Suspending the pieces from the ceiling is a challenge in most gallery spaces, no matter how different and unusual the notion is. I am convinced that a few places, though interested in the work itself, didn't relish the idea of large, heavy artworks potentially falling from above.
When the piece was at BWAC in Red Hook, I had the advantage of putting significant braces into the ceiling and a strong-gauge wire to hold everything in place. The pieces moved with air displacement, but not dramatically.
The Prototype 1 phase at the Grace Gallery where I work at City Tech does not allow for any kind of drilling. Not only are the ceilings high and pristine white, City Tech is a public institution, and a special department must be consulted when a power tool is brought to its property. Overkill, yes, but measures must be taken to prevent total chaos.
So, two options were explored: setting up a rig or making stands which hold the foam core boards erect. For this Proto 1 phase, as discussed earlier, the nine images were tiled to-size and stuck onto foam core. From here, they'll be placed around the room.
A rig proved to be time- and budget- costly. So I slapped a stand together first, from a piece of card stock and then from some left- over board. It works great.
And, by far, an advantage: it I want to change the piece's location, all I have to do is move it. No ladder, no re-tying. Which gives me an idea for how to hang the nine mounted and framed pieces.
The journey continues.
Admitting: I could be a little callous if not specifically told what the issues were; at times I'm more observant than perceptive. However, I am able to see the complicated layering of possession and loss; memory and its vivid resurrection. Indelible fingerprints of the past; how can they be recalled?
Pictured is Mr. Steve Caputo, the print college lab technician, cutting the tiles of SIS on our industrial cutter, a monster of a machine.
