 2012 nine piece sculpture made in the Netherlands >>