| The art historical miniature golf course By Josh Duensing and Anais Daly |
| Our concept originates in the comedy and significance of Marcel Duchamp’s addition of the Urinal into the1917 Society of Independent Artists exhibition. From that point artistic practice and conversion has takencertain fragmented turns and separations throughout the 1900’s. |
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| The idea was born while driving through the Midwest and encountering the many desolate and abandoned small theme parks and miniature golf villages.In our discussion of sculpture and the object at large we realized that the representation of these objects andhistorical signifiers could be of an entertaining and subversive use value within the framework of a miniature golf course. |
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| The route one takes through the course represents a lineage of sorts that chronologically can beused when discussing art history and criticism, whilst commenting and referencing details that have been ofdirect interest to a certain transgressive understanding of art’s use value. |
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| Our project will consist of a 9 to 18-hole miniature golf course situated on the rooftops of two Brooklyn roofs.Access to the course will be directly through our apartment and wind its way over the existing obstacles. Thefirst hole will be a distinct reference to Marcel Duchamp’s urinal project, with a short slip of astro turf leading to the urinal/hole. This not only represents the beginning of an on going conversation, but also represents thesimplicity of the thinking behind his project. |
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| As the course continues we will include historical situations aswell as artists work en miniature, i.e. bombed out buildings by Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus. Each hole will increase in difficulty and in complexity of the references and commentary surrounding the time period. Artistsand situations to be referenced in the project include, Brancusi, Sol Lewitt, Jackson Pollock, potentially JackSmith, a distinct commentary on Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism will be referenced through out the middle section of the course. In the Sixties and seventies the inclusion of artist such as Robert Smithson andSpiral Jetty, Gordan Matta Clark, Andy Warhol and Richard Serra will be in direct conversations with artistssuch as Mike Kelly, Claes Oldenberg and Eva Hess. |
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| Although through the course we would like to maintain an iconic atmosphere when representing the artists and their sculpture, we will continue to add reference to theunderground artists such as Kenneth Anger and Paul Laffoley. As the conversation splinters in the middle ofthe 1970’s with the dawn of post modern thought, we will continue to show how art morphed into the counter consumer critical mass that lead the mayhem of the 1980’s and into the 1990’s. The last couple of holes willfocus on the complexity of thought and concept that drives artists today. |
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| The project is expected and hopes to have a level of humor that perseveres along with the entertainment aspectof the game. Without trying to teach art historical iconic emblems, we wish to enact a situation that applies amatrix to the conversation and how it is represented. |
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| The Tower of Moby Dick |
For my proposal I will build a tower out of used copies of Moby Dick, each copy will be a different edition, etc. so that there are no doubles in the tower. The tower should be approximately 3 meters tall and it will then be coated in clear resin, which will weather proof it and structurally support it. The photos attached are of the tower so far; many more copies must be acquired to finish the tower. |
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Ideally, the tower would be displayed out side, the books transforming into building blocks rather than reading material. The tower would function on many different levels; it would be a phallic monument to Melville’s classic i.e. Moby’s Dick, but it would also be an anti monument since all of the books are being sealed shut and left to decay…a shrine to the failure of Ahab. For me personally, the tower is way to except the overwhelming amount of energy and influence that this novel has had over the century and a half that it has existed, by turning it into a physical energy receptacle…an antenna of sorts. |
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| The Redemption Center Rooftop Sculpture Show |
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| In the summer of 2008 The Redemption Center (live work space of Josh Duensing, Anais Daly, Sean Townly, and Emilie Waterhouse) hosted the first annual rooftop sculpture show, which consisted of twenty or so artist bringing sculptures to our house and installing them on the 8000 sq ft of adjacent roof space. |
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| Installation view of roof. |
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| Sculpture by Anais Daly (right) Lady bug performance by Kate Levant. |
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| Clothes line sculpture/game by Boris Chesakov. |
| Here is a link to a review of the show on Taste and Power. |
