Research Paper

Tara Donovan: Biometric Creations
Tara Donovan was born in 1969 in New York City. In her work she utilizes manufactured materials as pieces for her installations and sculptures. She first studied at the School of Visual arts in New York City from 1987-88. In 1991, following her stint at SVA-NYC she earned her B.F.A. from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington D.C. She then went on to Virginia Commonwealth University where she received her M.F.A. in sculpture in 1999. After completing her schooling she began art shows and has completed 25 solo exhibitions since 1998. Her work has been displayed in contemporary art museums throughout the United States and abroad. Prior to the end of her schooling Donovan also participated in nearly 70 group exhibitions starting in 1996. In 2008 The ICA, Boston has developed her first traveling exhibition adding to her fame and accomplishments (Pace Wildenstein 1-6). She is often honored due to her commitment to specific process rather than art itself, she creates a plan. Her art has a sort of “biometric feel to it” as she insists (Fairchild par. 3). She gathers everyday materials and puts them together. In which a larger image is created. From a distance Donovan’s work appears as one large object rather than thousands of little pieces so intricately assembled to form the larger work. When the proper lighting is applied behind the work it really catches the viewer’s eye and imagination. Upon viewing Donovan’s art many questions of astonishment and interest are asked, most often viewers of her work are amazed by the patience that goes along with pieces as complex her sculptures. Donovan still lives and works in Brooklyn and is sponsored by Pace Wildenstein an artist sponsorship group that was founded in Boston , Ma in the year 1960(Pace Wildenstein 5).
Only weeks before the exhibit in Boston opened, one of her largest art exhibits to date, Donovan was honored with the 2008 Macarthur “genius” award, an award given to only 6 people world wide. After receiving the award she developed the nickname “Genius of little things”(Kino 28). Prior to receiving the “genius” Award, she was honored with The Calder Prize, which is awarded annually by the Alexander Calder Foundation; Donovan was the first artist to receive the award. In 2005 Donovan was granted residency at the Atelier Calder in Sache , France . Her less notable awards consist of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Willard L. Metcalf Award National Academy Museum Helen Foster Barnett Prize, Women’s Caucus for Art Presidential Award, New York Foundation for the arts grant recipient Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Bienneal Competition and the Joan Mittchell Foundation grant recipient (Pace Wildenstein par. 4-6).
“Contemporary art - collectively - is much more socially conscious than any previous era has been. A whole lot of art from the last 30 years has been connected with one issue or another: feminism, multiculturalism, globalization, bio-engineering and AIDS awareness all come readily to mind as subject matter” (Esaak 45). Rather than creating pieces that relate to issues and problems that our world faces Donovan establishes a new theory to an extent of how everything in the world can ad up to create a larger image that makes sense, and from a distance appears to be on large piece, sort of like the image of the earth from a distance. The idea of incorporating nature into sculptures is not a new revolutionized way of depicting nature, but the manner in which Donovan establishes a chance for the viewer to see the little pieces of natural objects that add up to create the “Bigger picture (Kino par. 7)
One article begins "Towering hills of plastic cups, strips of paper spun round and intertwined and millions of straight pins molded into a huge cube fill the space in an otherwise empty Tara Donovan exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston . The artist, a New York City native, takes everyday objects, collects them en masse, and assembles them into something beyond their original form, letting the pieces develop organically."(Vinoski 1-6) is a detailed description of Donovan’s technique that paints the picture of her intentions for a natural look to her work. Tara Donovan is essentially a groundbreaking artist in a time when art has essentially been established from all fronts and refreshing new work is hard to come by.
