temporary art

[dogbrain]

i recently learned about an artist named Andres Amador. his work involves etching large-scale geometric images on sandy beaches, and it's some really stunning stuff on its own, but what i find the most impactful is that it all gets washed away come high tide. he knows this when he makes every piece, and he's completely okay with it! he wrote the following about his art: "Through this art form I have come to value the contemplative act of creation for its own sake ... The entire act becomes a meditation on being in the moment, of celebrating and being at peace with life and death."

this got me thinking about "temporary art" in general; i.e. art created with the explicit knowledge that it won't exist for very long. an artist i follow once painted a mural on a building soon-to-be-demolished. i tried doing something like it last week on a much tinier scale where i doodled on a piece of paper, pondered it for a day or two, and shredded it. it gave me some perspective on the act of creating just to create, even if no one else sees it and even if it doesn't last very long.

what do you think about temporary art? have you tried making anything like it? i think net art can be inclusive under it in many ways as the internet constantly changes and old software becomes obsolete; i made my website very well aware that it won't be around forever (and especially not in its current state), but id love to know your thoughts 

[Horsey Chobunso]

I love the idea of temporary art. There are some monks that do a similar practice on a smaller scale with colorful sand. I am not much of a visual artist outside of photography, so I'm not sure how I would temporary visual art myself, but I take that mindset with cooking. When I make something more time consuming or complex I make sure to enjoy the process and do things the hard way because I know the actual result will be very fleeting.

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

Back at school, I remember seeing a short documentary about a guy who used the warmth of his fingers to melt icicles together; his hands looked pretty much done for after he finished, and you could see the whole sculpture melt away shortly afterwards. It certainly left an impression.

I believe most people do this naturally in their everyday life, they usually just don't do it overly elaborated - drawing something into the sand, doodling something on paper lying around, arranging fallen leaves - I sometimes deliberately run in ways to create specific patterns in the snow behind me.

There are some monks that do a similar practice on a smaller scale with colorful sand.

Not necessarily on smaler scale - there is a documentery called "Wheel of Time" by Werner Herzog about this - I can recommend it a lot. I think they use several weeks to create a sand mandala in it.

[IndigoGolem]

I work making pizzas and i sometimes make art out of flour when there are no orders to make. Sometimes drawings, sometimes 3D geometrical stuff. Trying to make polyhedra or tiny buildings before someone orders and i collapse whatever i've made back into a pile of flour so i can get back to work. I think it's fun, seeing how neat and detailed i can make something in the minutes i have at a time.

[rnottelovesowls]

amador's sand art washing away in high tide reminds me of a photographer i learned about at an art school. i can't remember their name, but they create small clouds inside human environments with some kind of machinery; the clouds last barely 10 seconds before they then snap a photo. it's "temporary art" in the sense that the subject of the photo vanishes as quickly as it comes

[Metropolis]

Omg I remember watching this somewhere, they created clouds in a warehouse or something right?

[rolypolyphonic]

I think for the creator of 'temporary art' the process of creating itself is the 'point' regardless of the final product, and if anything there's probably more 'temporary art' than one might think. Food made to be consumed, things like doodles done on scrap papers that get thrown away later, building structures out of toy blocks to dismantle later, stuff like that. Even if the 'product' doesn't live on, I feel that the experiences accumulate into their own meaning, whether it's through the practice it gives for the artist or merely the ambience of a singular pleasant 'moment' that is part of a timeline of many other moments.

I love the idea of temporary art. There are some monks that do a similar practice on a smaller scale with colorful sand. I am not much of a visual artist outside of photography, so I'm not sure how I would temporary visual art myself, but I take that mindset with cooking. When I make something more time consuming or complex I make sure to enjoy the process and do things the hard way because I know the actual result will be very fleeting.

Food is my first thought when it comes to things like this, especially in dishes where presentation is important (latte art comes to mind, but really any dish could count). I also think it's the best example of something where the 'point' is not simply about the product itself but the entire process engaged with it, whether as the one who cooks or the one who eats. 

