My project began as a conceptual piece because the commencement of our final major project coincided with the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict. As we know war is associated with destruction, loss, and bloodshed, therefore, I decided to create something structurally related to it and portray the damage caused by nuclear weapons. The first step for me was to undertake research, which I did in different aspects throughout my project process. Firstly, I looked for photos of war-damaged ruins and different types of battles, such as civil wars, soviet war, religious war, political warfare… etc. Secondly, I studied about several artists in order to gain inspiration which I will summarize on the next lines. Rachel Whiteread is an English artist who made sculptures of everyday items that have the feel of forgotten space or objects that have been left and abandoned which piqued my curiosity as these objects have a human connection. This led me to think about deserted spaces, why they might have been left and who might have left them, and what would drive someone to abandon their entire home. The other Artist I researched on is Rebecca Bathory, an English Photographer who captured locations of soviet war that had been abandoned for a long period, and you can see how the spaces have altered through time, as well as how time changes objects, including those that are valuable and meaningful.
It was at this point that I wanted to create my own space that would be abandoned, and I wanted the viewer to have the idea of “what if this was my space” or “what might happen if something happened.” Trying to grasp the fragility of life. Thus, I started visiting museums and galleries to observe and to obtain required knowledge about antique objects and spaces. I went to The Design Museum to loo at objects from past decades; this was different because these objects appeared to be new and well-maintained; I reflected on the difference between the two, one looked after and the other decaying, and how this affects the space you’re in and how you feel as a viewer; this has been influenced to some extend by the room in the V and A.
For my project I intended to employ the musty odour of an abandoned house, as well as molds, dirt, and spider webs, to express the felling of isolation and antiquity in my piece. Even though I tried to make a few samples of distressed wallpapers and carpet, yet this has been tricky for me to recreate it in whole as decaying is part of nature behaviour that occurs over time under some specific conditions such as moister, darkness, and restricted human entrance in the place are required in order to happen. I then discovered a range of house objects such as chairs, tv case and wardrobes. It was particularly important that I found this furniture since they once had a life in a home and now, they were abandoned on the street or in a bypass. But it became difficult for me to work with these objects because we are so used to them, and there was not much I could do without cutting them.
It was at this stage that my idea took a complete 180-degree turn. I experimented with arranging the found objects in various angles and documented them, after which I modified and manipulated them in Photoshop placing them in different spaces through the backgrounds I used. I set them in varied forms to explore and mix up the shapes and how we see them. I also made a small sample of a room in a way as if it was abandoned, then I printed and set the images I photographed of the objects inside of the room’s model. Light designer Luisa Alvarez played around with chairs using light and old coloured-tint picture negatives to transform them into something special. This inspired me to attempt something similar with the chairs to change them in different ways and at this point I went to focus on giving the objects a new identity.
I applied wrapping and painting techniques on the found pieces using variety of materials including, elastic bands, fabrics, strings, nails and clean films. I wanted to reflect the human emotions of an abandoned object in some way, so I hammered nails into the chair to represent the scars and the pains it went through. Each lesson, I changed the chairs in a way more and more to convey how things change in time and I photographed each stage of changes I have made; where I have uploaded them in my blog alongside with my other pieces and reflective writing on each piece I made.
Lastly, I photographed my final pieces all together, now a new dialogue has begun to happen between the objects as they start to talk to each other once they are placed next to each other.
For the exhibition I am planning to complete the pieces I couldn’t finish on time, also I want to wrap a rectangular board in wallpaper and screw some of my artworks into it. I will update and upload the process and my further research in my blog.
If I were to redo this project again, and had access to more materials I would have gone with giving the objects a new identity by turning them into sculptures or I would have taken them apart and reassembled them in some other forms.
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