Almost Done in Athens GA

I've been meaning to write the post for a while, but have gotten busy with work and travel here in Athens.

Jillian returned from her grandmothers funeral in NY and we soon got to work on the installation. We only had a few days to get somethings together, discuss our ideas and move forward with the project before Thanksgiving break. We had a chance to hang a secured netting across the top, and we started gathering branches and grasses to hang.

Soon the holidays arrived and I temporarily departed for my aunt and uncles house in Atlanta GA. I spent the night and then met up with Chad and his sisters, nieces and nephews for the rest of the weekend. Chad and I arrived back in Athens the following Saturday (11/28). And that Sunday Jillian and I had our first big push working together on the project. That day we spent several hours hanging the branches and gathering larger sticks, getting a better sense of how the space would evolve.

After a few more days of work and constant assessment our ideas on the final outcome of the piece change. The space felt big and unwieldy, the small branches hung unsatisfactorily like splatters. None of our materials had a strong presence, they just seemed to act as a background... like we were ... Setting a Stage! It was a relief to change from our original conception. We decided we would be building the back drop that we would use as the set for taking pictures of ourselves and other participants within the work.

Since then we have hung the grasses across the top to create a canopy, and parted the tree branches so they hang across the top and then along the sides. We have cut out colorful paper shapes along the floor and adhered them to the back wall. We made a yellow lantern-ball-sun suspended from the center and are making other colorful, surreal elements that will be included.

We're mostly finished with the backdrop, just little tweaking here and there, and have to finally address the floor before we finish up. I'm happy with where its going and hopeful we can finish in the next two days before I leave.

The plan is to have it ready for an opening on Tuesday night where participants will be able to pose within the piece and be photographed.