Day One: Introduction
Monday, September 12
Day Two: Demonstration
Wednesday, September 14th and Thursday, September 15th
Day Three: Museum Prep
Monday, September 19
Project Description
Michael Joo, Artist
Day Four: Layer 1
Wednesday, September 21
Day Five: Layer 2
Friday, September 23
Day Six: Layer 3
Monday, September 26
Day Seven: Layer 4
Wednesday, September 28
Day Eight: Layer 5
Friday, September 30
Other Criteria
Michael Joo: "Barrier Island"
October 4th, 2016
Written by Mary
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"The SCAD Museum of Art presents "Barrier Island," an exhibition of new artwork by renowned artist Michael Joo. Specifically conceived for the SCAD Museum of Art, the exhibition is inspired by the location, natural resources and anthropology of coastal Georgia. The artist explores the residual effects of natural phenomena and human intervention on the landscape over time and how these forces shape cultures and identities.
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The exhibition draws from original research conducted by Joo on Sapelo Island, a barrier island and nature reserve off the coast of Georgia, as well as his ongoing exploration of natural and chemical materials and processes.
In collaboration with the SCAD preservation design program, the artist created a site-specific installation made of tabby — a southern, vernacular building material comprised of lime, sand and shells. A series of large-scale, two-dimensional works features images derived from the forests and natural growth on the island. These works embody important material and conceptual explorations by Joo over the last decade, involving a complex chemical process using silver nitrate and sensitized epoxy to reveal layered imagery. The luster and reflectivity of these works are echoed by the polished marble surfaces of three monumental structures, aptly described by the artist as “billboards.”
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Sapelo Island inspired Joo with its rich and tumultuous history of human habitation. Home to one of the last remaining intact Gullah – Geechee communities in the United States, the island’s status as a nature preserve enabled verdant growth to overtake much of the earlier traces of human influence on the landscape. This includes the large-scale, ancient Native American Sapelo shell rings complex (dated to 2170 B.C.); extensive landscaping and excavations exerted by the plantation owners of the 19th and 20th centuries; a compacted sawdust landmass created during the radical deforestation and logging of the island for the hungry timber industries of the 19th century; rapidly eroding tabby structures; tombstones of ancestors of African-American inhabitants in Behavior Cemetery and the ostentatious edifices of the Reynolds Mansion that recall the island’s social and economic iniquities.
6th October 2016 – 5th February 2017
SCAD Museum of Art, 601 Turner Blvd., Savannah, Georgia, USA"
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Source: https://othercriteria.com/uk/blog/2016/10/04/michael-joo-barrier-island
"Born in Ithaca, New York to Korean parents in 1966, Michael Joo is an artist whose work crosses the boundaries between sculpture, performance, drawing, video art and installation. A biology graduate turned artist, Joo explores life’s biggest themes – science and religion, high and low culture, sex and death. His work can be found in numerous public and private collections including New York’s Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Samsung Centre for Art and Culture in Seoul."
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Source: Bloomberg
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In "Barrier Island," Michael explores the idea of how artifacts age over time. Spending a lot of time on Sapelo Island, Michael was able to collect the archaeological evidence that inspired him for this exhibition. He is a hard working and humble individual who wanted us to get as much out of his art as he was. Michael is profoundly intelligent when it comes to interpreting his own art and was an absolute pleasure to work with on this project. The following is a journal documenting our experience over the quarter.
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All Images included in this journal were provided by graduate student Amelia DeCoster.
Day Nine: Layer 6
Monday, October 3
Day Ten
Monday, October 17
Final Touches
Monday, October 24
The first day was an introduction to the overall project and a discussion of how tabby is made. Professor Abraham provided us with a hand drawing done by Michael and additional articles on tabby construction to extend our knowledge. We also discussed what to cover the floor with in order to protect the hardwood in the museum. Peter suggested that we cover the floor with a roofing material that was heavy duty and water resistant.
Below is a basic sketch of the sculpture and the wooden cradle:
The second day, SCAD alumni Greg and his coworker joined our class to demonstrate how they make tabby. A small wooden cradle was constructed by Professor Abraham the night before. They used lime that wasn't yet slaked. Slaking is a process that allows lime to sit for several hours in water so that the chemical can absorb the water. Without slaking, a chemical reaction occurs, creating a smoking effect. The men mixed up the sand, oyster shells, and lime then mixed it all together to create a dry mix. They added the water later because the dry ingredients were more likely to clump together if they added it at the beginning. They continued to explain that once dry, the tabby will remain soft for several days or weeks depending on the weather. They unfortunately didn't bring the slaked lime, and were unable to show a slaked lime mix.
