Rees mullins- Site Specific

 

 

5/1/23

I ended up changing my location due to the fact that I am not confident enough in my ability to wheatpaste small objects 10 feet overhead on the side of a moving highway.I attempted one bird but i did not feel comfortable attempting more since i saw multiple WYDOT vehicles and police cars in the few minutes i was out there.

Since I wanted this piece to be discussing fringe groups of society I wanted to play with that concept. I looked for places where people in these groups would be hanging out and I remembered the skate park, and more specifically the large file used for graffiti.

Queer communities oftentimes have intersections in a lot of other fringe groups, one of the largest overlaps is the skater communities and the punk communities. I want this piece to not alienate anyone who feels like they are dying and no one is around to help.

4/24/23

I have been creating the birds that I am going to wheatpaste in the underpass. Since the birds are solid black forms they have become very abstract, I want to paste up to 20 birds in the area. I would like the area to feel like it had been overtaken by the birds, all circling overhead.

To paste the birds I believe I am going to use a very long pole and a roller brush to paste the bird since they are maybe 10 or so feet overhead. I will be updating with images and such here soon.

4/17/2023
I have decided to use the underpass for my location, there is just something that I really enjoy about the structure overhead and the location in general. I have sketched out the designs I am going to use for the birds flying overhead. I will just be wheatpasting paper birds overhead circling the figure sitting on the ground. And then I will create a form out of chicken wire and clothing. I want one three dimensional bird somewhere on the person. This is to continue the feeling that this figure was left for scraps and the scavengers are starting to tear away at the figure. I am not sure what paper I am going to use yet since there is nothing at the bookstore currently that seems like it will work for what I need. 

Update:

I have been looking around for other places where I could place my Site-specific installation. I really like the idea of the dump but I am not sure I can use that location. There is a place right on the outside of the old Bart's flea market parking lot that I think has a lot of intrigue. It could be very interesting to see my piece there, since it is like a small patch of grass in this large parking lot. The only thing is that I am still note sure how I'd create “onlookers” and since the location is somewhat remote I'm not sure people would really stop and look. The second location I have is an underpass under i80 alongside 3rd street. I feel like it is fitting to place a “dead body” there but I feel like it runs into the same issue as the location near Bart’s. I have wondered how I can abstract the “onlookers”, or how important they really are. I feel as though the birds are really necessary to the piece, but I'm not sure they need to be real. I was thinking that if I were to create the birds I could use wheatpaste and paper to make cut outs of birds circling overhead.

I am not sure how I am going to create the body yet, I think the form should be in the round and not two dimensional. I have thought about casting my face and hands in plaster and covering them in latex so they look like skin, and then building the body out of clothing over chicken wire. I do not want to create something that is going to get the cops called on me so I am not sure how I want to go about making it known that it is not a real dead person on the side of the road. If I were to prop the figure up and emulate a homeless person people may not even pay attention to the figure.

In my piece I want to talk about the feelings felt by America’s castaways. The people that don't get the luxury of being looked at with respect by other people. How one might feel like they are dying and nobody around them will stop to help. It can feel hopeless and like you are being picked away by scavengers as everyone around you takes pieces from you without even knowing about it.

 

I have attached images of the locations I have been thinking about.

 

Field: feelings of isolation, loneliness and suffering. 

Utilizing a field outside of town, I would want to capture what crushing loneliness can feel like. How one might feel completely isolated from their peers, almost as if they are being studied like an animal on a farm. A figure lays off in the distance while a figure a ways away stands watching the figure, as it gets picked apart by the wildlife- none of the group watching this wants or can help, they just watch as it happens. 

City hall: Transphobia and Scarecrow arguments

A lot of the current anti transgender laws and bills being made are based on false information and scarecrow tactics, accusing trans people of being pedophiles and murders while the statistics are proving them differently. There are going to be horrible people from any group, but to claim that it is a widespread issue is directly false. Utilizing the small greenery around the city all in want to create a scarecrow that represents me and my identity, while also directly calling out the scarecrow tactics that are being used in current politics.

Church: I want to display the religious trauma I have been unlearning for the past few years of my life. My parents, who attend fire and brimstone churches in Texas, raised me with the fear that if I am not saved I will live in an eternal damned nation. That line of thinking can be detrimental to how you see yourself, your actions and how you treat others around you. But being in that environment can also cause others to bring you down, like crabs in a bucket. I want to show this single bright hand emerging from a pit as these almost intestine like ropes seemingly pull it down.