Friday 14 October 2011

Gravitational Potential. The Great Central Gallery.

Gravitational Potential 14/10/11 The Great Central Gallery, Leicester

Hang/Rotate 10/201 - Daniel Goodwin










Drop to Green  10/2011 Daniel Goodwin

Lampost Hoist 10/2011 Daniel Goodwin



Monday 10 October 2011

Monday 3 October 2011

Gravitational Potential

The Great Central Gallery prize 2011, awarded to Daniel Goodwin.
 Gravitational Potential, friday the 14th Oct. till the 23rd Oct. (Fri/Sat/Sun (1-5pm))


http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-Central/108708570059


http://www.thegreatcentral.org/home.html


-a series of works which explores physical experiences of height represented through sculpture and video-




Sunday 25 September 2011

A situation engineered to develop a clear understanding of weight and time, through direct physical experience. A lesson reinforced with the application of shock.








Influenced somewhat by a diluted understanding of Buddhist philosophy, Daniel Goodwin is interested in the perception of reality and the flaws of a perception hindered by the uninhibited murmurings of the mind. 
The situation that the work enforces is an attempt to silence the mind with the use of physically demanding actions, encouraging a clear understanding.

The work comprises of two parts, the sculptural object, that is the situation, and the event, represented through video… holding a concrete weight underneath a bucket of water that is held up by a large steel structure, the artist drops the weight due to fatigue, in dropping the weight he cuts the rope that holds the bucket, releasing water onto himself. 

The physicality of the work recalls the work of the Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who often presented videos showing himself falling, using gravity as a medium.
 
Within Daniel Goodwin’s practice there lies an inconsistency, somewhere in-between the initial idea and the physical act, a knowingly hypocritical plunge into thought (of the mind and opposed to the physical).  The inclination towards a physical justification of things is hindered by the design of such situations, which is conducted in a mostly mental arena. 

The foundations for this work are trembling and underdeveloped.  The diluted understanding of Buddhist philosophy, which this work is built upon, cannot support the complexities of the completed structure. 

Farcical from the beginning, hypocritical in its development and absurd in the final act; drenching yourself in water to learn a lesson? 
In this absurdity the work finds reference in the work of Andreas Slominski.  He often employs a wry sense of wit in his work, which is usually based on problematic ideas; mocking the usual way of doing things he often chooses a more awkward route.  In doing this he places emphasis on the process and creates a curious fascination about his practice.

Daniel Goodwin’s work revels in absurdity although the artist remains deadpan, increasing the opportunity for humour and revealing a genuine interest in the work.




Saturday 24 September 2011

Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced/Continued

















Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced/Continued
Continuing from my previous work Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced.

This work is an investigation into the physicality of materials, of weight, of balance and of my experience with these physical forces.  The physical aspect of the work is important to my practice and me because I feel that direct physical interaction or experience brings about a more truthful understanding of the specifics involved in a certain situation.  Opposed to and understanding developed and restricted by mind.

I have engineered a sculpture/situation, which allows me to experience these forces.  The sculpture is a V-shape structure, which pivots on a central point made from concrete. 
The structure is informed by my previous work Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced this was a similar structure, with only one side of the V set into a concrete base.  Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced was created very quickly; because of this immediacy the work was not structurally sound.  This new work was more considered so that it might last more than a week. 

This work expands on the idea of conversation.  The work responds to prompts, which I initiate (cutting/shift in weight) due to the shift in weight the work pivots and finds a new balance point.
I think of this process in relation to the structure of conversations so that I might realise parallels in other processes, such as the barriers, which reflect similarities in their physical forms and also the process involved…

1Initial interaction or prompt/ 2car approaches/ 3cutting wood.

1Response/                             2Barrier lifts/       3sculpture shifts balance point.

By introducing the parallels between these different systems and exposing my work to an everyday/well-known mechanism (the barriers) I hope to broaden the possibility of people understanding the work. 



Friday 23 September 2011

Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced





Unbalanced/Cut/Balanced.
Length of wood set in a bucket of concrete at an angle. (A similar structure to a Chi-Ishi a weight used in Karate)  The structure stood unbalanced/ I cut the wood until the structure became balanced.  This action was filmed.  Developing a physical sense of materials and the structure's balance, through direct interaction.

Walk Across Town With Heavy Concrete. (take 5 minutes to work out the bike can carry the weight)

Everything from my studio in a wheelbarrow


Everything from my studio in a wheelbarrow.  Arranging/Collecting/Stacking/ materials into a wheelbarrow, presented as sculpture.  

Quick Paintings (oil bar)




Quick Paintings
Immediacy in paint, physical action represented visually  

Diagonal weight






Diagonal Weight
Sculptural investigations into diagonal structures, pinning objects against supporting vertical structure.