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By: Ally Wallace

Ally Wallace on his residency at Victoria Baths, Manchester.

"I worked as artist-in-residence at Victoria Baths, Manchester for ten weeks between July and September 2008. The baths were closed in 1993 and since then there has been an ongoing campaign to re-open the building as a public swimming pool. During the residency I produced my main piece of work in the area which houses the Gala Pool, which is the most impressive of the building's three empty pools, with some smaller supporting works in adjoining rooms. The Gala Pool space is huge and airy. It is filled with natural light and rich in architectural detail. I decided to make an artwork on a scale which would complement the building. I wanted to make something simple, which would harmonise with the architectural space and wouldn't create much material waste. I used newspaper because it is an everyday, readily available material and I liked the idea of it being recycled from newspaper to artwork. I've produced large-scale works in the past using cartridge paper but have never tried using newspaper on a large scale. I like the way that newspaper changes colour and becomes crinkly when exposed to daylight, creating interesting effects. I arranged the piece as a grid of squares reminiscent...

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