Dreaming Space: Exploring the Transformative Power of Immersive Art and Architecture
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Date
2017-08-16
Authors
Parkes, Dustin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
The role of art is to transform our experience of reality. This process often involves a quality of rupture; of breaking through the boundaries of our habitual, conditioned modes of perception in order to experience new and unexpected sensations.[1] Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari write that architecture is the first of the arts. Art does not begin with the body but with the house; with the experience of space and light, and the constructed environments which mediate between our bodies and forces of the universe.[2]
This thesis follows the physical and affective journey of a group of artists over many years. This journey involves challenging forces of social and cultural conditioning; breaking through boundaries of fear and habit, as well as artistic and architectural convention. We have a need to explore aesthetics without limitation.
The dreaming space where this journey is taking place is a studio on a property in my hometown, Sarnia, Ontario. This is where I live and work with my uncle/mentor, and three companions. Both the studio and the experience of the participants are in a continuous state of transformation. The space has become an ever-evolving immersive collage of paintings, sculptures, architectural constructions, mirrors, video, projections, and compositions of magical objects. The expansive, dark, earthen, dream-like quality of the space is immediately affecting. It is a place for dreaming and composing; for channeling visions and exploring altered states of sensory awareness. We are exploring the possibilities of what art and architecture can do: specifically, how it can facilitate sensorial encounters which transform our experience of reality.
This thesis takes the form of a series of reflections on this dreaming space. It has a personal history with a cultural context. It has caves, grottos, and tunnels; ever-changing compositions and installations, surrounded by the underworld and built up over time. Within the dreaming space we are continuously exploring the incredible possibilities of the transformative power of art and architecture.
[1] O’Sullivan, Simon. Art Encounters Deleuze and Guattari: Thought beyond Representation. 2006. p. 1
[2] Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. What Is Philosophy? 1994. p. 180, 182, 186