Trial: Distorted garments installed at Chelsea

Inflating/Distorting

Inspired by the idea of the garments being frozen in motion, I have begun experimenting with the use of hooks, string and desktop fans to distort the wax immersed cardigans as they set.

Humphrey Spender

The image of drying washing on display carries definite working class associations which allude to the history of the Regent's Place site. I was inspired by this photograph of 1930's Bolton, which was taken by Humphrey Spender in his attempt to document real working class life.  The inflated clothing tugging on the line leads us to draw parallels with the street's inhabitants in their struggle to break free from the grim existence of everyday life.  The medium of the photographic image also creates a strange stillness which contrasts the movement captured by the frame.  I feel the 'frozen' snapshot also places the event firmly in the realm of memorial - a selective glimpse of the past. 

Initial ideas

I'm proposing an installation between the existing modern buildings - inviting the eye upwards to contemplate the height of the space.  The use of the wax immersed cardigans, developed earlier, aims to recreate domestic human interventions in an otherwise clean and sterile environment.  I've been experimenting with ways to create a narrative to encourage flow through the site... possibly the gradual demise of the garments - appearing to unravel or melt away - as they progress through the space.

British Land Competition: Initial Thoughts and Research

Following the introduction of a spatial art competition for British Land, I've been spending time at the site at Regent's Place in Euston.  It's difficult not to be struck by the apparent contrast, in wealth and lifestyle, of those who work on site and the inhabitants of the nearby residential area.  The site developers want local residents to use Regent's Place, but to an extent this seems unrealistic.

There are definite formal connections in the architecture: Both the site and adjacent housing estate have a strong vertical presence.  It is interesting, though, that the context of their height gives them very different connotations - The 'skyscrapers' of modern materialsemanating notions of professionalism and wealth, the 'high rise flats' signifying associations with lower class poverty.

Following research at Camden Local History Library in Holborn, I've found that throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries Regent’s Place was occupied by a mixture of working class dwellings and sites of industry and manufacture.  There has long since been a confluence of classes in the area, however, with the site having been only streets away from the intended ‘well-to-do’ crescents and squares closer to Regent’s Park.  

Lost Streets: The above image is courtesy of Camden Local History Library.

Image Manipulation: Preserve/Destroy

Exploring the notion of fragility, I successfully burnt one of the cardigans slowly, with the wax both fuelling and slowing the process like the wax of a candle.  I then layered images of the cardigan at various stages, juxtaposing the varying states to suggest their co-existence in memory.

Object and Shadow, experiments with photography

I am pleased with the way this photo captures the materiality of the wax at this somewhat distorted angle.  The shadow reveals the identity of the object through its shape and texture.  As the shadow blurs out of focus towards the camera it also seems to suggest movement, in contrast to the stillness of the object itself.