Paper Pulp Project / Artist Research

The artist that I researched for my paper pulp project is Roni Horn. Roni Horn works in many mediums that include sculpture, drawing, site-specific installation and photography. Roni was born and raised in New York; and received her undergraduate degree at RISD and her MFA at Yale University.  Horn is very drawn to the idea of site-specific art and claims that her art is wholly dependent on the site, the entrance, the exit, and the experience. Horn's artwork is said to explore 'the mutable nature of art' and she was very much inspired by her upbringing in New York City as well as Iceland, where she spent a great amount of time. When talking about her love for landscapes Horn states, "Growing up in a very “old” landscape—New York City—it’s origins are secreted from the present. I mean that the geological aspect of the landscape in New York City can only be experienced theoretically at this point. In Iceland, you understand empirically exactly what this place is: its what and how. That accessibility effects the nature of one’s experience, the experience of the world. Any place you’re going to stand in, in any given moment, is a complement to the rest of the world, historically and empirically. What you can see in that moment, what you can touch in that moment, is confluent with everything else."

These are a few of the pieces by Horn that I was inspired by:

 Pair Field, 1991
solid forged copper, stainless steel
eighteen different pairs of identical objects

These images below are of the final resolution of my project. The objects that I found in an abandoned apartment: beer cans, 35 mm slides, a condensed milk can, nails, screws, and bottle caps that are covered with white and black paper pulp. I was struggling to find a way to present these found objects, and I wanted to present them in the way in which I found them. I decided to incorporate them in the space in which I found them, and I believe through integrating them, they now become part of the many objects inhabiting this space, yet they are defaced. Defacing the objects in which they are somewhat identifiable in contrast with the recognizable objects is a concept I found interesting visually. By contrasting the two, I think of loss, abandonment, and revival. Revival because I have now turned them into something new--to be found, to be discarded eventually, to be forgotten about. These are the things we leave behind, these are the objects that stand the test of time.