TODAY

Today I set up s(crap)s in the cupboard. It took about 4 hours and the final layout came about through trial and error - I have been collecting objects and bringing them to the studio throughout the week and today I just moved them about the room until I felt that each object was in its right place. Some items were bought over the weekend, some I had at home, and some I already had at uni. I don't think it would have been possible to plan the installation fully, not only because I was uncertain of the size of the room, but because the idea of improvisation and an ever changing space ties in with the idea of using the internet as a temporary digital space. 

The prep work that I did basically consisted of making lists of what needed to be done and what objects I was planning on using, like this: 

INSTALLATION LIST

• extension lead
• sphere light + remote
• round glass bowl
• plastic fish
• disco ball 
• horse light
• fairy statue
• pink silk
• tape recorder
• tapes 
• tinsel curtain 
• blu tack 
• chair
• table 
• plinth ? 
• flowers (fake and dead) 

The room has ended up becoming about tat, how instagram stories are like cyber-tat, how we hoard useless items, hoarding fleeting documentation online. 

Most people who have been in the room so far come out with comments of how it was funny or entertaining, my favourite comment is that it's like the 'physical embodiment of a meme'. 2 people also came out saying it was disturbing, which I thought was really interesting as I wasn't really aiming for that and I normally am in my work.  

 - most people have put videos on their Instagram stories.

Dani told me it made her think of this video: 

I guess the tackiness / over the top quality of the whole thing ??? I really appreciated it anyway. 

Getting people's feedback is honestly so intriguing and beneficial because I get to see my work through their eyes, and it means different things to different people. 

This is my first large-scale installation, and I actually really enjoyed directing a space in this way. Personally, it was a great test to my confidence because I am still working on how to unapologetically take up space + filling this room with something that is so very obviously mine was cathartic, like a release of anxiety that I turned into a shiny, neon bubble. 

Last week during my print workshop induction, I learnt how to make a screen print - at the time I wasn't planning on using it with this installation project, but I was planning on sticking posters around uni and the prints actually seem to fit with the room. Additionally, I made them with no intention of giving them a purpose, and was just going to keep them for no reason - fitting with the idea of throwaway content. I put up a few posters today in the Street and the Canteen, and tomorrow I  think I will put some more up as I still have some prints left. I also posted about it on Instagram and Facebook to reach out to more people and because I feel that this project was born there. 

Tomorrow I am bringing in my camera to document the installation, I'm thinking of making a short film as well as taking photographs, but it depends on which one I feel captures the room best. I'm interested to see how many people go in / how they react / how the room might change.