2014, Wire mesh, threads, wood, cloth, 120 x 50 x 50 cm
By NURUL I’ZZAH BTE BASIRON, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School, Art Teacher
XIE SHANGYI, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Art Teacher
Playing with the idea of the butterfly effect, where the flap of a butterfly’s wings is capable of setting off a tornado in another part of the world, the outcome and reaction to our action might be vastly underestimated. Hence, the collaboration seeks to create an artwork that reacts to its audience’s casual actions.
Drawing inspiration from first aid bandages, the fabric is woven in a way where it accepts the changes and assaults created by the audience’s touch. The memory of these actions is documented visually, as patterns are created and imprinted on the fabric. Yet, this mechanism does not translate the action directly; instead, as the audience place their fingers through the fabric creating a concave space, the observer receives a convex protrusion at the other end. The work is ever changing, as it continues the conversation of action and reaction with every new member of the audience it encounters.
Lesson Ideas for The Butterfly Effect (2014) by Nurul I’zzah Basiron and Xie Shangyi
This lesson is suitable for students in: Secondary 1 Express
Artwork title: The Butterfly Effect
Name of artists: Nurul I’zzah Basiron and Xie Shangyi
Schools: Cedar Girls’ Secondary School, Nanyang Girls’ High School
Possible Guiding Questions
1. What was your response to the work? [Before, During and After]
2. What types of materials would you need to make this work?
3. Why do you think the artists chose these materials?
4. Did your sense of touch and your sense of sight reveal different images or meanings about the work?
5. What do you think is the artists’ intention?
6. If you were to re-create the work, how would you have done so?
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