Stratton Ceramics

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The Buoy Project Thesis

“Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain.”

-Frank Lloyd Wright

The Buoy Project is an exhibition designed to communicate the experience of the artist’s investigation and research which occurred in Hawaii during the development of the project. This paper will discuss the processes involved in The Buoy Project: construction, documentation, the exhibition itself, influences of other artists, art theory related to the work, and various ideas and concepts associated with the project.

The simple manner in which an idea takes root and evolves into conception, fueled by passion and constructive influences, illustrates how an apparently insignificant object can change artistic direction. To follow the chain of thoughts in a compilation of work from inception to completion helps to understand what the project is all about. This gives each part relevance to the whole. The history involved in the project makes the work more interesting and adds an element of complexity, giving each part a story and a life of its own.

The process started in the clay mixing room while reconstituting thousands of pounds of clay, day after day. In the hours of repetitive work, I had time to contemplate the beauty of the creation of plumes that resembled either clouds or a violent volcano eruption when the clay and water mixed in the sediment. After the job was “pou” each day, my clothes were smeared with layers of clay. Realizing the plumbing problems that might result from washing clay covered laundry on a daily basis, I swam at the nearest beach to wash off the clay. Plumes of clay flowed off my clothes from the agitation created by the waves. As an artist and as a waterman, introducing clay into the ocean of Hawaii became the object of my investigation.

During the development of the concept of The Buoy Project, I also researched different phenomena that naturally create effects similar to the clay plumes. Meteorology was the first vein of research that came to mind. From a formal perspective, the visual similarities drove me to uncover some of the infinite scientific and mathematical formulas that directly relate to microcosm of hydrodynamics, the dynamics in which the universe interacts with gravity. It is interesting how matter moves in a universal way, from the microscopic scale to the size of galaxies. The architecture of the universe incorporates universal patterns. This super synchronicity is obvious, not only in physical matter, but also in biological organisms and even the social structure of society.

From a meteorological perspective it excited me to discover and study the direct relationship The Buoy Project has to the ocean, how the weather affects Hawaii and the swells that move across the ocean. Being connected to the ocean is important in giving depth to the project’s concept. The facets involved derive from the intricacies of the experiences in learning how to navigate the ocean and the time spent learning how clay reacts to manipulation. I would make a parallel to a ceramic artist who works for a lifetime. The experience is represented in each cup, bowl, and vase. There is a beauty in the mastery of a craft, rhythm and pattern in a life of dedicated pursuit.

The next step in the evolution of the idea was to move the clay plumes from a less ephemeral direction to a more traditional form. I first went to something familiar and comfortable. The “vessel” was a way I could responsibly incorporate ceramics into the sensitive environment. The dispersion of clay oxides in the protected environment brought up environmental concerns that I preferred not to address in the message of my artwork. I needed a purpose to create solid reasoning for putting a ceramic vessel into the ocean. Playing off the fear and the obvious rationale that the ocean is a dangerous environment, I first explored the concept of a vessel designed to give a person refuge under the water, a “diving bell.” Although the diving bell remains a part of the project that I would someday like to develop, the scale at which I conceive it would require more resources reasonably available at this time.

The challenge was the buoyancy of the vessel and regulations involved in the installation of a mooring system. During the development, I attempted to pursue the dive bell idea and submitted a site approval plan to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. In order to represent the University of Hawaii as a graduate student, I needed official permission to install my work in the ocean. The permission process became exponentially more complicated. I went through a loop of phone calls, starting at the University’s Marine Sciences Department, proceeding to the reading of state laws and getting official approval from Governor Duke Iona. The issue was not about gaining permission, but about adhering to the regulations in Chapter 13-5 of The Division of Aquatic Resources, which issues various permits and licenses for fishing, selling aquatic life, and other activities involving aquatic resources. These permits and licenses are authorized by state law and often require applicants to meet minimum qualifications and agree to specific conditions for their use. In some cases, special exemption permits allow persons or organizations to conduct certain activities that would normally be prohibited. The laws in 13-5 regarding the ocean for most of Hawaii deal with specific activities and items not allowed, and because the laws do not specifically refer to anything similar to “The Buoy Project” in the particular area that I was working, I was legally able to conduct my research.

