Thursday, June 24, 2010

Recent activity










I have fixed up with a venue to show in Artprize 2010 in Michigan this September. These images show little rough mock ups as I start to turn my proposal into reality, and the curator starts to plan the layout.

Proposal in brief is : to display an artwork in 2 parts showing shadows of furniture items from Grand Rapids (known for this industry) next to wall paintings derived from shadows of furniture.

The premise is that a shadow is insubstantial but actually created by a real object in the present. Painted images are more permanent but already record a moment in the past. Like shadows, the furniture products can be understood as concepts (figures on the quarterly index of manufacturing, numbers in a catalog etc) as well as real objects. It seems appropriate that these ideas become visibly part of the city's fabric during the festival.

I had originally thought for this to be outside at night and 50 feet long but it is inside and may be smaller. That's good, it can take many forms. Now it can be seen during the day and I've not sorted out weatherproofing of exterior light sources yet, so that may be something for later and more funding. I'm happy as the curator from the local art college is very contemporary, and the venue has a strong conceptual basis for the show.

Its great - the exercise of applying for this show produced a new idea for a site-specific installation, and the opportunity to bring it to life.