Surface event

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BACKGROUND Surface event was a durational, site responsive wall painting project. Situated in the tradition of painting that dissolves traditional categories of art as seen in Karin Sander's wall works, which cross the boundaries of architecture and painting and Robert Irwin's disc's that could be considered sculptures or paintings. This project responded to the immediacy and quality of the space and through painting directly onto the walls of twelve display cases. CONTRIBUTION After constructing a small model of an indicative display case, the twelve compositions were chosen in response to each display case's specific positioning within the subway, and its ambient lighting. Paintings were positioned such that they could be seen from various vantages when moving through the space. Some were visible only when walking into the subway and others when leaving. Removing the canvas as a mediating component in painting, and working directly onto the walls of the display cases, allowed the inherent qualities of the wall to operate as the surface. Each day a new element was added to each painting, either a new colour, a sanded back section or a wooden panel. Constructed from subtly shifting white hues, these works initially appeared as geometric abstractions but were revealed throughout construction as representational paintings of forms in space through the duration of making, the use of light, shadows and the prolonged attention of the viewer. SIGNIFICANCE These paintings were made incrementally over the period of the exhibition. The painting's compositions were only revealed through the course of the exhibition. The site was central to the slow evolution of this work, as commuters witnessed the emergence of each work in situ. These works are the subject of a book chapter to be published by Edinburgh University Press in late 2017 (Practising with Deleuze).