By necessity and because I had a better understanding of the laws, I moved the idea from an underwater project to a surface project. This proved to be a more natural way for me to work. Using the same inspiration and referring to the tools in the science of meteorology I moved forward with the project. I chose the “buoy” as the vessel, and the ocean as the focal point of my research.

The development of the buoy as a sculptural object was also influenced by actual experimentation in ocean conditions. The influencing factors during the experimentation process for the buoy as an art object included function, durability, aesthetics, maneuverability, and the specific environment or location that the individual buoy inhabited. The site specificity was determined by the conditions in the water and accessibility at each location.

The first buoy, a free floating bottle form, was documented at Ala Moana Beach. Underwater photography was a new medium to me. I was challenged throughout the project to capture strong visual images representational of the event. As I worked with photography and digital video, I developed a vision of how it needed to be represented. Without having the resources of professional equipment and expertise and after using an older underwater camera, I invested in a better camera and an underwater housing. I intend to upgrade the equipment again as soon as my resources permit because I think it important to have the highest quality video in order to attract the viewer with professional, high quality images. After the first few experiments, other concerns needed to be taken into consideration. Water clarity, time-of-day documentation, cloud and sun conditions, and other variables affected the quality of the project’s representation.

One of the most insightful tests to the project as a whole was the “China Walls” test buoy. I tested two buoys equipped with windows which enabled the viewer to peer inside and through the vessel when it was deployed. Because there were ports on both ends of the vessel, it gave an effect of looking into and then out of the object. The ceramic object framed whatever could be seen out the other end. The vessel could be used to peer from under the water out through to the surface, and visa-versa, as a window into each environment. In addition, the space inside the vessel reversed the functions of traditional ceramics by keeping liquids outside the vessel rather than holding liquids inside.

Creating ceramic buoys has limitations. Fired clay is essentially a rock, and the firing process is a violent event. Clay, denser than water, makes it a challenge to keep the vessels buoyant. During the expansion and contraction of the heating and cooling process, cracking is expected, requiring considerations in every detail of the construction if the vessels are to float. Some vessels were not completely sealed. A leak that caused air to escape from one buoy changed some viewer’s relationship to the work, causing them to relate to it as an anthropomorphic form. The perception of the object changed depending on how it functioned.

This is similar to the Buoy Project “Exhibition.” Depending on the perspective of the viewer, each buoy evoked unique reactions. The object’s presentation and the viewer’s association with the work stimulated unfamiliar emotions. Because this is an ongoing project with unknown aspects there is a question in how the visual language will be interpreted, which excited me. I looked forward to getting reactions and insight which will help in the further development of the project.

At the beach, surfers and skin divers responded to me and my objective in different ways. They appreciated it because it changed their perspective of how they usually experienced the ocean environment. They thought it a curious and peculiar form of creativity to incorporate the ocean and ceramics into an art project. Others at the exhibition focused on how the object was documented, and that the vessel actually showed the viewer the documentation.

For the exhibition, I tried to incorporate various details in the buoys in order to intrigue a broader audience. The first thing the viewer relates to is aesthetics. The use of ceramics to construct the buoys allows many different options for surface treatments. I employed a combination of textures and glazes to enhance each buoy and make a variety of effects. The sculptural qualities of the buoy were referenced in order to tie the series together. The spherical shape, the lugs connecting the mooring line, the seam on the equator of the sphere, and other details help connote the qualities and uses of the object appropriated.

The buoy has well established parameters which reference the object related to shape and also shape to function. Because most buoys are functional objects designed to alert swimmers or boats by visual markers, specific colors are used to stand out or guide people who navigate the ocean or record data on temperature, turbidity, and water quality. For example, solid red and green buoys mark starboard, and port. I used these same utilitarian color and form keys in The Buoy Project.

