So for a while now the group has decided that we will use our time in the space during the final performance to build an installation to represent The Waiting Room and how we as individuals and collectively feel what the space represents to us. For all members of the group the idea of installation art was a new one and we were struggling, at least I was, with a definition that gave us clarity of what we could do. I stumbled upon an article from the Tate online that states: “In the 1960s, the word installation was employed by magazines such as Artforum, Arts Magazine and Studio International to describe the way in which an exhibition was arranged, and the photographic documentation of this arrangement was called an installation shot. The neutrality of the term was an important part of its appeal” (Bishop, 2005). This was the definition I need to understand that I would never have a definition for the term installation, I have seen so many different examples of ‘installation’ pieces that have all been completely different that I think I was waiting my eureka moment to understand that as long as something has a meaning it can be classified as an installation piece (or maybe I still don’t understand the concept).
Up until very recently all of our installation ideas have revolved around paper airplanes and the idea of freezing time and remembering what has happened in the space. Ideas and inspiration came a great amount from installation piece by Dawn Ng titled I fly like paper get high like planes.
I fly like paper get high like planes.
The image of being stood amongst so many planes going over your head is, to me anyway, very striking and I was very excited about the idea of creating an image like this in the grandstand. It soon became apparent that we would not have enough time to build an installation to this scale and also it may not have been possible in the space as we discovered with a room that we rent every week, it is not our space and we probably wouldn’t get away with putting holes in the walls in order to hang everything up.
In developing the piece and from feedback we received about the success of having audience members each fold and throw a paper airplane we decided to just have one airplane folded and thrown; this way there was still the lovely sound of the paper folding but without the unpredictability and mess of it happening on a larger scale. After this development we obviously had to start thinking about new routes to take with our installation piece so we went back and though about the site and our performance and what they meant to us. For me, there was a great sense of combining the idea of time passing and the concept of preserving the grandstand. When you’re in the space you can see instances of where the room isn’t looked after or where it has decayed over the years, particularly so on the much appreciated RFC mural.
While we were in the space I captured a few of these moments of decay:
Lack of care in the grandstand
You can see on these images how the mural is damaged and the windows are cracked and left without repair. These thoughts led the group to toy with the idea of preserving the space. We went through a process of talking about how to keep things from damage and discussed ideas such as trying to put everything in glass or Perspex boxes as if on display to be appreciated but this wasn’t an achievable goal in regards to the space and how late in the process we were having the idea. We then went on to discuss bubble wrap and how it’s purpose is to protect but still we didn’t have any ideas that screamed brilliant so me moved on from that idea as well.
Our deciding moment came once we stopped thinking about it so much, we were discussing how in one of our very first visits to the grandstand we took a gift and discussed the idea of leaving something behing to change the space. We discussed this idea of preserving the events that happen within the walls of the grandstand, and half in jest Alice suggested that we bury a time capsule. This, combined with adding the Stop all the clocks poem while we collected in batteries, decided how we would end our time at the grandstand.
Works Cited
Dawn Ng: I fly like paper get high like planes, 2009.
References
Bishop, C. (2005) But is it installation art? [online] London: Tate Modern. Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/it-installation-art [Accessed 29th May].
Ng, D. (2009) Dawn Ng. Available at http://www.dawn-ng.com/new/paperplanes/4.html [Accessed 1st May 2014].