One man's trash...

 Contemporary Art Practice- Component one

In this brief we were asked to site a work in either Farnham, Aldershot or Alton. We were asked to make six pieces and develop one final piece to be left behind in our chosen site. As a class we went on a day trip to explore these places and get inspiration from the neighbourhood. I didn’t get much inspiration from Aldershot, there was a sense of a wide community but it also felt very run down and dirty. I thought about creating a piece to bring light and purpose to the area but in the end, I decided to take a more meaningful look into Alton and Farnham.

Whilst in Alton, I came across a doorway which had been covered in painting. After researching the historical content of the area and asking my lecturers I found more information on the painting, ‘Jane Austen rice portrait’ by Ozias Humphry 1788. I found this painting quite interesting as it was hidden away on a road that wasn’t pleasant or aesthetic. It was surrounded by colourful flowers, resembling a religious alter or a memorial. Below is an ink pen drawing of the piece.

I took great inspiration from this piece and started researching into modern day links to do with Jane Austen. In the research I came across the 90’s teen movie ‘Clueless’ which is an adaptation of the classical novel Emma. I decided that one piece would be a portrait in ink and watercolour of the main character from the movie, as it is more relatable for modern day society. I would then leave this piece in a small cut out hole in a brick wall of a back lane in Farnham.

The second piece I thought of was centred in the bandstand of Gostrey Meadow in Farnham. The idea was to replace the circular signs in the fencing of the bandstand. I chose to draw and recreate on cardboard, using a black fine liner pen to draw lanterns, birds, trees, etc. I wanted to show things up high so that people who were staring down at their phones would see. I then picked away some of the cardboard to add texture and added ink to create depth in colour.

One of my favourite places to go in Farnham is Farnham Park in the play ground at night. It calms me after a stressful day to go and sit on the swings with my friends. As a child a big stress relief for me was dream catchers that I would make and collect. In my culture and others, dream catchers are believed to take away anxieties and bad dreams from children when hung over the bed or placed in their pocket. I wanted to recreate this on a large scale, somewhere that had meaning to me in my new home. So, I decided that I would recreate the idea of a dream catcher in an unconventional way. I chose to wrap a bench in the playground with string and beads. This also acting as an intervention art piece as it prevents the object from doing what it was made for.

Whilst in Aldershot I noticed a lot of trash all over the street, this made me think about how I could reverse the role of the trash into something precious. ‘one man’s trash, another’s treasure’ started running through my mind and I started to think about the ancient Japanese art form of Wabi-Sabi. This is the acceptance of transience and imperfection when an object is broken. Often seen when pottery has broken and it is stuck back together with gold. Making the broken beautiful. I wanted to recreate this with the trash and so I decided to gather empty rubbish items and fill the with plaster to create a quick and simple white mould. I then broke the finished plaster pieces and stuck them back together with superglue mixed with gold pigmented ink. This was my second choice to be developed into the final piece to be left behind but ultimately, I chose another that I felt was stronger.

I was influenced by the work of Margaret Barron for the next piece that I produced. She paints street scenes onto tape and sticks the tape to various sites and objects such as lampposts. I wanted to do something similar to this work but with my own meaning behind it. I tried painting on a range of materials but I decided to continue painting of leaves as they were a free materials and biodegradable for when they were left outside. I painted various scenes of cities, beaches, stars, etc. things that I am used to having but don’t have here in Farnham, this would also act as a way of letting go of those things that I miss so that I can move on with things that I do have here.

Finally, I chose to develop and finalise the origami birds. I created 100 origami paper birds in various colours and textured papers to be hung all around Farnham. This piece had quite a few different meanings behind it. one being that compared to where I am from, there aren’t many birds in Farnham. Another reason was to add aesthetic value to the street of Farnham and to create a piece that when people passed by they would see and it would bring about new emotions for them. I got many compliments whilst hanging them and after wards also, people said that it was good to see some colour and something different in the area. As I left them behind, people were cutting them down and taking them home, this was mostly by children and teenagers. I think that this was a very strong piece and I’m happy with the outcome, although I could have made a few improvements to the piece. Such as creating a wider variety of birds and making certain spaces look like an Avery, instead of just having a few random birds hanging.