SeedWorks Proposal - Harrison Wayne (22nd Feb 2021)
what i want to do:
This proposal is seeking advice, guidance, and clearance to host a solo show open to the general public at the United Methodist campus during the upcoming spring festival. This proposal is intended to satisfy goals held by both myself and PushPush – to host my first solo show and to contribute to the spring festival programming in a way that incorporates the history and physicality of the First United Methodist location itself. I did my best to make this proposal well fleshed out to communicate the depth of preparation I have put into this project so far.
I am not currently seeking funding for the project associated with this proposal and intend on providing all relevant supplies and expenses myself.
I have done artwork install for several shows around Atlanta over the past year. Below I have presented several installation mock-ups that show potential locations/installation strategies across the United Methodist campus – I am hoping to get feedback on those ideas! My primary goal with the presentation of these works is to bring the stained glass panels down to the level of the viewer – whether that be hanging them from the walls in the hallway where they can drape down across the floor to be stepped on, or hanging them somewhere at eye level where they can be inspected up close – I want to take these lofty panels and bring them down a few notches.
general overview of objectives:
- Produce 10-15 graphite rubbings of multiple stained glass panels within the United Methodist sanctuary (February – April)
- Produce a series of small-scale rubbings featuring found materials from around the United Methodist campus (February – April)
- Establish strategy for presenting this body of work in a solo show at the United Methodist Campus (March)
- Potential Locations: Sanctuary, Chapel, Hallway
- Present these rubbings in a solo show open to the general public during the upcoming Spring Festival (sometime April-May)
project background:
In anticipation of submitting this proposal, I spent several weeks independently testing out the ideas presented here to ensure that I am able to follow through on my objectives. Between February 12-February 20 I produced five large-scale graphite rubbings of a stained glass panel in the sanctuary, slowly building up the length and complexity of the pieces from 3′ to 13′ (currently) in anticipation of eventually realizing 20-25′ long rubbings. Alongside these large-scale rubbings, I have produced a series of smaller rubbings (12 in – 5 ft) incorporating impressions from found materials across the United Methodist campus.
Seen below is documentation and samples of the work I have completed leading up to this proposal. It’s been difficult to capture the larger pieces in photos, so if there’s any interest in seeing the work as it stands please feel free to reach out and stop by Room 3 for a studio visit. As of submitting this proposal, one of the 13′ rubbings is hanging on the wall in the hallway outside my door – feel free to unroll it onto the floor to get a better idea of the scale and play with it up close!
extended project statement (included for context):
The series of work depicting stained glass panels explores objects/symbols which are ordinarily considered to be sacred or out-of-our-reach (not to be touched). By taking graphite impressions of these objects, their spiritual imagery and sacred geometry are reproduced on the disposable media of red rosin builder’s paper. Through this transformation of context, the audience is invited to interact with the symbols in ways ordinarily considered forbidden. Whereas stained glass panes are typically viewed by looking up from below (becoming inaccessible to us on the ground), by draping the long-form graphite rubbings onto the floor these stained glass panels are brought down from the walls into the realm of the viewer.
In the same way that stained glass and the associated spiritual imagery have typically been rendered out of reach in these lofty panels, so too the past seems to continually recede away from our grasp. In the leveling of the viewing field brought about by these stained glass impressions, the history associated with these spiritual images is leveled as well. By engaging with these historic Christian images at eye level, we are able to reckon with them on a level playing field.
Some pieces within this body of work also feature impressions taken of broken tile chunks salvaged from the demolition site of the late parsonage building at the United Methodist Church campus. In utilizing found objects from the demolished building, the materials and their original history are recontextualized in the new compositions, being taken beyond the demolition site dumpster in the process. This transfiguration of found, condemned materials into a new context explores the possibility that the strewn rubble of the past can be used as building blocks.