Donovan has established new techniques and art theories that have established a rather large following and “new opportunities for other artists to create work using her biometric techniques” (Sheets 86-89). Her works “Nebulous”, “Clouds” and “Haze” are three of the more astonishing of her creations. All have a unique way of allowing Donovan to express her own style. Although the works all have completely different
Although Donovan is a highly respected artist she alike all public figures does have critics. "It is, however, rather unfortunate that the material produces something quite similar to the "art" found hanging in some the newly renovated T stops throughout Boston" (Vinoski par. 1) are words that are lowering the appeal of Donovan's art to that of an amateur. The article critiquing Donovan’s art is entitled “Donovan’s modern art exhibit proves superficial” (Vinoski par. 1). Donovan is truly an all around artist, she garners criticism but is also a lead influence on many up and coming contemporary artists, such artists that base their work solely on that of Donovan and nature.
The fact that Donovan is the first artist to create pieces as unique as her own, she has become very influential on artists that want to create similar objects. “I’ve given considerable study to coral reefs, wasp nests, termite mounds, birds’ nests and other similar structures…all in the obsessive spirit of artists like Tara Donovan.”(Theis 1) proves the expertise and ability that Donovan has developed in her works that involve nature. She is so successful in creating “Biometric” structures that a another contemporary artist that specializes in natural pieces, uses not only actual parts of the natural world but uses Donovan’s work as a key influence to images that appear as actual parts of nature and the natural flow of objects.
Tara Donovan describes herself as "fascinated with creating chaos out of something and then restructuring it and giving it new order” (Sheets 86-89) she adds little pieces together “and “grows” them through accumulation. The results are large-scale abstract floor and wall works suggestive of landscapes, clouds, cellular structures and even mold or fungus. She considers patterning, configuration, and the play of light when determining the structure of her works but the final form evolves from the innate properties and structures of the material itself” (McNamara 14)
“Clouds” has a 24 foot diameter and stretches 12 feet high and is hung from the ceiling to create the illusion of actual clouds. Different than most sculptures “Clouds” can really peak the interest of the viewer when viewed from a short distance because the simplest of details cannot be viewed, the distance creates the appearance of fluffy white clouds on a sunny day. Although gluing cups together does not exactly seem as earth shattering one look upon the thousands of cups shaped in rounded ways establish a different appearance of every object and the imagination of all can establish.
“Clouds” is definitely the more astonishing of the pieces; it hangs down from the ceiling and from a distance resembles a fluffy white cloud when in reality it is thousands of Styrofoam cups. The most intriguing part of the work is not its appearance but Donovan’s ability to take an ordinary object and render it to make it into a work of art. The time and effort that is put into Donovan’s work and her personal view is what people find most original, thus establishing her popularity. The work “Clouds” is also very unique because it is brought to life by the lighting that is setup behind it. The lights illuminate the entire work creating a more natural look to the work, as if the sun is beaming through on a nice day. The idea of light beaming through the Styrofoam cups seems like a basic concept but has never been put together with such flamboyance as Donovan’s work, she essentially establishes a new brand of art the is less abstract than the usually collages that are created by contemporary artists, rather than creating images that make people think they more or less allow the viewer to realize more about the materials and capture the imagination of all who view the work. The idea of natural objects being created from man made materials is another captivating aspect of Donovan’s work. Again with Donovan it is about “making the ordinary extraordinary” (McNamara).
Upon viewing Donovan’s clouds the perception of Styrofoam cups can be completed consorted. Prior to the creation “Clouds” Styrofoam cups were quite rare in professional works of art, and art that is displayed in contemporary museums. The shape of a cup is not necessarily ideal for creating round objects yet Donovan’s ability to do so with such elegance is quite impressive. The texture of the cups also adds to the natural look of the piece adding more texture allowing the eye to wander to different parts of the piece intensifying the extreme amount of detail that the has gone into creating the work. Donovan challenges the viewer’s mind and eyes, “the best artists challenge the way we see things. Donovan changes the way we see two things cups and landscapes” in “Clouds”(Dean Dresser).
Understanding Donovan’s “Clouds” is not only to view the piece but to understand the artists intriguing philosophies and originality, “Clouds” in particular is a model for all that Donovan is striving towards. It captures both the eye’s approval and the approval of the viewer’s mind. The mind is captured by the reality and actual similarity the piece has to and actual cloud. It’s rounded edges have a certain subtlety to them that allows the lights to seep into the viewer’s eye through the cups practically creating a transparent ness that can only be established with Styrofoam materials.
