At the beginning of the academic year we were asked to create and install art work into the Chester Market Car Park. This project has been exciting and different from any other, it forced me to take into consideration the unusual surroundings that my piece would be placed in and keep these surroundings in mind during the development, this has also heavily influenced the outcome of the piece. I have created an eye-catching installation to contrast with the aesthetic of the car park whilst still keeping it related to the car theme. I wanted to create something unlike anything I have made in past projects using materials that I have never used before.

 

My piece is heavily inspired by Cornelia Parker, particularly her piece Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, which shows a garden shed mid explosion, she created this piece by suspending fragments of a shed from the ceiling of a gallery space. I wanted to create something similar but relate it to the car park theme. This is why I have included scrap car parts in the installation to make it appear as if a car has exploded in a car crash.

 

I have used baubles to make up the shape of the piece, this is because initially the idea of a chandelier came to mind as I wanted something delicate and aesthetically pleasing to contrast with the aesthetic of the car park such as the concrete floors and drab white paint. While I moved away slightly from the chandelier idea I still wanted to reflect it in my installation as it was an object that I thought would contrast the most with the surroundings. I experimented with multiple materials but decided on using baubles as they are easy to hang and gave the desired effect as I was able to buy them in silver which further enhances the chandelier effect due to the reflective quality. I have used fishing wire to attach the hanging objects to the frame, this is because the wire is transparent so gives the illusion that the objects are suspended in mid air.

 

I am extremely happy with the outcome of this project, it makes the impact in the car park that I desired as during the installation process I had a number of people telling me that it was the first thing they noticed when they entered that section of the car park. I believe the installation is in a perfect position as when cars drive down the ramp they have to look in the direction of the installation when searching for a space.