I made an installation for a project. I call it "Fairy Tale Pharmacy." Before I talk about my work, I will first give some context.
Detail on Fairy Tale Pharmacy
An Installation, in contemporary art, is when an artist fills a space with works or a group of objects to create an environment for the viewer to experience. These works often take much effort and thought to be shown for a short amount of time. Documentation, photos or video, of the experience ends up being necessary.
Some noteworthy installation artists are Christ Burden, Adrian Piper, Vito Acconci, Judy Chicago, Mike Kelley, and Bruce Nauman. One of my favorites, Judy Chicago, created an installation celebrating feminists throughout history. She made intricate place settings representing each woman, with a little humor. One would assume the experience for the one dining would be to eat from the plate which was a floral sculptural object.
For screen-printing class at the good ol' university I was making sets of prints for an assignment that was called "quilt." It could be any size and about any subject. My professor encouraged us to go big with our projects.When I was informed that this project had to be presented formally, I had to re-think a few ideas of how this would happen. It was all about the location. I was lucky enough to reserve the back wall of the Todd Madigan Gallery that was not being used by the current exhibit, for a couple days at least, during the end of the end of the quarter.
First, over a few weeks, I made sets of two color screen-prints of pill bottles from drawings I designed. For design purposes, I decided to use complimentary colors for bottles in relation to the words. The colors of the bags were made to evoke a feeling.
The red and blue pills are inspired by 1999 film, The Matrix. The blue pills are the ones that make you stay in the "reality" that has been created and is accepted by most people. On white paper bags there were sets of orange bottles with the prescription sign and the word blue in the shape of pills printed on top. White paper bags are what prescription medications come in. Also for design purposes I used the word "blu" instead of "blue," and in the other bottles, "big" instead of "large."
'Blu'
The red pill, as the Matrix says, lets you see "how far down the rabbit hole goes." In the film, the red pill gives the reality that most people do not see. On brown paper bags there were sets of green bottles with a prescription sign and the word red in the shape of pills printed on top. Brown paper bags are what lunch come in and are sometimes used for other purposes.
'Red'
The big and small pills are inspired by Alice in Wonderland. A bit more straightforward,
Two kinds of 'Big'
The the 'Small' pills make you small. On green and brown paper bags there were sets of purple bottles with the instructions "eat me" and the word small on top.
'Small' and cookie
Inside some of the bags were goodies. The bags of 'Blu' had apples and oranges in them. The bags of 'Red' had candy in them. The bags of 'Big' had marshmallows in them. The bags of 'Small' had cookies in them. For a quick recap listen to Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. Some of the song is actually about Alice in Wonderland.
Bags with candy for "Red"
The bags were set up in five rows across the walls and floor. The highest bags were eight and a half feet up. The room was twenty six feet long by seven feet wide.
Fairy Tale Pharmacy
The idea behind the placement was if it were an abstract of a fruit tree, but machine-like, some would grow, and fall when ripe, as seen by the ones on the ground.
'Ripe' bags with apple from 'Blu'
Some would not grow, as manifested by the blank ones; and some would rot, as manifested by the crumpled ones. Others were doubles and/or mixed adding some variety in the many otherwise similar group of bags.
Some variations
The fruits, apples, oranges, cookies, marshmallows, candy, were found in the 'ripe' bags to be either enjoyed or left to rot. All the stages of growth were represented.
To view this piece was an experience. As the audience tried to interpret the objects in the room, I participated in the piece by picking up a bag and casually eating the contents. One bag after another. Seeing this, some of the audience took my lead and participated by consuming the contents of a bag they saw fit. Some were weary of trusting what was inside because of the connotations of the outside descriptions. Some did not care of the possible consequences of eating contents. I, half believing my intended meaning, ate one of every kind of bag so they would counteract each other, littering when I was finished. If every bag does what it is supposed to, we could potentially have control over what happens to us. The full experience was only happened the first day when my classmates viewed it; the aftermath was what remained for the next two days.
Removing the installation
And now it is gone. The room has been documented. The bags are now artifacts. The candy is long since digested. And I get to clean up the room, or else.
For Further Reading:
PS. I would like to thank a friend for telling me to look at a container I use daily and used to throw away.
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