Lugs are also an important part of the buoy’s utilitarian and aesthetic function. The lugs serve as an appendage sculpted into the form to balance the visual weight of the object. If you look at a coffee cup, the handle would be a parallel to the lug in this function. The same way that a handle is a key in the functionality of a cup or a teapot, the lugs are significant to the buoy’s function. The lugs serve as a tether point connecting the mooring line to the buoy. They are also a structurally sound point at which the buoy can be launched and collected from the water. In The Buoy Project, the lugs serve a utilitarian function. I used them to tow the buoy out to the area chosen for documentation. If the ocean was dangerous, I played the line out far enough to avoid the danger of colliding with it.

A not-so-traditional part of the buoy is a window on one end. This window was first constructed to create a removable lid in order to insert a video screen. The firing process also requires an opening in the vessel to release water vapor. Taking advantage of the opening by making a lid that would eventually seal and allow the buoy to float, I installed a glass lens into the lid, making it a window. The lens distorted the view into the vessel. The optical effect made it possible for the viewer to become visually immersed into the video. I wanted the viewer to be able to adopt the role of a participant, engaging curiosity with the object and concept. This idea is similar to what happens when watching a movie. The viewer’s mind projects their consciousness into the role of a participant. Like a movie, the buoy became a vessel that literally communicates the documentation of itself, a buoy afloat in the ocean.

The video of each buoy document a sequence of events while in the ocean. The narrative is chronological, usually starting with approaching the buoy in the water. The buoy is portrayed in different wave conditions often increasing in scale, and ending with a finale, of being engulfed by a wave and washed to shore.

Each Buoy has a story. The “Sun Set Buoy” documented a day when the wave height was at least fifteen to twenty feet in face. I set out swimming with the odd floating contraption, into some of the most inhospitable warm water conditions on earth. An obvious spectacle to the lifeguards, I swam out and documented the buoy in the large surf. Afterwards while slowly but comfortably making my way to shore, I encountered two curious surfers. They wondered what I had found and what I was doing. This happened to me often. It always makes things more interesting. I explained to the surfers what I was doing and, after getting my picture taken by a Japanese photographer for a surfing magazine, I continued swimming.

Because the large waves caused a rip current I swam in at an angle, thinking that I would slowly make my way out of the rip. The life guard apparently did not think I was moving fast enough. He grabbed his rescue board and jumped in to save me. I saw him watching me from the beach, and I shook my head “no“, trying to let him know that I was fine. He came out anyway. I can just imagine what this looked like from shore, me on the front of the lifeguard’s surfboard trying to paddle with a large ceramic buoy balanced on the nose while the lifeguard paddled on the back end. When I realized we were about to get hit by a large wave, I did not think it a good idea to be tumbled around with the lifeguard, his board, and my rock-like ceramic buoy. I bailed to make my way on my own.

Each of my buoys have highlights that stand out in my mind as important events in the making of my project. Some are worth mentioning. The “China Walls Buoy” filled up with water because of a leak, sank to the bottom, and shattered into pieces. Fishing it out of the ocean tested the limits of my physical capabilities, and I can only imagine what people on shore thought. There are other nuances of the happenings that made the experience worthwhile. I vividly recall a random beach-goer inspecting a buoy after it washed up on the shore and a canoe team paddling past at sunset to videotape another.

A buoy is a device or a tool made to communicate. This is a reoccurring idea inherent to the object as it is traditionally used. The buoys in The Buoy Project are also made to communicate. Buoys mark boundaries in the ocean. The buoy project uses the buoy to mark an event at a specific time and place.

Buoys are part of the societal structure, part of a consistent foundation on which we depend on to protect are best interests. The buoy tells us how close we are to disaster. It warns us when danger is near. They exist for our protection, lending a sense of security, which leads to calm understanding in a dangerous environment.

"One of the beauties of art is that it reflects an artist's entire life.”

-Andy Goldsworthy

Calm and security and understanding are not a constant. Calm is an objective state of mind. To be calm and carefree is a reward in life, encouraged by such healthy activities as meditation or exercise. Negative things such as excessive drinking, smoking, drug abuse, and other addictions, don’t truly alleviate stress. I often wonder if my artwork is related to the bad habits I have given up. I smoked for ten years. I was also a heavy drinker. I had a hard life because of it. I think, because of my history, I now give a strong precedence to the things in my life that help keep me balanced. This could be the drive behind my obsession with ceramics and the time I spend in the water. The therapy of exchanging a destructive behavior for a constructive one has pushed me toward goals I never thought possible.

