Installation Arts:
Negative/Space
This installation was a combined effort with WRTG365: Form and Theory.
The narrative of this installation explores what might happen to Fredonia's campus when the arts are being erased. Part of the narrative involves travelling through a scientific portal to a liminal space. I designed and brought together materials to create the portal. For both the entrance and exit of the portal, I made curtains out of strips of fabric and yarn. I sourced my fabrics from Crafting for Good in North Chili, which is a nonprofit thrift store that sells donated crafting supplies and donates to provide food and clean water nationally and internationally. After picking out my fabrics, I cut each of them into vertical strips and pinned them down onto a length of fabric in layers. This process took about 8 hours, but resulted in two curtains that represented the entrance and exit of the portal. Additionally, the floor of the portal was lined with string lights covered in a tube of black tulle to guide the visitors in the right direction. Finally, the portal walls were covered in a light projection of galaxies and stars to match the magical mood of the portal. The goal for the portal was to provide the viewer with a transitional space from the common room of the students from the narrative to the liminal space.
During our exhibition time, our guests were excited by the atmosphere created in the installation. The portal’s curtains made for an immersive experience as each viewer had to weed through the strips of fabric to enter our installation. The installation process for this project was certainly a large task. We had used the old computer lab in Igoe hall, room 123. This room naturally has a walkway that zigzags across the space, but to accentuate this and to create a clear path for visitors, we created walls out of large panels of paper taped from ceiling to floor. This was by far the most intensive part of installing this project. Once we had the walls installed, I worked on securing my curtains into place. The curtains presented their own challenges as they were quite heavy to be hung up by tape.
Overall, the installation was received well by fellow students, faculty, and staff of Fredonia’s campus. Many visitors enjoyed the variation of installation mediums that were utilized. Our class used animations, projections, sculptures, paintings, and text based media together in the project. This amalgamation of mediums was visually stimulating to guests, and made for many focal points of the exhibit.