The following day, Professor Abraham built a cradle to support the first pour of the tabby wall exhibit.
The third day was our first day in the SCAD museum. We walked in and finally met Michael Joo who explained the background and artistic direction for his project. The trough wasn't yet built, and the roofing material and lime hadn't been delivered yet. Due to that, we weren't able to pour or mix the tabby that day. Instead, we filled up the five gallon buckets with sand and oyster shells. As some of us were filling up buckets, other students placed the plastic material and wood boards on the floor. Michael, Professor Abraham, and Gunther all helped build the rest of the wood cradle.
Thankfully, all materials were delivered by this day and we were able to begin mixing and pouring the tabby into the cradle mould. We began by filling up some of the blue buckets with water from the water axis outside in the courtyard. Originally, there was a wood support column placed in the corner of the L-shaped cradle by Professor Abraham. Michael and Justin discussed removing the support after speaking with Greg. The following is a basic recipe for making tabby:
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1. Dump two buckets each of sand and one and a half buckets of oyster shells in the plastic mixing trough.​
2. Mix together twice with metal trowel, or until fully incorporated. Partners should switch directions every time they mix.
3. Mix in one bucket of the slaked lime mixture, and break up the mixture with a trowel until fully distributed. The lime putty should be the texture of cream cheese.
4. Mix in a second bucket of the lime putty with some water. There is no exact amount of water that you use. The mix should be thick, but not runny or too dry. All ingredients need to be fully mixed with no chunks of lime or sand seen.
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5. Once fully mixed, shovel the mix into the cradle.
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6. Tamp the mix into the mould to get rid of voids and air bubbles.
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7. Let harden for at least 24-48 hours.
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8. Clean all tools thoroughly.
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On this day, we repeated the steps above to pour the second layer of tabby. After lifting the cradle off of the first layer, we noticed that the mix was still relatively soft and smooth on the side. We believe that we used too much water in the first pour, but Greg had mentioned that traditional tabby would be smooth on the side, and finished with a coat of stucco or lime wash That being said, Michael wanted a chunkier effect so that it would be more weathered. In the second pour, we added more shell and kept the mix more dry. One of the difficult things was lifting the cradle off of the first layer and reassembling it on top so that it was level. We used modern day levelers to check that and added short support beams under the cradle.
After taking off the cradle on the second layer, we discovered that the second pour had much more texture to it. We hadn't let the previous pour dry over the weekend as we did in the first pour, which ultimately caused the tabby to pull a little when taking the mould off. After cutting down the cradle once again, we repeated the steps to pour the third layer. It was important to cut the cradle down so that the holes in the sides would properly line up when the dowels were put in again. In traditional Tabby pouring, the cradle would only be cut down for window and door placement. Michael was along for the whole process in order to direct us in the vision in he wanted.
By this day, Michael had already begun to pick away at the tapered end of the tabby to replicate weathering. He made it known that he wanted to keep the extra pieces and dust that naturally fell off onto the side of the tabby. We repeated the steps from previous days to complete the fourth pour of the project. During which, Michael wanted a smaller pour added to the right side of the wall. A small cradle was created with the excess pieces and was easily added to the desired area.
Hurricane Matthew, Layer 7
Wednesday October 5 - Friday, October 15
Michael unfortunately had to leave to go back to Korea in order to finish another exhibition. He left us a drawing of the his final vision. We repeated the rest of the steps in order to pour the fifth layer. It was difficult not having Michael there, and I believe we made a few mistakes with the dimensions of this pour. Other than that, this day went well with minimal difficulties.
On this day, Michael was still out of town. There were reports of Hurricane Matthew approaching, but we were not worried about it at this point. We continued to work on pouring the next layer of the mould. It was difficult to cut down the cradle and build it again to fit onto the next layer. Storm, the lead curator of the museum
Hurricane Matthew hit around Saturday, October 8, and SCAD evacuated the Thursday prior to avoid the storm. Professor Abraham and Gunther came in while the school was shut down and poured another layer on Wednesday. Luckily, SCAD buildings including the museum had minimum destruction and the art was protected.
After returning from the evacuation, we pulled off the mould off of the top layer. At this point, we were done with our job and only had to clean up. We took this day to clean up and document the piece.
After getting back from his other project in Korea, Michael asked us to return for this day. He took this opportunity to allow us to chip off some of the tabby as he had been doing for several days at this point. Michael also requested us to reassemble the cradle on some sections of the tabby to show the process. The exhibition opened up on Friday, November 11.
