On the way to the residency, I am packed with initial thoughts and starting points. The space looks different every day with new work in progress. Good to walk around and starting off with a critical and reflective discussion of the space with a group of the resident artists, Marg, Robin and Carol. We talked about how this set up of open plan has become the contemporary workspace along with the politics and economy of space.
Examining the office layout it is ‘neutral’ white-grey-straight lined, carpeted, with motion-detected lighting from a standard-tiled suspended ceiling, sealed windows – a big open plan with one ‘placeholder’ pillar. Windows give view to backyard passages, encapsulated storage and functional access plus a tightly framed courtyard with some green. No noise enters from the outside; it’s like watching a silent film whereas the air condition is humming along. Separating the outside it draws focus to the inside!
I wish the space had some content – furniture in it. Rearranging what is there is a way of working I regularly apply for making my installations with institutional interior. Here, I will need to acquire a different approach as the space is actually empty.
As an initial act of occupancy I lay out some materials and objects relevant to the space. Being surrounded by this build up I can’t quite grasp the process and decide to let it settle and move on meanwhile.
Equipped with plenty of low tack vinyl tape I started off making use of the walls and applying tape directly. The subtle difference in texture of the white tape let the lines mark the white walls. Soon the lines join up and form a ‘construct’ hovering elevated above floor level. It is partly a play with two- and three-dimensioniality and a minimal set of lines. Interestingly, the initial version was a rather spontaneous response, not planned or researched beforehand. It looks structural yet illusionistic. Reflecting on what I made, I temporarily call them ‘viewing platforms’. They invite and encourage a view that is lifted from ground level. As such, the constructs act as viewing devices that facilitate a distancing from the site. More importantly, the platforms augment looking with a new level of observation and enabling a position to see more clearly. On the other hand, the platforms themselves appear imagined and seem to disappear occasionally – similar to thoughts that vanish just in the moment when they start making sense.
[to be continued]
