POLE
POLE 2020
3D Printed 4m x 97cm diameter.
Made for STOA169 THE ARTIST COLUMNED HALL IN POLLING https://stoa169.com/en/
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Pole takes the essence of the caryatid, The figure of the static and weight-bearing female human form supporting a building in Greek architecture dating from around 500 BC and combines this column of female form with dance; motion in time. Pole dance has its roots in the traditional Indian sport of mallakhamb, a male display of endurance, strength and coordination, which was adulterated into a female erotic act for male audiences. The artwork combines these gender polarities, turning them around and around. The body merges and emerges from the material - magnetised to it until she becomes one with it.
Like much of my work it is an exploration of contemporary imaging technology, the body and playing on the borderlines. ‘Pole' is fluid motion solidified - capturing fractions of a second of motion in time - of airborne motion of the body and through this dynamically portrays the essence of the ’subject’ and the 'where we are now’' of technology, materials and society. The resulting sculpture contains glitches, overt digital material and process artefacts.
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‘Pole’ was the name used as an ethnic slur directed at my dad and us, in my childhood. It is also a statement of fact and the interstitial state between opposing opinions, positions, qualities.
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I captured the image of Iona (the contortionist/dancer) using a 360 degree array of still image cameras which, combined together gave hundreds of still images of the same fragment of a second of time from different angles which enabled capturing air-borne, gravity-defying positions over time. The images were combined to create a computer 3D form of the positions captured. These were knitted together in software to form the column. We built this around a column that was designed like a jacket to slip over the STOA supporting column allowing sufficient tolerance for expansion or deviation from known measurements.
The resulting 3D object was then sectioned into parts which could be 3D printed as the final object is so complex traditional casting methods or milling techniques were not suitable. Using an array of some of the largest 3D printers available we 3D printed the entire form. and then the many parts were assembled into the final form before being resin coated and painted.
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Collaborators & Contributors
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POLE Gina Czarnecki
R&D with IOISIS POLE DANCING
Performer IONA KEWNEY
3D sculptor MATT SMITH
360 image capture 3Dify Ltd.
Fabricators CNC FACTORY
Commissioned by STOA169
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