This is one work. It is still continuing. It is like
a collage but one that happens in bits over a long
period of time - three and a half years so far.
Each window is not quite a piece in the conventional
sense of gallery work. They are deliberately simple.
Designed to be seen from the bus, car or by passing
pedestrians. Each one leaves you slightly dissatisfied,
wondering what comes next
They have always been unlabelled on site though
they are listed and mailed through the art press.
The fact that I don't label them, that I'm anonymous
unless you happen to meet me on the street may
be frustrating for some people but it also leaves you
free to make what you like of them.
People ring the doorbell or leave notes with their
comments. They meet me in the street when I clean
the window or video and photograph the work.
The video and people's comments have become a diary,
a documentary - a series of anecdotes and opinions
which surround the windows themselves. You
may add your comments by using the email address:
info@windowsoneoeight.com
I'm interested in the way even a simple and
apparently banal image or phrase can have multiple
meanings. Art objects don't function in isolation.
They function in a context. In the gallery that
context is clear but on the street it is blurred.
Putting images on the street is a form of
investigation. I don't know what the piece will be
like until it is on the window. They don't always
work in the way I expect. People don't always
react in the way I expect. The uncertainty is part
of the fix.
I am appropriating the context in which I work and
making it visible. The "shopping" for materials, the
comments of passers by are part of my work. The
windows themselves are just one element which
fits into a niche in the the street - they're part
of an urban ecology.
They are also a mediator between me, the mostly
invisible artist, and you, the audience.
I'm signalling wildly through the glass. Do you
get the message?
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