CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
"DUALISM"
AN INSTALLATION
An abstract submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts irt
Art
by
Stephanie Habif
May, 1983
The abstract of Stephanie Habif is approved:
(Maryann/ Dan1n)
.
},;
(John CanaV(i'er) '
c;:
,
(Robert -~r ·committee Chairman)
California State University, Northridge
ii
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I dedicate this project to my loving father. My
heartfelt thanks to him, for he gave me the support
necessary to bring the project to fruition.
Multiple special thanks to my mother and my sister
who were there for me when I needed them the most.
Special thanks to Laurie Garris and Bob Bassler.
iii
ABSTRACT
DUALISM
An Installation
by
Stephanie Habif
Master of Arts in Art
This masters project, entitled "DUALISM", was not
merely a culminating installation, but rather a total,
multi-faceted experience, including the gamut of personal
reflections both on my own part and on the part of the
many who viewed it.
Through the process of finding a space in which the
installation would evolve, I decided to allow the space
itself to dictate important aspects of the final structure.
This method not only seemed foreign to me, but set up a
struggle within me that ultimately became evident in the
experience of the environment itself.
In giving in to the
dictates of the space, r- was forced to give up a great
1
2
need on my part for control, so that finally one aspect
of the duality expressed in this piece became that of controlled, formal order versus chaos that existed within
the rigidity of that framework.
The formal elements consisted of three triangles,
absolute in their positioning and configurations.
(fig.A)
Two of. the triangles were made up of individual black
cast paper panels, 6' 8" x 30" x 2".
These panels were
placed side by side forming a wall-like structure and
were positioned so close together, so as to allow just a
sliver of space between each panel.
This juxtapositioning
made viewing what was enclosed in the triangles more of a
frustrated discovery than an obvious disclosure.
Each panel had the same pattern integrated into it's
structure.
This pattern was in the form of a relief sur-
face, consisting of a long narrow rectangular shape that
rose from the base of the form and stopped just prior to
meeting a gridwork made up of a series of small rectangles.
(fig.B)
In contrast, the perimeters of the panels
possessed a fragile irregular edge.
This combination of
opposing elements represented a paradox in themselves.
The mere fact that the panels
made of paper is ironic.
wer~
used as walls, but were
In isolation, these qualities
inherent in the panels represented the essence of the
piece itself.
Enclosed within the first triangle were suspended
3
fragments of tumbleweeds, multifariously layered against
a backdrop of white patterned gridwork on a black ground.
(fig.l-7)
The interior of this entirely black space was
bathed in strong light, so tbat the image afforded the
viewer peering through the extremely narrow openings was
one of threatening, elegant confusion and beckoning light.
(fig.C)
While the second triangle bore an outward resemblance
to the first in its use of the black panels as a protective barrier, its interior space was much more chaotic due
to its use of various conflicting elements.
Suspended
against a white interior background was a black wire grid,
(fig.D)
through which pierced black and white twigs of
varying lengths.
(fig.lO)
These twigs were seen as forces
moving toward each other with great energy in an attempt
at communion.
Also within this space, located in a far
corner, was a group of bound white twigs in front of which
was placed a mound of earth, carefully surrounded by a
gridlike fence at its base.
(fig.l2-14)
The foundation
of this grouping represented the point of conception, the
beginning of a new structure.
Thus, this area was symbolic
of vulnerability and fragility requiring cultivation, nurturing and protection from external forces.
In the third and final triangle, the visible walls,
as seen in the two previous triangles have disappeared,
replaced instead by a simple delineation of white tape
4
directly on the black floor, marking out the triangular
configuration.
(fig.l8)
Within the confines of this mark-
ing hung twenty-eight white cast paper panels,
(fig.E)
layered one behind the other and placed so that the irregular unravelled edges of each successive panel inched its
way beyond the former panel, creating a singular mass effect, defined by black shadows.
(fig.21-22)
The fact
that the entire exterior environment was black, gave these
white panels an appearance of rising up out of the darkness.
Whereas before, the interior spaces were seen as
fragmented elements operating chaotically, this third
space offered a simple, seemingly solid (yet still fragile)
whole.
In the other two triangles, the exterior walls
play such a prominent role in protecting and secluding
the interior turmoil, yet in this final area, the walls
are all but nonexistent.
