The Laundromat Project v.1

Marina and I at the reception on Sat.

For my final installation I once again teamed up with one of my fellow first year grads for a large collaborative project.  It was quite a roller coaster ride as we put in a crazy amount of hours…often working 12 or more hours a day as the install date approached.  We were both fairly nervous about it all along the way; definitely working outside of our comfort zones.  In the end there were things that we wish that we could have changed but ultimately in the big picture I think that the project was a success.

There were four major considerations (in my mind) for this piece: who were we making the piece for, what is the goal or objective for the piece, what does the site specify, and what materials are particularly relative to the topic.

I believe that the question of whom we were making the piece for was one of the biggest considerations for the piece.  The fact that we were considering both the art world and the patrons of the Laundromat was a particularly tricky combination.  It often felt like these two audiences called for exact opposite solutions.  To go to the conceptual side and make decisions based on the concept purely would be directly relative to the art scene but would leave out the sensibilities of the greater population.  To make decisions purely based on aesthetics and likeability for the patrons would be disregarding the interests of the art audience.  In the end I am not confident that we found a proper balance.  We dove in and rolled with the piece itself, making decisions in the spur of a moment and plowing onward.  Now having created this first piece there are notions that have surfaced that will be clear next steps for the next version.  Yep, that’s right…we plan on doing it again.  If we were to literally just redo this piece I think that we would have organized the quotes differently, in fact the integration of the quotes was the most challenging element over all.  I am not sure what the solution would be but it would very likely be that they would not be on the walls at all.  I imagine that we would have created an audio of the stories rather then picking out excerpts and had an audio that people could listen to, or created a sort of book that people could look through (probably not), or designated an area to incorporate the quotes that were not spread out over all of the walls…and then created pieces on the walls that were based on concept and aesthetics with the transformation of the space.  In addition we would further consider the organization of the colors.  One idea would be to separate the colors in a way that further reflected doing laundry: whites, colors, and red rather then the brighter colors that we chose.  This being true, the bright colors brought a particular feel to the space, which was part of our original decision making plan.  It is interesting to note that the patron response was that they loved the colors and how they brightened up the place, while the art response was to question the color choice.  Again, distinctly different visual approaches.

As far as the objective of the piece, Marina and I both have an interest in extending art beyond our immediate art circle.  In addition we were both interested in the things that everyone has to deal with no matter what class, age, race, or culture you are.  Laundry is one of those things.  As we began to interview people we became more and more interested in people’s stories.  There were particular trends that seemed to come up repeatedly such as class distinctions and the economic situation.  We did not choose to zero in on this particular element and were more interested in representing the answers that we got as a reflection of the process in general…meaning that the experience of the viewer would reflect the experience of the interviewer where people could draw their own conclusions.  It is interesting to think about what it might be like to be more specific with this element in the future.  The class and economic situation became a major interest for me as time went.

Upon going to the Laundromats around town and thinking about what we might like to do, the idea of covering the walls and transforming the space came readily to mind.  We also really wanted to put elements in the center of the space, which we only began to examine with the treatment to the clothesbaskets.  We wanted to have a large impact on the space and covering the walls seemed like the most effective way to do it.

Which leads directly to the material choices for the piece.  Fabric seemed like an obvious solution.  In addition, repurposing clothes was a natural choice as well.  We took many trips to Dig and Save and purchased bag after bag of clothes and linens to work with.  A few more trips and I would have developed a special Dig and Save muscle from literally digging my way towards desired colors and fabrics.  In the beginning we imagined painting on or using multiple approaches to get the effect that we wanted but as we worked on it we solidified a desire to purely use fabric.  This presented what felt like limitations since neither of us were very proficient with sewing.  Thankfully it was in our projects benefit to have some rough edges and approach so the overall aesthetic did not suffer from our lack of skill.  To have created a piece with precision and perfect craftsmanship would have felt contrived and stuffy for the space.

So, there it is.  The break down of the piece.  It was fun to have a reception in the Laundromat and for people to be doing their laundry during the opening as well as people from the neighborhood joining us.  In addition I want to give emphasis and acknowledgement to the owners who are truly wonderful in so many ways.  There is a true community feel there as you see every walk of life come in and out…from restaurant owners cleaning their stores linens, to students, to professionals, to renters, to home owners, to the homeless.  For the opening the owners brought an array of homemade items, cookies, cakes, peanut brittle, salsa (with chips), hot apple cider, and cheese and fruit plates.  It was fantastic.  I am happy and proud to have been a part in all of that coming together at once.  The experience itself was a major factor for me.  I learned a lot.

And finally, it was great to work with Marina and I look forward to working with her more in the future.

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