Project 4:Invisible Places Made Visible

THE INSPIRATION:
World travelling graffiti artist ABOVE’s work

THE PLACE:
Graffiti Alley in Ann Arbor, MI, beside the Michigan Theater

WHy:

Beside the Michigan Theater, where the A&D School’s mandatory lectures are every Thursday, there is Graffiti Alley. Graffiti Alley is a well known place here in Ann Arbor. It is where strange mean dress up in outfits and play on upside down trashcans. It is where we sneak out of the Penny Stamps distinguished lecture series.  It is where photo shoots of sorts often take place. It is were amateur graffiti artist go to practice spraying. It is where those foreign to Ann Arbor feel unsafe passing by.

  The walls of graffiti alley have so many layers of graffiti that it’s often difficult to appreciate what is around it. Even when there is a piece of graffiti standing out amongst the others, it still gets muted by the surrounding colors, sprays, and stencils.

HOW:
To make the invisible aspects as well as expose the potential of graffiti alley, I want to take white spray paint and do various, consistent stencils over the colorful walls. Because of the walls being so suffocated by layers of color, the white stencils will stand out. For stencils I would like to make a variety of gallery-like frames to place around selected graffiti. This would help to separate the space and bring attention to the work. In addition a friendly sign with arrows pointing down the alley will read “Welcome to Graffiti Gally”.  

THE PROCESS

¡Took Preliminary Photos, to make a rough plan

¡Set Time, had to be strategic

¡Gathered Materials: tape, spray paint, stencils

¡Went to Work/Problem Solved

THE DURING

Random guy dancing....to michal Jackson the entire time....

THE AFTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My classmates suggested using real frames, but I thought this was beyond what the wall was criminal wise. For the owners to rip off a frame as opposed to just painting over the layers of paint would be annoying. However it could be interesting to play with this in the future with maybe a easy way to remove the frame from the brick wall.

i was harder than I thought to separate the varying spray paint on the wall. The frames I placed ended up being more random. I would like to have some of the frames filled with blank white to suggest needing to be sprayed. Additionally I would still like to attempt to frame works through the alley which are lost.

I would like to re-do this project to improve it's effectiveness. The white paint in some areas was segregated as I liked, but not as strong. I did end up just experimenting and playing with the paint. I learned a lot from attempting this and could do so better next time with more planning as well as experience. The paint would be liquid as opposed to sprayed. Also the frames themselves would vary more with decorated edges, circles and ovals, and size to clearly read as frames. 

artist’s Statement

Overall with “Graffiti Gally” I would like for those passing by to feel safe and welcomed. Also for those who have dwelled around the alley or go through it to stop and relook at the space to gain a new appreciation.

Final Plant Housing

SO.....my original plant is dead, but it wasn't my fault.

It could in fact still be alive somewhere wondering where I am and missing the comfort of my voice and room. I like to think it happily got mixed up with some trash that happened to be healthy and is alive on the outskirts of a waste dump good and well. Of course this is wishful thinking because it is probably dead.

My original housing did not hold up so well being out of bone dry clay with no way for water to escape.

Momentarily I transferred it to a paper cup because it is all I had available. In order to water my plant I often would just take the cup to the sink and give it water. After being away from my plant for over a week while on vacation it became sick. Probably because it missed me. It's leaves turned brown and were wilting, but within two days I saw improvement in it's health. Unfortunately when rushing to class I left my sick plant beside the sink. When I came home it was not beside the sink. I frantically looked everywhere for my plant and asked my housemates. Our housemaid threw it away thinking it was garbage by accident.

As devestated as I was I knew I had to get another one. So I did not get one, but two. My plant surely wouldn't get sick from missing me if it had a friend. Additionally, I could not find my original plant and so I instead bought a plant that would be be thrown away. I bought cacti. It adopted a cacti (small, flower-like green cactus) as well as a cactus strawflower (larger with yellow flower) and cactus moon grafted (smaller with pink budding).

These cacti would not be mistaken as my previous plant for trash. In addition to their look, their care is extrememly easy, much like my baby peperomia. Cacti need lots of light, water when soil is dry, and protection from frost. To further ensure that my plants would not be mistaken for trash and thrown away, I chose to encase them in a housing unit, which needed to be looked at.

While on a trip to salvation army for another class I came across a green floppy hat. I wasn't sure how, but I knew fer sure that I wanted to make it my cacti's new home. I did so by also purchasing a bowl which seemed to have the same circumference as the hat's top. 

From my sewing kit I took my seam ripper and ripped the seams of the hat and realized there was a lining beneath it. 

This small yellow bowl was placed inside the lining and the outer fabric was fastened to the bowl which special, waterproof, plastic-fabric glue.

Though not completely wearable due to balance, I doubt my plant will be mistake for trash again.

Project 3: Waste: Tape Figure-When is it Enough?

The Inspiration

The whole idea from my project esteemed from being sick and missing CFC the day of the waste project. While reaching for my handy dandy "sick pack" filled with all the essentials, I noticed how many usueless pill bottles I had. A lot of my medicine bottles were from expired pills or antibiotics I didn't complete taking.  This got me thinking of the physical waste associated with mass producing legal bottles and medicine which end up in my medicine bag. I thought of my previous project, which focused on entheogens, which are often illegal, contrasting with these legalized drugs. My curiosity also wondered towards how many other people probably have prescription drugs left over in their possession.  how transparent was this legal, physical waste? 

Thus my project idea formed.

The Process

I took kitchen plastic wrap and wrapped my armature, which happened to be my friend Mike. 

He was a good participant. 

After wrapping whatever part of him in the plastic wrap I would build up layers of clear packaging tape. These layers formed the shape of the sculpture as well as built strength in various parts. For example, in the knees I made sure to build up extra layers for support. 

Next I cut my armature out carefully, removed the structure, ripped out excess plastic wrap (to make it more clear), and then tapped it back together.

I had to do this in sections to get the right shapes. If I were to wrap him all at once not only would it be extremely uncomfortable for him, but also it would be difficult to cut out. 

The Final Product

After connecting the pieces back together gravity stuck and my tape man was not as tall as my friend Mike. This made the piece come off as a child as opposed to an adult, which was not my original intent. 

Regardless I think it still held and maybe even added to my concept.

I collected pill bottles from many of my friends as well as recieved donations from UHS and CVS.

The tape figure is completely filled with pill bottles from feet to stomach, where it is meant to look as if it is ripping it open.

Ideally I would like to collect more pill bottles to place coming out of the stomach and spilling onto the ground. Some of my classmates got the impression that the figure was pushing the pills back into its stomach or consuming it through the stomach. 

With more pills it would also be easier to counter weight the figure and have it stand up on its own, which it cannot fully do now. I would like to place this sculpture in an appropriate public place, such as near a pharmacy or drug store (don't tell CVS!). I would tape the feet down securely to the ground and cover it up with more pill bottles, which would be spilling out of the transparent, faceless figure.