However, the interior turmoil
has gathered itself into a powerful _order, becoming almost
an internal blockade.
Directly in front of the first white
panel stood a delicately perched black, thorny branch
trailing onto the floor and upward across its white backdrop.
(fig.24-28)
Contained behind this mass and visible
only through determined searching, was a small ordered
grouping of earth and branches, creating a peaceful, ritualistic quality not apparent in any of the other spaces.
(flg.27)
The signifigance of this triangle was in the
sense of resolution among the conflicting elements housed
within the self, affording a potential harmony and unific-
5
p •
ation of the ongoing opposing forces.
Once this piece was completed, the next experience
was that of the viewer's impressions, the relationship
that he/she established with the work.
The following essay
was written by Ken Lauria and is an expression of his own
personal interaction with the installation.
Sunday afternoon, December 5, 1982, I entered the
studio.
Darkness.
I walked down a short hallway to the
first triangle and peered inside between the panels, tumbleweeds suspended, a sense of
~oncentrated
energy, inter-
esting effect of focusing first on foreground with background out of focus, then bringing background into focus
with foreground out of focus.
The tumbleweed's possess an
aggressive, ominous effect, of threatening energy, power
leashed, latent. I turn to the center triangle of white
panels.
I still feel a strong sense of concentrated energy.
But here it is highly focused, whereas in the first triangle it was scattered, uncontained, uncontrolled and uncontrollable.
The white panels possess a serenity, a dig-
nity, quiet subdued, yet still powerful, an elegant simplicity and compactness of statement, not frantic, as in
the first triangle -- an energy of resolve.
Turn around to the next triangle, the.most interesting, though not therefore the most significant.
I exper-
ienced a sense of struggle, of battle, of confusion.
At
the center, a bouquet of long white twigs entwined in a
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helical wire wrap,
(fig.l5) the intertwining of different
layers of meaning:
the wire wrap as forces of constraint,
of containment, of entanglement.
of energy, of motion of growth.
The wire wrap as vortex
The wire wrap as the double
helix -- the outer reflections of the inner cellular growth
process, of reproduction, of identity.
My next discoveries were earth behind the center
triangle, the soft green lighting along the white panel
bottoms and the panel shadows black on white.
The careful
attention to textures, to slight shadow movements as the
panels sway back and forth.
As a man squatted -- middle-
aged, balding, and reached in to feel the panel material,
I could feel the panels recoil.
Further thoughts of the installation days later.
The progression of schema:
First triangle (tumbleweeds)
Second triangle (grid/twigs)
Third triangle (white panels) First triangle
thesis
antithesis
synthesis
introduction of protaganist (the
tumbleweeds) on level of ideas,
the representation of natural
forces, life forces, forces of
growth and being.
Second triangle -
the struggle (grids and wire vs
twigs) ;
inorganic vs organici
crystalline structure, order,
perfection/stagnation vs the
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chaotic life forces as typified
by cellular growth.
Third triangle -
resolution of struggle.
Movement
of participants onto a higher plane.
The twigs have broken out of their
triangular prison of black panels.
The transformation through struggle
of the black panels (of which the
grids are just one manifest form)
of the enclosure of black panels
into white panels, arrayed almost
petallike, like the petals of a
lotus now entered into a relation
with the twigs.
The birth of a
new growth process.
The green
light of growth underlying the nature of the new relationship.
The signifigance of panels, grid and twigs is a
primary one of structuraL relationships and therefore
yields itself to signification at any level for the engaged observer.
My interpretation is as follows:
PSYCHOLOGICAL - The struggle of personality forces within
the individual to break free from super ego restraints.
SOCIETAL - Much the same as psychological.
The life lov-
ing individual's struggle to break free from organizational morays and constraints.
Evolution (iri the third tri-
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angle) to a society in which the needs of the individual
are served.
In the third triangle, the strong sense of
dignity in the interrelationship between the solitary
black branch and white panels.
RELIGIOUS- Jacob's struggle with the angel.
triangle:
The third
beyond good and evil, the Tao, black vs white.
The impressions that Ken Louria expressed here are
obviously very personal, yet I feel they reflect to a
certain extent the feelings of many of those who experienced the environment.
