Tuesday, August 2, 2011

I now have a wall, but what next?

I took my portable brick wall to Los Angeles and set it up in the back of Y-Que Trading Post in Los Feliz, Hollywood, California. It is discreet and blends in with the back of the store. This piece does not cry out, LOOK AT ME!, but is more of an I Am Here With You type of thing. It is not definite, yet it is solid. There are objects to focus upon, but they are not the totality. In fact I cannot even say that I can define the wall except in pieces, and then that does not work because the wall pieces will change over time. Whenever someone mentions it in my presence I try to draw them to the back to look at the infrastructure, which is of no concern to most. I feel I may have gone somewhere with this piece and where it is seems important, in that I have lifted the cement of Hollywood 90 degrees to a vertical position. There are the Hollywood Stars, which are on the ground and people walk on them and are forced to look down. Also there is Gromann's Chinese Theatre which has imprints and signatures in cement, but again it is horizontal and people step upon the work and must look down to see the work. The potential for my new work is to bring into wall form similar symbols that are culturally relevant, through the media, but give these characters that cry out for respect and meaning a new way to be entombed. I am hesitant to push celebrity images into my wall, but this may be necessary to give it cultural meaning. Thank gosh I have so many mugshots of celebrities that I can work with to push this idea. I am currently restrained by the amount of time I can devote to my side projects, but if I consider what is important with my work I can find the time to fill more space with photo fresco brick images. I am also considering a brick sticker campaign, for but marketing reasons. My time is the summer and projects are what I do, so something that won't get me thrown in jail for vandalism is workable and stickers are just not a convictable offense.