MAXIMUM CUBE - Anna Heinrich & Leon Palmer

Maximum Cube: Final Report

Tamsin Williams, Artist in Residence at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill,

Examining Maximum Cube as a site-specific response to the architecture

Unless we are architectural enthusiasts, moving through architecture is a physiological experience which can go unnoticed. This would be difficult in such stunning modernist architecture as the De La Warr Pavilion. However Maximum Cube, as an architectural response sometimes left people unable to understand how the space had affected them, they did not notice the subtlies of our perceptions and how we move through space. A man asked me what was the Cube's purpose, I explained about the transformation of the space. He was an engineer, with plenty of knowledge about materials, therefore his perception did not fool him he instantly noticed the mirrors and the sensation of being on a bridge was lost on him. I explained about others' experiences which was re-enforced by a lady beside me who had just felt vertigo. We discussed the use of technology, he went to look again and returned happy, thanking me for the explanation, it had became clear after that.

The shock of a tranformed space was more obvious to regular visitors to the gallery who were aware that the Edinburgh room has a high ceiling. Ed Carr, a visitor who had quite a knowledge about the building and it's architect Erik Mendlesohn, saw the Cube as

..." a response to the building, in its heart, it transformed the high ceiling space which usually drowns the paintings, into a passageway and small central cube. The projections were moving light referencing the flow of light and people through the pavilion. Anyone who knows the space would get a shock, because it is completely transformed, the height seems to be replaced by a drop which is disorientating, making you feel as if you are suspended until you recognise that it is a reflection with mirrors."

The length of the building's windows down the south wall enables people to experience frequent changes in light from the expansive views of the sea and sky, emphasized by the glass casting reflections from outside. This use of light contrasts with the darkness of Maximum Cube. The bridge linking the South and North stairs became more apparent to me, beyond a concept, when streams of people moved through the space, particulary at lunch-time. This reflected the architect's use of space in the curves of the South stairs in a sweeping motion of moving people up and down the building.

Visitors approached Maximum Cube with some hesitance, they were often intimidated by the curtains, it reminded a lot of people of a fairground attraction. One visitor refered to it as a "hall of mirrors" experience. This frequently lead to conversations about simulation, such as Disleyland rides which expanded the dialogue beyond art to people viewing the work as an event.

The levels of interactivity in Maximum Cube

This was a questionable part of the work, most people missed this element and tended to discuss the work's physical affect upon them, eg vertigo or claustrophobia. Rarely did they notice the effect they had upon moving the text on the screens. Often they would ask about this because they were aware from the publicity that interactivity was a part of the experience. If I mentioned the sensors then they would look excited and go off to play! People sometimes presumed the text required an intellectual response or asked if it was an error, such as a man with an American drawl announced, "I'm just getting wandering text!" The inteactivity did extend the visitors' intrigue about how such a work is constructed. Sometimes I showed people behind the scenes and they enthused about seeing the mechanics of the work, that it is as interesting as the work itself.

Maximum Cube stood alone as a completed product of an artist collaboration, the process of reaching that stage is invisible. The artists are the unknown creators, I stood as an opportunity for people to be given an insight into the finished work, to demysitfy some of the hidden production processes. It is extremely useful for an artist to be given such an opportunity to observe and interact with the audience and witness genuine direct responses. This feedback then contributes to a new work, the web site, this enables both an artist and audience to part-take in extending a dialogue beyond discussion into a continuation of the creative process.

Continuing the creative process: the residency and Minimum Cube

Educational outreach

There was little preparation for the educational element of Maximum Cube. This was largely due to circumstance, Anna had a two week old baby and Leon spent an intensive two weeks constructing the Cube. There was problems with Studio Fish and the programming which meant deadlines were not initially met. Leon, Anna and I did not have as much contact as we would have liked. We met a few times pre-show and then once during Meridian's filming for the Pier. During these moments of contact I tried to glean information about themselves as artists and past works they've made.

Fortunately, we share the same view about how people experience art, that a direct experience of the work is important before any information is given. This is how I adapted my role as an educational faciliator. Visitors would approach the entrance, look unsure and turn to ask me "What is it?" I encouraged them to go and look and we could discuss it afterwards. This retrospective anaylsis enabled us all to forget about defining the work as 'art' and instead discuss it as a physical experience. This opened up a forum where people were keen to share their perceptions of the space and relating that to other similar experiences they have encountered before. Here are a few examples:

I gave a number of organised group talks which included a small demonstration workshop of recording sounds in SoundEdit, and group discussions about virtual reality and how we experience Maximum Cube. These were to Bexhill collge, Hastings college of Art and Technology, Saxon Mount School and Chailey Heritage.