A second piece of art of Donovan’s that is also considered quite impressive is her work “Nebulous”, which consists of layers of plastic scotch tape that essentially forms a design that is seemingly endless. The tape waists and turns throughout its back drop creating what appears to be a solid object but when viewed up close its details become much more noticeable and practically brings life to the work and the floor on which the piece rests.
“Nebulous” by Tara Donovan is another piece that escapes the imagination of ordinary contemporary art. Scotch tape configured in abstract design stuck to the floor, but appears as so much more, almost as steam or gas rising from the floor. The work seems quite ordinary from a distance but when viewed up close the intricacies of the work essentially jump off the floor. It is one of Donovan’s more abstract pieces of art, but at the same time when viewed from the right perspective appears exactly as it was intended, a biometric steam or gas.
“Nebulous” consists of nothing but Scotch tape on its side stuck together and wrapped around, it lays on the floor has dimensions of 16 by 14 feet. Differing from both “Clouds” and “Haze”, “Nebulous” is not a collage of objects but more so a never ending maze of abstract lines that some how or another create the image of fog or smoke. Donovan uses a technique that produces the optical illusion of a hovering layer of smoke that takes on a life of its own. Not only does the piece appear to hover but also creates the false impression of an actual moving object as if steam is actually being generated and rising from the earth. Donovan intends to open imaginations up from beginning to end with her art work. Not only is “Nebulous” appealing to the eye it also poses many questions as to the thought process of developing beauty out of the ordinary. “Haze” differs from both “Nebulous” and Clouds is it appears as more of a solid landscape from a distance but upon moving closer to the piece it takes on the image of a wall of fog.
“Haze”, a 42-foot-long wall of over two million clear drinking straws, Essentially a collage of straws protruding from the wall on different levels creating an uneven surface, it can best be described as a snow covered mountain landscape tilted vertically or a flowing wall of fog effortlessly moving in one direction. “Haze” also displays the impressive method Donovan uses to create a rounded surface with objects that are not commonly assembled into spherical designs due to their shape and lack of proportion. This piece also peaks interest due to the combination of thousands of clear objects creating a very unique appearance. The silver color that Donovan is able to develop through her numerous collages is unique to her work establishing an image that . “Donovan has transformed an entire gallery into a unique visual and physiological experience by gluing millions of clear drinking straws onto the gallery walls” (Faichild, Artist Statement)
Almost as important as the art itself is the setup in which the work is toured and viewed, from room to room more and more art around every corner in a winding maze like structure. A majority of the work is on the floor establishing the more natural less human persuasive side to objects. The lighting surrounding Donovan’s art is also meant to add an extra dimension, adding shadows and shining points depending on the pieces used to create the sculptures. With proper lighting the perception of each piece is changed every time a closer look at the image is established, the natural look of the sculptures.
Establishing landscapes that relate to the world is an extremely creative way of expressing the way different pieces of the world add up to create a much bigger picture “Her work explores how massive accumulation of ordinary items can conjure associations of urban landscapes, atmospheric conditions, and geological formations.” (MCASD) She establishes images by creating a collage of pieces that man made but are similar to the smaller pieces of all living things, in a sense uses atoms to construct a larger life form that is in fact inanimate, using her intriguing techniques is able to allow the sculptures to take on a life of their own. The idea of creating a real atom structured piece of art is considered “genius”, a new technique that is intriguing in both appearance and theory, the exact reasons that Donovan is celebrated as one of the most impressive and influential contemporary artists of our time.
Overall Donovan is quite successful in bending the public’s view of nature. Much to often people are concerned with “the big picture” (Cohen 23) and do not take the time to take a closer look at the aspects of the world. Donovan’s art allows viewer’s to look at sculptures from a distance and as a closer look is taken at the pieces the smaller parts of the world that are imperative to the larger image can be taken into account. Being dedicated to specific process is what has allowed Donovan to share her art with people on such a large scale.