I did not see any indications that The Buoy Project reflected a meditative state until it was completely installed in the gallery. This quality of the project came across in the audio as a whole and from each individual buoy. The presentation of each buoy also helped in understanding some of the universal qualities of meditation. I say universal because there are cultural traditions around the world that have attributes related to the process of exercising the practice of the meditative ritual that give the practitioner a sense of calm and in the process, a strength of mind. There are many activities that have this effect but one is specifically done to isolate the pure essence of the meditative state.

Zen is a concept well defined, studied and practiced. Simplistically defined, Zen is the balance of opposites. Complete harmony is impossible. The pursuit of balance is a lifestyle. The ocean in Hawaii is a place where I pursue balance. The pursuit of balance seems to be inherent in the creation of art, not necessarily a conscious pursuit but a universal attribute that is an instinctual part of humanity. Balance is referring to at least two variables. These variables in The Buoy Project are time spent in the studio balanced with time in nature. The outcome of this way of working became clear in the exhibition because the subject is closely related to my personal pursuit of balance.

The gallery installation helped in coalescing the ideas and the aesthetics of The Buoy Project. In the gallery, other additions were needed to tie the buoys together into a cohesive exhibition. The sand boxes that the buoys sat on not only referenced the sand of the beach but also created a contrast between the buoys, and framed the presentation. The relationship of the smooth soft sand juxtaposed with the rock like texture of the buoy created a relationship that suggested the ideas in a Zen rock garden.

The sounds recorded to accompany the videos were presented at a barely audible level but could be heard clearly up close on a close personal level. The sounds blended with the individual nuances of each buoy. The “Sunset Buoy” was the only buoy with a constant soundtrack of waves breaking on the beach. The Sunset Buoy filled the exhibition space with the soothing, meditative sounds of the waves crashing on the beach, which also added to the Zen qualities.

The seven buoys in the gallery space were organized in relationship to each other in consideration of their aesthetics and the flow of the viewers in the gallery. I set up The Buoy Project with the expectation of receiving some feedback from the viewers who experienced the exhibition. I also set up a “YouTube” channel that showed all of the videos, giving the viewer a means to revisit the experience and an opportunity to comment on The Buoy Project.

As The Buoy Project evolved, ideas that I connected with the project also changed. On a metaphorical level, I first saw The Buoy Project as relating to things in our society that protect us from the environment. It then evoked questions about tools used in are world that guide our culture, and our way of life. The contrast between the metaphorical and the real gives direction for future research that will help in the evolution of the project.

Later, I focused on more direct connections to The Buoy Project. The Buoy Project combines two traditions, ceramics and the ocean in Hawaii. Each tradition feeds the interest of the other. This duality composes the outcome in the exploration and perpetuation of the concept. Using the ocean as an integral part of my work seemed to be looked upon by some as unusual, despite the place in which live. Many of the people of Hawaii have made it a habit of qualifying each other with some sort of unspoken hierarchal structure of legitimacy. After spending enough time in the islands, I find myself evaluating my place here as a person and an artist. I tend to qualify my legitimacy in the experience I have as a waterman. Using the ocean in combination with ceramics seems like a natural combination because I see it as connecting me to Hawaii. In order to survive in dangerous ocean conditions, you must to move with the ocean. You can’t fight it. This is one of the reasons why I did this project.

Outside of the associations that I make with The Buoy Project, there are strong influences that come from other artists that have explored the same questions, answers, and ideas that are used. Parallels arise because of similarities in subject, execution and presentation. These artists manipulate the environment around them using the inherent beauty in nature in correlation with their ideas and interests. These combinations present idealistic works combining nature and humanity with each other in harmony.

