Saturday 4 May 2013

Topological complexity: Membranes, skin, tactility and sound...

now make a full circle. From the walking video (April 9 post) to the goatskin (now confirmed it really is goatskin) sounding device to the surface of the street here in Istanbul,
I discovered that some works I did several weeks ago complete this connection. The very heavy double-sided waxed butcher bears the wrinkles and folds of the mince beef it contained. Skin as a boundary or container, the haptic and tactile quality of this paper (25x34 cm, 9' x 14') generates irregular yet traceable marks of usage:
Front and back are different.
The heavy wax coating, now cracked through the action of rolling and folding, loses its integrity and wholeness, becoming susceptible to penetration by the liquid watercolour seeping beneath the protective waxy surface, soaking into the paper substrate.
And as watercolour, it comes in a variety of shades:
and with red pigment rubbed in as well, softening the surface with a powdery texture;
vivid yellow, almost electric:
 Again, front and back.
The marks of colour reveal the newly made history of each sheet.


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