Proposal: An Art Installation of works developed by artists’ passionate attachments to

previous events or people.

Title: A Passionate Affair with the Five Senses

Overview of the Project

Through the simulation of crafting a fictional proposal for an art installation, this project
is designed to demonstrate the nature of passionate attachments, and how these can be virtually
found anywhere. The fictitious art installation will encompass works by artists whose entire
creations have been based on their own passionate attachments towards social causes, as well as
their commitment in finding concepts and situations that deeply resonated with them, and
morphed them into three-dimensional artworks that require for the audience to utilize all their
senses in order to fully appreciate them.

Guiding Theories and Concepts

Passion is an extremely strong emotion that can be found at any point in life, and at any
place. When one thinks of “passionate attachments”, relationships between humans encompass
the first examples, whether it involves romantic love, or even a dangerous obsession. However,
passionate attachments can be found in both the artistic and scholar world as well, contributing
as inspiration or motivation to pursue a creation, or to delve deeper into a research topic. As
explained by Jacqueline Jones Royster in ‘View from a Bridge’, humans have “deeply vested
interests… which create biases of a normal condition, [and increase] levels of commitment to the
work” (276). It is easier to understand the concept of a passionate connection within the art
community, as it is common to witness artists’ influences and personalities through their
creations. However, similar is the case when it comes to scholars, and their attempts to merge the
past and the present. A common struggle within scholars is stemmed from research that is solely
based on analyzing sources and facts, as these can result in gaps lacking more concrete
connections; an issue that can be solved through passionate attachments. As explained by Liz
Rohan, “while traditional methods encourage critical distance from a subject, [it is demonstrated]
that empathy and identification with a research subject can be integral to the research process”
(30). As scholars or artists become deeply invested with the subject of their work, they are at
more liberty of using their instincts in selecting sources that will help them link their experiences
to the roles described by the protagonists of their research; bridges are created between entirely
different lives and generations. Rohan also emphasizes the idea of ‘befriending our subjects’, or
developing a strong platonic relationship with our idols, or of members of the time period or
place where the research is focused on. Such relationship could help develop a unique
perspective about pivotal aspects of their lives, or of messages they tried to convey through their
compositions.
Potential Roots and Linkages
This art installation will display three-dimensional artworks created by Ann Hamilton,
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Terese Agnew, as well as some of their quotes, which essentially
represent their stand in distinct social causes. We usually experience these attachments through
one or more of our five senses, which is why this installation will focus on its audience
experiencing it through their senses, as they can see and feel the relationship between passionate
attachments and of what they could become, and for them to develop their own attachments as
well and perhaps inspire them to continue fighting for the same causes these artists protested
through their art.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ entire work was based on the interaction between the spectators
and his art, by utilizing relatively simple materials and challenging his audience to attempt and
develop a deeper connection with his pieces beyond what meets the eye. The social causes for
which he developed a passionate attachment for included gay rights, gun violence, and the AIDS
crisis.

Ann Hamilton’s art is a prime example of creating bridges between generations, as she
utilizes methods to include voices from labor communities of the past and the present. In a world
immersed in technology, Hamilton’s passion is to create pieces that go absolutely beyond what is
seen, but more about what is individually felt by every witness. As it is simply put in her
biography found on her website, Ann Hamilton Studio, “Her attention to the uttering of a sound
or the shaping of a word with the hand places language and text at the tactile and metaphoric
center of her installations”.

Terese Agnew’s only art piece displayed in this installation, Portrait of a Textile Worker,
is an example of using underrated materials and morphing them into massive representations of a
universal message, in this case being the exploitation of workers, particularly children in foreign
countries.

