tola brennan

the work:

the soda cup and the scissors is a two and a half foot tall soda cup made from 3/16 steel rod and encircled with layers of black yarn such that the form appears semi-solid. the soda cup is mounted on a small wooden platform painted black with words “cut some yarn, but not too much” painted in white. attached to the wooden platform is a three foot length of chain made from copper wire. attached to the chain is a pair of scissors with two red painted steel cutouts designed so that when the scissors are open, the shape appears as a broken heart, and when closed, the shape appears as a complete heart.

the concept:

the piece was originally conceived as an acknowledgment of every time someone employed by a corporation (or the government) who is interacting constantly with the public (a cashier or security guard, for example) chooses to bend the official rules in order to be considerate. in a time where breach of protocol means possibly losing a job, it is even more important to respect the times when the woman at kinko’s deducts the useless copies from the bill or the guy at mcdonald’s offers up the bathroom key when it reads “for customers only” on the door. thus, the soda cup and the scissors, albeit somewhat melodramatically, illustrates this situation symbolically. the black soda cup, representing the restrictions corporation, are diminished slightly when the heart shaped scissors (representing the kindness of the employees) cut some of the yarn which defines the form. ideally, every viewer of the piece would be a participant (symbolically taking the position of the employee), cutting as much or as little yarn as they choose, and eventually all the strands would be cut and the soda cup would be a hollow metal frame with puffs of cut yarn dangling like cobwebs. the purpose of the piece is, therefore, the destruction of the piece. obviously, the narrative created by the piece is unmistakably simplistic. clearly random acts of kindness will not actually influence the policies of corporations and governments significantly, but this lack of logic is what makes the piece a work of imagination, and not journalism.

the process:

return to sculpture

the work:

kinetic tent is, as the name implies, as circus-tent-like structure secured to the ceiling with four teardrop shaped steel hoops, sisal twine and rope originally used to secure stage curtains. it has a cylindrical central frame with four support bars which are bent to hold the four loop sections which compose the rest of the steel frame. the lower wheel measures five feet across and has sixteen pivots, each two feet long, which, when horizontal, make the frame measure nine feet across. the upper conic hoop section measures three feet across and one foot high. the frame is four and a half feet high and is made from scratch using only 5/16 of an inch and 3/8 of an inch cold rolled steel rod- with the exception of the sixteen washers functioning as pivots which are made from 1/4 of an inch by three inch stock. the entire frame is mig welded and most curves are achieved using an oxy-acetylene rosebud torch.

the fabric section is made from thirty yards of assorted fabrics. all the banners are in the vicinity of twelve feet long and fourteen to sixteen inches wide. all banners block all light and would theoretically make a completely lightless enclosure. the fabric banners are all attached to the metal pivots in two places. there are also thirty-two chopsticks which hold the fabric banners and keep them from rumpling. the upper black fabric section is connected to the steel conic section with eight pieces of black ribbon. the sixteen banners pass over one of the inner middle hoops and wrap around sixteen chopsticks which all attach to pieces of cotton string, then sisal twine, then a twirled steel clasp. the clasp is held in place with a circular latch mechanism. the latch is kept in place with two yellow rubber bands. two ropes dangle from the structure which is seven feet off the ground. one rope, when pulled, releases the latch and allows the sixteen fabric banners to fall from horizontal position to vertical position. the other rope, when pulled, forces all the banners to swing back upwards and return to horizontal open position. ideally, when closed, the sculpture creates a completely dark circular space which is five feet across and seven feet high. the entire structure is about ten feet high, with ropes touching the ceiling support structure at about twelve feet up.

the concept:

kinetic tent is most fundamentally an attempt to create a previously non-existent space, and to do it immediately. ideally, when the rope is pulled, the banners on their metal pivots fall quickly and loudly to create, after the sudden motion, a dark contemplative space in which the ambience and acoustics are different from the area immediately outside. since the structure begins open and full of light, and only closes when someone walks to the center and pulls the rope, the each viewer has a hand in the creation of the space giving it a personal aspect. the room inside the tent is intended to be a refuge which could ideally sustain it’s allure for an extended period of time- perhaps eventually resulting in unintentional naps.

the second consideration in the concept was that it be constructed from the most basic elements possible. the only things bought were steel rod, fabric, thread, ribbon, chopsticks, twine, string, duct tape and glue sticks. every component was painstaking constructed and assembled over a period of about twenty-five days and somewhere between one-hundred-twenty and two-hundred work hours. thus, the sculpture aims to be most completely an artwork made by hand and has a strong set of aesthetic values associated with it. additionally, it would not have been at all possible without the help of many people- whether it was by letting me borrow tools and equipment, giving me structural advice, support and encouragement and finally assisting with moving the piece as well as assembling it. thanks to everyone who made it possible!

the process:

return to sculpture