[wodaro]

Back in 2019 I was part of a week long group gallery show. My piece was drawing on one of the gallery windows with vasoline and my fingers. I was there the entire opening and then for at least one hour every day changing the design in the window. It was a wonderfully meditative process, and my first time trying any sort of performance in my artwork. I sometimes think back to the more experimental stuff I tried back then and wonder what I could attempt now. It would be fun to try out other temporary visual performance art pieces.

[Metropolis]

Back in 2019 I was part of a week long group gallery show. My piece was drawing on one of the gallery windows with vasoline and my fingers. I was there the entire opening and then for at least one hour every day changing the design in the window. It was a wonderfully meditative process, and my first time trying any sort of performance in my artwork. I sometimes think back to the more experimental stuff I tried back then and wonder what I could attempt now. It would be fun to try out other temporary visual performance art pieces.

that sounds epic broo  !! what sort of designs did u draw if u remember??

[wodaro]

that sounds epic broo  !! what sort of designs did u draw if u remember??

Mostly symmetrical patterns I could draw while stretching out my arms. Many of the designs ended up quite circular for that reason. It was a large window and if I stood in the center my fingertips didn't quite touch the edge of the window frame. I often ended up following or mimicking the movements of people walking by the window as well. The door faced a gym across the road so I would sometimes copy someone exercising. If they noticed me they would purposefully move their bodies in different ways to make me copy them :)

[Metropolis]

Mostly symmetrical patterns I could draw while stretching out my arms. Many of the designs ended up quite circular for that reason. It was a large window and if I stood in the center my fingertips didn't quite touch the edge of the window frame. I often ended up following or mimicking the movements of people walking by the window as well. The door faced a gym across the road so I would sometimes copy someone exercising. If they noticed me they would purposefully move their bodies in different ways to make me copy them :)

Ohhhh, that's such a cool performance art piece!!   

[b-lly]

I'm a fan of graffiti, stickers, posters, street art... they last more than a sand drawing but they're still made knowing they won't last. handmade posters are the most ephimeral ones, they last so little if unprotected!

I've made something myself (legally. for now, maybe one day I'll find the courage ), and I like putting stickers* and doodles around for fun. for me it's all about leaving a temporary mark, a simple "I was here!", and putting art out in the wild for everyone (including nature) to engage with, so destruction is part of it. I love public art, I want more! but, well, the entire point is that people *will* see it

i tried doing something like it last week on a much tinier scale where i doodled on a piece of paper, pondered it for a day or two, and shredded it. it gave me some perspective on the act of creating just to create, even if no one else sees it and even if it doesn't last very long.

I don't want to do something like that and I can't articulate why. I do make art only I see, but if it's something I like I just can't, or I want to take a picture to preserve it somehow. I guess it's because drawing takes effort and I want to keep the result

*(mostly simple small ones. curse you procrastination!!!)

not much of a visual artist outside of photography, so I'm not sure how I would temporary visual art myself

you could make a small photo gallery outside using printable sticker paper, or a bulletin board... XD

[squidlifecrisis]

I work making pizzas and i sometimes make art out of flour when there are no orders to make. Sometimes drawings, sometimes 3D geometrical stuff. Trying to make polyhedra or tiny buildings before someone orders and i collapse whatever i've made back into a pile of flour so i can get back to work. I think it's fun, seeing how neat and detailed i can make something in the minutes i have at a time.

I do the same thing at my job! I mean, what else are ya gonna do when you're bored?

I work in surgery, so I make sculptures out of bone wax or draw with skin markers on gown tags most of the time.

one time I made "dye" by pulling the felt tip out of a marker, soaking it in a med cup of saline, and using a syringe to deposit little purple dots all over my instrument pan.

I've made sculptures out of trash during intolerably long cases.

spines, brain tumors, and robot surgeries are the best time to get some temporary art made. when the case is done, it's a biohazard, so you gotta throw it away.

I mostly make it to remedy the excruciating boredom. also can be a quick anatomy study if we've got a cool CT or x-ray up on the computer :D