Ambiguous Landscapes

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The spaces b

to the designexplore how a process thamoves acros

inuence how

Managed Lais very little, iit, and its sen

man as by thof the land.

The exploratihave given m

man has withcreated throuour perceptio

Using photogscapes, it is plandscape. Tto this respon

Leading on frideas of disosponse. The sother mediumthese elds a

rhythm, route

The feeling oa common re

atmosphere ness as to onthese basic ein a state of a


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An Occupied Landscape

The rst study that began to explore

the idea of disorientation within alandscape was Tentsmuir beach. Thestudy set out to explore the relation-ship between mankind and nature,

observing the impact of nature onobjects placed by man in the land-scape and equally mans impact onthe landscape. The shell study places

shells found on the beach into thesand. Standing upright in the sand,the shells defy nature. They becomeanimated as the sea washes themaway. The shell appears to be oat-

ing, almost sh like, questioning ourunderstanding of nature.Objects that have been abandonedon the beach in themselves evoke a

feeling of disengagement as they ap-pear lost in the vast open space. Thephotographs begin to explore ideasof scale and isolation. The disused shcrates are exposed to nature, creat-

ing an unfamiliar context.

Deliberately creating a feeling of

disorientation through the compositionor subject of a photograph is differentfrom using a photograph to record thefeeling that is experienced. Certainfactors/ methods can be applied tophotography to create this effect,

such as lack of scale in a photograph,perspective, use of repetition andcolour.


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Traversin

The next stographs

in the landworld at ayear by th

human exjeeps thattracks disagain in thand illustrascape.

The touristits characthe ats re

The lines lform makthe ats aats. The t

sion for thlandscape

Whilst travfrom the is

vast landsyou are oto comprebeen befo

nied to a


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The early work of Richard Loscape and engraving a histoto free sculpture from the co

surrounded an area of 2,401and cycling.(2) Long pione

called relationships betweeLongs innovation for creatintime when Land artists such

material to modify the lands

Similar to the study of the samaking. However Long uses

photographs or text works, udifferent idea. These forms a

In Scotland in 1986, he tramrecords the trace of an unsp

causing temporary dents in scale of the piece.

The circular form of Longs wates confusion and restricts t

photo. The eye follows the c

sense the feeling of disorientcircle.


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Distorted senses

Leading on from the idea of capturing the experience of disorientation and disen-gagement in the landscape this study includes a series of images depicting the

local landscape around Kirby-le-Soken after a period of heavy snow. Snow be-comes a homogenizing element. The characteristics of the landscape have beentransformed. Mans impact on the land has been temporarily disguised. Familiarpathways, boundaries and landmarks are difcult to identify, creating a feeling ofdisorientation. This transformation has happened over a short period of time, a brief

demonstration of nature strength, highlighting the competition between humanityand nature creating an underlying sense of imminent danger.


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Similarly to the salt ats, theSubconsciously following a describes our reliance on mof human activity were eras

want of metaphors; the rst order, bereft of memory, unearliest tracing of the templ


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To further examine the relationship

a process to create a landscape. take place to form the landscapeate impact of man on the naturall

The sand passes through a series o

factors being the size of the grid ament is to create a form by changsecond part of the experiment invsand to create a landform around

serve the change in character tha

As the sand passes through the hoa natural process. However man hsuggesting that the result of the pro

form contains factors that encourathe previous studies. The lack of scengagement, further contributing tthan physical level.

The introduction of an architecturadisorientation observed previouslysuggests human intervention. Refethe two studies through discussingronment has when effected by a n

exposed to changes in atmospheexperience. They are however wittural forms and the spaces betwee

surface but sit within an undulating

Similarly to the Snow study the spahomogeneous element. This affecobjects, creating a sense of unfamfamiliar with the pre-sand covered

covered landscape, a very familianever seen this space before. Sugperceive a space. In this case, thetransformation.


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Albumin, Human, Glycated, engagesthe viewer on a visual level, this useof optical illusion was rst explored inthe 1960s by artist Bridget Riley. Rileyproduced optically vibrant paintings

that actively engage the viewers sen-sations and perceptions, producing

visual experiences that are complexand challenging. Unlike Hirsts paint-

ing, Riley is fundamentally interestedin how the eye travels across thepainting in a controlled way. For Riley,The eye may wander over the paint-ings surface in a way similar to that

by which it wanders over nature. Itshould feel caressed, experience fric-tion and rupture; it should glide anddriftone moment it being nothing itcan see, the canvas appearing full,

the next, presenting a host of visualoccurrences. (5)

Rileys investigation into how the eye

moves across the painting could becompared to how the eye moved

across the snow-covered landscape,unable to recognise familiar land-marks, therefore disrupting our visual

navigation.


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Physical Disengageme

The sculptor Richard Serra clarge Cor-Ten steel sculptucreate spaces to engage wer consists of monolithic bla microclimate, further enh

Similarly to Rileys paintingsmistic force, physically draspace tightens to restrict thof disengagement, restricti

from the constraint of the scwithin their surroundings.


