"All the time I was making this I was thinking of you"

Installation made for Studio Project 9 at Market Gallery, Glasgow
July 2007

Studio Project 9 was a short (4 week) residency at Market Gallery that ran through June 2007 with a following 9 day exhibition.

My proposal and initial idea for this project was to make a flowering jungle, with dense foliage and flowers thick from floor to ceiling, covering all except for a small clearing, at the back of which would be a giant piñata in the shape of an Easter Island statue. This would be filled with coloured wrapped sweets, and would be broken at the opening. The spilt sweets and torn remains of the piñata would be left in the clearing for the duration of the opening.

This idea changed gradually over the four weeks, due to both a rationalisation of the concept, and the realisation of how much it was possible to make in a four week period, even working 18 hours a day in the gallery. So, this was refined to a group of four English garden style trees leaving a clearing in the middle. On the four trees was a total of 600 hand-made paper flowers and around 1200 leaves. In the clearing a cardboard sculpture was made, an angular blob (I call it an asteroid) with small lights protruding through its surface. These spell out the second piece of text used in the installation - "Every day in every way I am getting better and better".

What's it all about? The optimism, beauty and misplaced trust of striving to make Art contrasted with the puritan work ethic involved. Making a nice place to sit. Endeavour, arrogance, naivety, spontaneity, Dead Poets Society and art.

Text: Sandy Smith, 2007

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