Probably the single-most impor-
tant aspect of not only Ken's response, but others as
well, is the absorption of the confusion and the chaos
found therein.
Perhaps I myself was looking for some sort
of order or resolution through the reactions of the viewers,
and so their response became, for me, an element in the
entire process of expressing and communicating my conceptual feelings.
In a way, the viewer formed a link be-
tween my struggle to communicate these innermost feelings
and my need to find a unifying element through which I
might discover order and harmony.
As I reflect back on
the environment as total experience, I am convinced that
it was not by chance that this piece formed the apex of a
triangle between myself and the viewer, and that together
our communicative efforts and responses succeeded in
making up a whole.
9
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1.
TRIANGLE NUMBER ONE fig. 1-7
white chalk drawing on black background, tumbleweeds,
light, iron oxide, cast paper panels.
Progression of multiple views between panels, looking
into the enclosure.
2.
TRIANGLE NUMBER TWO fig. 8-10
welded wire grid, black and white twigs.
View between panels, as the eye travels the viewpoint
is altered.
3.
TRIANGLE NUMBER TWO fig. 11
wire mesh grid 5" x 12" attached to welded wire grid,
black and white twigs.
Close-up view between panels.
4.
TRIANGLE NUMBER TWO fig. 12-15
welded wire grid, wire grid wrap, earth, black and
white twigs.
View between panels of corner arrangement consisting
of white twigs bound by a wire grid, at its base a
mound of earth fronted by a small fence-like structure.
5.
TRIANGLE NUMBER TWO fig. 16-17
welded wire grid, black and white twigs.
Side view into enclosed area of grid structure with
twigs piercing through obstructed by the panel barrier.
6.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 18-20
twenty-eight white handmade cast paper panels, black
lacquered thorn branch.
Top views of layered white panels.
7.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 21
cast white handmade paper panels, thorn branch.
Left frontal view.
8.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 22
cast white handmade paper panels.
Side left view.
9.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 23-25
handmade white cast paper panels, black thorn branch.
Close-up views with shadow.
10
10.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 26
cast paper panels.
Close-up of side view.
11.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 27
cast paper panels, branches, earth.
Right side view behind panels.
12.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 28
cast paper panels, black thorn branch.
Base of panels, black and white thorn branch trailing
onto the floor.
13.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. 29
cast paper panels.
Close-up cast shadows on white panels near base.
14.
TRIANGLE NUMBER
black and white
branch, light.
Partial view of
triangle number
ONE AND THREE fig. 30-31
cast paper panels, word blocks,
triangle number three in foreground,
one in background.
15.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE AND TWO fig. 32
black and white cast paper panels, wooden blocks and
light.
Partial view of triangle number three in foreground
and triangle number two in background.
16.
TRIANGLE ONE IN PROCESS fig. 33
black seamless paper, chalk-drawn grid.
17.
STUDIO IN PROCESS fig. 34
seamless paper, handmade paper panels, wood blocks,
twigs, tumbleweed, ladder.
18.
TRIANGLE NUMBER ONE PROCESS fig. 35-36
tumbleweeds, cast paper panels, fabric, grid, light.
View prior to enclosure.
19.
STUDIO IN PROCESS fig. 37
cast handmade paper panels in background, tumbleweed
fragments in foreground.
20.
DIAGRAM OF FLOOR PLAN
21.
STUDIO IN PROCESS fig. B
black handmade cast paper panels.
Panels leaning against. studio wall, before installation into the space.
fig. A
11
22.
TRIANGLE NUMBER ONE fig. C
tumbleweeds, light.
Closeup view between panels into triangular enclosure.
23.
TRIANGLE NUMBER TWO fig. D
S"xl2" wire mesh grid, welded wire grid, black and
white twigs.
Closeup.
24.
TRIANGLE NUMBER THREE fig. E
white cast handmade paper panels, thorn branch.
Left frontal view.
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TRIANGLE ONE
l
2
4
5
7
3
6
13
TRIANGLE TWO
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
14
TRIANGLE THREE
18
19
. 20
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
16
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TRIANGLE COMBINATIONS
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30
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34
36
37
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32
IN PROCESS
33
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35
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B
18
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19
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