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Similar to Richard Serras work AntonyGormleys Blind Light alters the environ-ment that we inhabit to create a spacethat affects our sensual awareness. The

installation consists of a luminous glassroom lled with a dense cloud of mist. Asthe visitor enters the room they becomedisoriented by the visceral experience

of fully saturated air. Limiting the visibilityto less than two feet creates a sense ofvulnerability. This challenges the visitorssense of space and their physical rela-

tionship to others within it. In Gormleyswords:

Architecture is supposed to be the loca-tion of security and certainty about whereyou are. It is supposed to protect you

from the weather, from darkness, fromuncertainty. Blind Light undermines all ofthat. You enter this interior space that isthe equivalent of being on top of a moun-

tain, or at the bottom of the sea. It is veryimportant for me that inside it you nd theoutside. Also you become the immersedgure in an endless ground, literally thesubject of the work. (6)

Gormley suggests that the sense of dis-orientation in Blind Light is due to the

unexpected change in atmosphere andthe restriction of vision. The previously

observed factors that cause disorienta-tion included scale, colour and repetition,these factors deceive a persons visualcoordination. Unlike Serras sculpture, by

restricting vision completely, Gormleycreates disengagement between thebody and the senses.


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Conclusion

From the outset the intention of this research is to explore the fragile

relationship that exists between man and nature. Developing a series ofstudies that explore this premise and illustrate a greater understandingof the delicate balance they share within their landscapes. The studybegan by analyzing how man-made objects placed in the land canhave an impact on the landscape and demonstrates the nature of the

relationship man has to the place in which he dwells.

Photographs are used to investigate form, space and atmosphere re-sulting in a range of images that capture the emotive experience thatresulted from each landscape study, fueling a discourse that explores

the factors that inuenced each study. Jonathon Crary discusses thedisengaged relationship between a photograph and the experiencethat it captures.

the observers physical and sensory experience is supplanted by therelations between a mechanical apparatus and a pre-given world ofobjective truth. (8)

The study of objects placed in the landscape at Tentsmuir beach high-

lighted the delicate relationship between humanity and nature, affect-ing the way humanities inhabits a landscape, dictating the perceptionof space. The use of tracks as a means to navigate a landscape iswitnessed in the salt ats of Bolivia, the isolation experienced exagger-

ates our dependence on such devices. This idea is reinforced throughthe snow study where the transformation of a familiar landscape disrupts

the visual navigation.

The common theme that emerged as a characteristic of each study

was an overwhelming sensation of disorientation. The disorientation iscommunicated in two separate capacities using photography. The rstrelates to how the image is composed and similar to the art of Hirst andRiley it depends on the manipulation of scale, perspective, repetitionand colour to create a feeling of disengagement. The exclusion of phys-

ical form and colour from a photograph makes it difcult to understandthe scale of a landscape. The distortion of perspective and the absence

of familiar lan

ening the feelrecording an disorientat ingnicates create

gerated by thof visiting the the building isthe Holocaust

This study hasrepetition that

ums from Hirstdisengagemecreates by co

The feeling of about by manscape. The ex

has highlighteemotive and p


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References

1. Pearson, Dan. Spirit. UK: Murray & Sorrell FUEL, 2009. p23

2. Long, Richard (1984) cited Macfarlane, R. (2009) Walk the Line (on-line). http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/may/23/richard-long-photography-tate-britain (accessed 23 February 2010)

3. as above

4. Cassiman, Bart cited Ramael, Greet. The sublime Void (On the mem-ory of the imagination). Antwerp:Ludion,1993. p67

5. Riley, Bridget cited Karadontis, Fleurette. Metamorphosis (British Art ofthe Sixties). Greece: Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, 2005. p28

6. Gormley, Antony (2007) cited Sean Kelly Gallery (online).

http://oneartworld.com/Sean+Kelly+Gallery/Antony+Gormley_3A+New+Works.html (accessed 25 February)

7.Libeskind, Daniel cited Elton, Heather. Building on the Shipwreck of

History: The Architecture of Daniel Libeskind.Border Crossings, Vol. 20.No. 4. Issue No. 80. 2001.

8. Crary, Jonathon. Techniques of the observer (On vision and modernityin the nineteenth century), USA: MIT Press,1992. p39.

Bibliography

Shefeld, Grahplanet 1969-20

Wallis, Clarrie.

Pearson, Dan.

Ramael, GreetAntwerp:Ludion

Spirn, Anne. Th

Varnedoe, Kirk

Long, Richard.

Beardsley, Joh

Crary, Jonathothe nineteenth

Karadontis, FleBasil & Elise Go

Elton, Heather

Daniel Libeskin

Jacobson, H. (guardian.co.u(accessed 25 F

Sean Kelly Gawww.artcat.co

Ambiguous Landscapes

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