CLOUDY SKY / wood pulp, photographs, graph paper, cotton paper, crêpe paper, metal wires, plastic hoops, small motors, aluminium mounting platform, workshop couch / dimensions various / 2023
exhibition Second Skin, Museum of Textiles in Łódź, Poland, 19 May - 3 Sep 2023, curator: Marta Lisok, photo: HaWa more info
The wood pulp was made from various paper objects I found in my studio. I soaked these finds in water to soften them. I wanted the pulp to resemble a hill or a cave when it dried – depending on whether one viewed it from above or from below. To produce a hill, I needed a mould in which to dry the pulp. I was not keen on making such a mould out of Styrofoam or clay, so I used different objects from my studio instead. Chairs, bits of mattresses and structural components were all he- aped together, and this heap was then covered with several kinds of foil: brushed foil used for protecting wood, rein-forced film for greenhouse glazing and smooth dust sheet. Because the pulp was dried on several different-textured foils, a variety of motifs was reproduced on its surface: brushed and grid patterns, and irregular creases. I then decorated the pulp with stars cut out of fluorescent crêpe paper, gluing them close to one another. Finally, I would break the pulp into piec-es: sometimes, this was necessary for transportation purposes; on other occasions, the pulp would crack under its own weight. When that happened, I would soak it again, mould it into one piece and dry it. In this manner, an eclectic pattern emer- ged: a collage-like pulp. It would be difficult to say whether the pattern rep-resents a star cluster, sunset sky or the pulped flags of different countries and alli-ances. I hung the pieces thus obtained at different heights, so that they resembled clouds. If I was to soak them in water, they would dissolve completely, their texture not un- like that of thick sour cream.
I weave the cobweb from corrugated wires pulled out of a filter mesh. The process undergone by this wire is not unlike what happens to one’s hair, weaving after one has worn it in a plait overnight. The wires are short: that is because, in order to split the filter mesh open, I had to cut it into small pieces. And so, having pulled out the wires, I have to weave them together according to their length. The end product of this is a sort of barbed wire.
One could lie down underneath the cave. And as we lie there, we can see, in the distance, a mobile with stars, surrounded by pulp which looks like a star girl’s birth- day cake after it has been run over. This is what we see if we set the focus to distant vision. If, by contrast, we opt for near vision, we will find ourselves lying underneath a mass of paper which had dried on brushed foil commonly used as a firewood cover. At that point, one thing becomes evident: what is known as satin finish is neither matte nor glossy. Compared with the installation’s other components, this is an ex-tremely minimalist surface, with a 10x15 photograph of a bonfire in a field at dusk pinned in the middle. In the photograph, the powerful flame is a lot lighter than the darkening sky, and burning wooden logs can be seen within the fire. The fire is definitely bigger than any one person, perhaps even greater than several people. The photographer must have felt the heat of the bonfire.