Andy Goldsworthy was an influence in the development of The Buoy Project. Site specific documentation is part of his processes. The more familiar Andy Goldsworthy is with his environment, the more ideas and options he has in his creation. As he records his ephemeral artworks, he familiarizes himself with the details in the art and in the environment. He explains the event calmly and clearly, almost simply in his documentation. He talks about the things he uses and how they’re associated with that particular place. Goldsworthy explores the connection that the environment has with the human on an elemental level. He includes a diary of his artworks, preferring to create one work each day. His sketch book/art diary is personal. He includes his own health concerns along with the description of his work from that day. Holland, New Mexico, Nova Scotia, and Scotland all have variables that change his work, but England, where he was born is the heart of his work. Where Goldsworthy has lived may change, but his work remains consistent.

I think it would have been interesting to expand the documentation of The Buoy Project to a detailed daily account perhaps including everything that could have had an impact on the observations of the buoy; the times, temperatures, and tides. I picked specific beaches and conditions that also affect my work. Incorporating Hawaii as the focus in The Buoy Project connects my work to the Land Art tradition.

I do not intentionally incorporate environmentalist agendas into my work because I think it is too political. There are many influences in Land Art that I do connect my work to. For example, Nancy Holt’s site specific architecture is used as a tool, similar to a sun dial. Also, James Turrell uses the elements in the environment to manipulate light. The buoy is a tool that is tied to meteorology and connected to the ocean as the element of water. Time, place, and movement are always a part of science and land art. Looking generally at the strings that tie land art together, time, place, and movement are integral in the natural environment where the work is incorporated. I see architecture not just as a utilitarian object, but as the apex in site specific land art.

The discourse on Olafur Eliasson’s work is directed toward the perception of the viewer. Along with other formal aspects of his artwork, many of the ideas are connected with The Buoy Project because of the same kind of reactions that viewers have of the art work. Viewers are confronted by a spectacle of an enormous object. Comparing the artworks there is a similarly in scale. There is a monumental aspect in both works. Eliasson’s work, such as “Waterfalls in New York” has a monumentality that indirectly can be compared to the scale of the particular environmental condition that is incorporated into The Buoy Project. The size and scale of wave conditions in which the buoys were introduced is comparable to the scale of any construction. Not that the effort was made to construct an edifice, but there was some effort involved in learning how to navigate the ocean in any condition.

Some of The Buoy Project’s interaction with the viewer is indirect and separated from the actual event. Although some people were able to witness the actual event, the experience was not a controlled, informed, or a complete experience. The relationship with indirect participation and the viewable record of the event is more directly related to Andy Goldsworthy work. Andy uses his works to discover ideas about the way people relate to nature and the way he relates to nature. Andy sets up an experience and records the happening in order to share his work with the world. The execution of the event, the chronological documentation, the site specificity all have connections with the concepts incorporated in The Buoy Project.

The Land Art of Cristo and Jan Clade also give strong validation to The Buoy Project by using the planning and recording of a site specific event. The site specificity is important because it addresses the message that they’re trying to communicate to the viewer. They interfere with nature. The unnatural intrusion of the work into the environment affects the relationship that the viewer has with the work and the environment. The Buoy Project changes how you relate to ceramics and the ocean. Changing the meaning of something so monumental, plays with concepts that people think of as permanent.

The research during the project helped in clarifying my ideas. The intentional structure in the dialog is a type of interpreter or an intermediary between the experiences of that specific time. The interpretation from the critic helps in shaping the artist’s and the viewer’s perspective. This interpreter changes the way the artwork is seen during a span of time. The artist can change the meaning by incorporating his or hers own biases. The careful structure of documentation helps in confining the rogue ideas that some parts of the work may reference. The art theory endlessly uncovers the fascination and relationship we have with Land Art. Researching art theory and other artists who work with the environment will help strengthen my own understanding of The Buoy Project.

Having a chronological accounting of the project from inception to the exhibition helps in clarifying ideas, completes each stage, and directs the research that will follow in the next stages of the project. There are many personal ideas that have developed during the process and creation of this project. With work and guidance I have clarified my ideas and improved my understanding of my own art during the development of The Buoy Project. The knowledge of other artists and ideas that have enlightened me will continue to be a source of inspiration and are now and forever will be a part of the tools I will use as an artist.