My research and development

Research is suitably matched to being an artist in residence in such a Public environment. It unites learning, being creative, and critique into a dialogue that is beneficial to both audience and artist. Together we were able to develop ideas forming the material to be used in the web site, such as recordings of people's responses to Maximum Cube. A bulk of my raw material is a series of reports, in the form of overheard comments or conversations I had with the visitors. This material could then be used both as documentation and creatively. This was an appropriate method of working in the particular environment. People visited the De La Warr Pavilion for different reasons. They might be curious about the architecture of the building, or visiting the two current exhibitions, or a craft or antique fair, lunch in the cafe and a stroll along the seafront. My contact with the visitors varied because of these different agendas, often it was brief which was why I chose to work in SoundEdit to gather material. This was a quick method of capturing a moment on the computer. People could simply speak into the microphone, if they had time I could give them a demonstration of the different effects, pitch shift always raised a few laughs!

Visitors saw my role with the two computers as controlling the text in Maximum Cube. Children asked if their voice recordings could be heard inside the Cube. However their understanding of my role became more visually apparent once I had made part of the site. Then I could demonstrate how their voices would be attached to a button in the web site. It was also necessary for me to identify myself as an artist making a creative work in its own right not a documentional web site of the Maximum Cube installation.

What grew out of my research was a decision to reflect the navigation and information in the real cube in the virtual cube. I used the same approach for the user as the visitor, you are given an option for the exit and information only once you have experienced a few pages of the site. Then you receive a map where you can go either to the North or South stairs, here the text is self-referential, like the real cube. When you exit you see the exterior of the Pavilion and can read about what you have seen and the background information. This structure is based upon my experience of the residency. My discovery of the De La WarrPavilion was a result of Maximum Cube. I started as artist in residence in the building's centre, as I spent more time in that environment I learnt more about the De La Warr Pavilion and it's architecture, it's future and this spread into a knowledge of it's relationship with the community of Bexhill. I was there at a significant time when the building's future was uncertain. Therefore it became important to draw attention to words people used to describe the building such as 'unique' and curvaceous.' The dialogue expanded into how the community felt about the prospect of privitisation, especially if it were to become a Wetherspoons Pub.

Web site production

This stage of the process is more difficult because it requires greater concentration especially when learning the software programmes. It is easier to be an education facilitator if there are little expectations for producing a finished piece of quality work. In this situation deadlines need to be flexible to allow production time after the residency. Minimum Cube was still in the process of production for a further six weeks. Now it is online there are still many ways I would like to improve and expand it. It is a shame that to produce something of quality requires more time and is therefore unpaid.

Staff support at the De la Warr Pavilion

I had a good relationship with the staff. Lionel, Publicity officer, in charge of the De La Warr web site tested my shockwave movie on his PC browser and had useful tips about Dreamweaver. We are going to have a link from my web site to his and vice versa. Celia, Visual arts co-ordinator, had many useful educational ideas and ways to approach the public, we had weekly meetings to check how I was getting on. She arranged a comfortable set-up and kept me up-dated about visiting groups. She also sent an extremely prompt letter of appreciation when the residency was over. The operators were helpful and available to do me some photocopying, take over for breaks or even give me a guided tour of the building. We had quite an on-going exhange about technology. I gave them the opportunity (during my lunchbreak) to use the internet, Chris tried it out for the first time, visiting an Elton John site. The head waiter at the cafe approached me on the last day, 'we'll miss you. We've had great reports from people in the cafe. It's been one of the most successful exhibitions here.'

Lighthouse equipment and technical support

Lighthouse's organisation of all the necessary equipment was efficient, the laptop was extremely necessary to work at home because the De La Warr Pavilion closed at 6:00pm. Fortunately I was able to set up and arrange for necessary updated drivers. More technical support would usually be necessary under different circumstances. The digital camera was generally available on request. Since my images are largely architectural this became more important than the scanner.

A phoneline extension was promptly installed as requested for the Internet. This was very necessary for research and education. The power mac 7/100 was useful for the Public to experiment with Photoshop, although a lot of the elderly were intrigued by the web. Unfortunately the modem was in the G3, the faster computer which was necessary for me to use to build the web site. Therefore internet access was very limited for the Public. If both computers had been networked transfering files would have been a lot easier.

A sense of community: The De La Warr Pavilion

Artists need community to thrive, they need to live in the real world not alone in a studio producing one work then the next. This has severe threats on the artist community as a whole because it marginalises the artist as someone separate from community. In order to progress, artists need to be recognised as paid professionals. For this to happen members of the community need to have contact with artists to understand what it is that they do and to see the creative process at work. My artist residency at the De La Warr Pavilion was a great insight into going throught this process in a public sphere. My research and development increased with familiarity with a place, regular public contact, both locals and visitors from the region as far as London, the Pavilion staff, the routine of daily commuting and being based in such an impressive piece of architecture with fantastic views of the sea and the sky with all its constant changes in light.

The community of Bexhill is famously elderly. This increased the significance of my presence as a facilitator because the word technology was often enough to leave many people baffled with a dismissive wave of the hand, 'I don't know much about that'. Public interaction was vital to enriching everyone's experience of the work. Dialogues emerged between strangers, such as this between two elderly man,

one man said, "All art is an illusion."

"alot of artists lack craftsmanship," David responded.

"This will have been extremely difficult to construct" he replied, gesturing towards Maximum Cube.

These conversations are valuable to both the community and the artist, who can learn from each other. The work I produced is a result of such direct communication with real people in a real situation.

Tamsin Williams May 2000