This is a detail from the first installation I made in graduate school on a grand scale. I locked myself in a cold room with windows that led into another interior (no natural light) and with some David Bowie, Jens Lekman, and Kanye West keeping the beat, I intuitively started marking and altering the cold, institutional space. I decided on a palette, scale, and materials, but the imagery was mostly accidental. I knew that I wanted to warp the space by using illusionistic tricks. I also withheld all judgment and just allowed myself to respond to the elements of the room. The stool was already there and it provided me an opportunity to play with illusion and animation. This was also the first time I used woodgrain contact paper as a collage element. In the end I was satisfied with the cinematic, confusing, and playful space. I felt I had successfully composed a 3-dimensional collage using a variety of artificial and organic materials. The relationship of high-gloss latex paint to weathered newsprint to the artificiality of the glossy woodgrain contact paper had a real impact on me. I realized that this use of materials was directly related to the way I experience contemporary consumer culture, especially in a city like Seattle where there is so much mixing of nostalgic eras, like modernism, with garage sale chic. The culture here seems to embrace the past as a way of confronting the chaotic present.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Untitled Installation 2008 12'x12'x24'
This is a detail from the first installation I made in graduate school on a grand scale. I locked myself in a cold room with windows that led into another interior (no natural light) and with some David Bowie, Jens Lekman, and Kanye West keeping the beat, I intuitively started marking and altering the cold, institutional space. I decided on a palette, scale, and materials, but the imagery was mostly accidental. I knew that I wanted to warp the space by using illusionistic tricks. I also withheld all judgment and just allowed myself to respond to the elements of the room. The stool was already there and it provided me an opportunity to play with illusion and animation. This was also the first time I used woodgrain contact paper as a collage element. In the end I was satisfied with the cinematic, confusing, and playful space. I felt I had successfully composed a 3-dimensional collage using a variety of artificial and organic materials. The relationship of high-gloss latex paint to weathered newsprint to the artificiality of the glossy woodgrain contact paper had a real impact on me. I realized that this use of materials was directly related to the way I experience contemporary consumer culture, especially in a city like Seattle where there is so much mixing of nostalgic eras, like modernism, with garage sale chic. The culture here seems to embrace the past as a way of confronting the chaotic present.