Visual/Artistic Elements and Influences

Social injustice and modernization are the core messages of this installation, which each
artist choosing a branch of such injustices that evoked a passionate attachment and resonated in
their art. Ann Hamilton emphasizes the complexity and depth that can come from simplicity, in a
world where everything is given and explained to us through the use of technology. Felix
Gonzalez-Torres battled through the politicization of art and the AIDS crisis, as well as his
personal tragedies as a result of the disease, and created interactive art pieces mostly focused on
gay rights, gun violence and the AIDS crisis. And finally, Terese Agnew’s themes for her
artworks were social and environmental.
Materials Needed
Each room has their distinct features with different experiments based on the natural sense
tested.
-Paint for the rooms
-Tv monitors for sight
-Edible food for taste
-Speakers for hearing
-Smell canisters for smell
-Sharp props and objects for touch
-Crew and Staff

Budget
$1000- TV monitors
$2000- Surround sounds speakers
$500- Edible items
$700- Smell Canisters
$200- Paint, Screws, Drills
$1000- Crew and staff
$500- Advertising
$300- Props, set pieces
$6200- Total

Location
The art installation will be completed at a 3D artwork studio that is intended to transform the
perception of a space due to your unique passionate feelings that are derived from the five
senses. In the Heart of New York City, the 3D exhibit will be a great place for art enthusiasts and
students.

Components of the Exhibit

For the better understanding of the viewer, the exhibit is set to have different areas where the five
natural senses can be detected.
● Room 1- An empty room with nothing but a TV monitor and a board with letters
that shrink as you look further down it. On the screen vivid images of randomized
life illustrations that drive up the cortisone levels of the watcher.
● Room 2- This room if filled with surround sound speakers from the floor to the
ceiling with sound patterns that test the audience’s hearing, detecting where the
sounds are coming from.
● Room 3- This room is filled with edible items that have distinct taste flavors that
will be used to experiment the audiences taste buds reaction.
 ● Room 4- This room has four major gas canisters with a different formula inside
that will release strong smells as the audience enters the room.
● Room 5- The last room has sharp, pointy and hot objects that when in contact
with, will trigger the sense of touch.
Each room will contain images of the natural 5 senses triggering the audience’s brain maintain
focused on the specific experiment. Calming tranquil music will be playing in the halls in
between sessions while moving from room to room to allow for reflection. Illustrations of Ann
Hamilton as well as Felix Gonzalez- Torres are displayed at the exhibit alongside their quotes.

Layout of the Museum Exhibit

Illustrations From the Artists

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991, Photo Credit:

henskechristine.jpg

Untitled (Death by Gun) (1990)

Description: It is a composite image created by stacks of newspaper articles about 460
people, who were victims of gunshot in the span of a week.

Respective Quote: "Without the public these works are nothing...I ask the public to help
me, to take responsibility, to become part of my work, to join in".
Ann Hamilton’s The Event of A Thread.

Link for the video: http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/projects/armory.html

Respective Quote (about this particular work): “In the middle under the cloth, I knew it
would be a really wonderful place to stand–to have the kind of turbulence and the liquidity
of the cloth fall around you. But I was totally unprepared for the fact that people would lay
down on the floor and stay horizontal for a long, long time”

Air for Everyone (JULY 29-SEPTEMBER 17, 2012)

Link for full exhibition (a few of the less complicated art pieces from this collection could
be included in this installation):
http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/projects/air_for_everyone.html.
Terese Agnew, Portrait of a Textile Worker, 2005
Works Cited:

- “ANN HAMILTON studio”. Ann Hamilton Studio,

www.annhamiltonstudio.com/index.html.
- “Exploring Works of Art with the Five Senses”. Art Class Curator, 2 Nov. 2017,
www.artclasscurator.com/art-senses/.
- “Felix Gonzalez-Torres Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story,
www.theartstory.org/artist-gonzalez-torres-felix.htm.
- Rohan, Liz. “Reseeing and Redoing: Making Historical Research at the Turn of the
Millennium.” https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-8652646-dt-content-
rid51103139_2/courses/ENC2135.sp17.web_cohort23/rohan.pdf
- Royster, Jacqueline J. "Traces of a stream: literacy and social change among
African American women." Choice Reviews Online 38.02 (2000): n. pag. Web.
https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-8652645-dt-content-
rid51103138_2/courses/ENC2135.sp17.web_cohort23/roysterpassionateattachments.
pdf
- “Terese Agnew”. Craft in America, www.craftinamerica.org/artists/terese-agnew/.