My blog seems to have taken a bit of a back seat this week as I have been working relentlessly to complete my installation.
After wallpapering the walls and painting them last week, the first thing on my agenda this week was to distress the wallpaper. Using a scraping tool, I removed parts of the texture to expose the layer underneath as well as ripping parts to create larger distressed areas. I think this helped to break the boldness of the colour up a great deal which immediately made me feel better about the space.
This process did take a lot longer than I anticipated and created a great deal of mess! After talking to a tutor I began to think about how these shavings of wallpaper could be put to use to create a more visually interesting piece and to convey my concept more effectively.
I decided to clear up the majority of the shavings and to leave parts just around the edge of the carpet. Whilst I could easily have left my installation looking a bit more abandoned had I left it this way, it was important to me for the viewer to be able to walk into the space and look closer at the prints on the wall. If I had left all the shavings in situ I felt that people would not have been able to view my work in the way I intended, not to mention I would’ve risked the work of other students had the shavings been treaded all around the exhibition space!
Once this distressing process had been completed, I decided to use tea and coffee to stain the carpet and walls more as I felt the space still looked too clean.
After looking at the work of Mike Nelson and extending my research to acknowledge the aesthetics of abandoned buildings in greater depth, I personally feel that with more time my work would have become increasingly distressed to such a point that the space would’ve conveyed abandonment on a much higher level.
When viewing the images of abandoned buildings I felt excited by the ideas that manifested themselves within my creative vision. My intentions for my installation were to create feelings of nostalgia and mourning in the viewer both at the same time. For them to recognise various elements within the piece but to also acknowledge how they have become more obscure.
I think my work succeeds in accomplishing a nostalgic air about it. I do, however, believe that if I had the opportunity to develop my work further into issues regarding abandonment, that it would’ve conveyed a greater sensation of grief and sorrow.
A part of me really wishes I would’ve realised this sooner so it could’ve been put into action. Many students have a niche, a way of working and an interest in a particular area. I have struggled over the past few years as my ideas and processes have often been all over the shop. It is only now that I feel completely comfortable in the ideas I have and confident in where I could take them.
Had I begun this particular project a year ago I believe the end product could’ve been something really special. Nevertheless I am proud of what I have accomplished and glad that I have found my identity as an artist.
