Through workshops with Mario, I considered different ways to approach the installation and the materials and setup I’d like to explore individually before grouping up and collaborating on ideas.
My initial idea was to create a wall of clocks with different textures, varying sizes, and appearances, and to find a way to place them on a single wall. Once this was complete, I was going to open each one so I could project my cave drawings and pictures of my late father, hopefully representing the loss of someone over time.
Another Idea I had was to create a cave and cover the entire thing with a large, mapped video slideshow of my late father, and then, in select areas, project separate cave markings as stills. This felt too big to create, and there would be limitations on how visible the visuals would be, as though it would be two projections layered on top of each other, but I was curious to see how I would overcome these challenges. Dangling the images from the cave felt like a good way to address their visibility, but no single idea defined me. I wanted to collaborate on both my illustrations and photography. The reason I wanted it to be a cave was to reconnect with my initial research on the ‘lost’ caves that have yet to be discovered.
My last idea was to create on location and map onto the building of the flats where my late father lived, and project my cave paintings into each window, starting from top to bottom, with the still image of my father in thein the background of the building. I found this one interesting because it was outside, which meant I would have to navigate natural lighting. The building held significance, so incorporating this into my art would be fascinating.
All three of these ideas had their own challenges, but we were advised to think bigger rather than settle for small ideas; as such, I considered what interested me rather than what was possible and realistic.
Once we were placed in groups, I adopted a more practical approach, and a team member suggested a traffic light with different signs attached to the pole. In an odd telepathy, each in the group felt a personal connection to the installation. We agreed this would work if we each had our own individual sign to personalise. I favoured the traffic light because it felt oddly eerie to think about stopping and going in consideration of grief, how there are moments of calm and then instant chaos, like cars speeding past when you so desperately want to move forward. Another way I looked at it was the signs as a means of directing you, that each sign represented a different choice or decision you could make when processing a loss.
Regarding the Tower of Babel, it was an obvious structure that brought together different voices, each unique in its own accord. Opposite to how, when everyone was split by language, they separated due to their differences and were no longer able to build their structure, we still build ours.
We agreed we wanted the installation to be central in the room and tall, but not too tall, so that it wouldn’t touch the roof, and that a black curtain would enclose the surrounding structure to create an isolated appearance.
As we had only two weeks to complete the entire installation, we began planning and creating swiftly.
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