Lou Baker Red is the colour of…. Installation instructionsandideas
Red is the colour of….as shapeshifter
Shapeshifter: Red is the colour of… is an extremely versatile installation of multiple thin, knitted sculptures of various lengths. The knitting can be installed in many different ways. It can be hung vertically, suspended horizontally, draped, heaped, tensioned, stretched on the floor, tied, worn… or installed in any other imaginable way. It’s form could even change during the course of an exhibition… It’s a shapeshifter! Site-responsive: The installation is intended to be site-responsive so each time it is set up it will be different, depending on the curator, the situation, the dimensions and shape of the available space and how it’s installed etc. If there are already fixings, pipes or other available connection points, they could be used.
Red is the colour of… close up images of the knitted sculptures installed using gravity and tension. Form and formlessness
Unravelling: Many of the sculptures are left unfinished and have begun to unravel. They will almost certainly continue to unravel as they are handled, but that’s absolutely fine, and part of the aesthetic. Which way is up? Any way can be up, although I realise that when I suspend the sculptures vertically, I tend to let the unravelling end be the bottom of the sculpture, so that the loose threads trail on the floor. But it’s up to you…
A
Vertically: A. This is the original submission image. The sculptures are suspended from a horizontal steel Heras fencing panel using very small s-hooks hooked through the loops of the knitting. I included some of these in the boxes when I sent my work. The fence panel is attached to two moveable wall sections with plastic
Aties.clear pathway has been left so that visitors can walk through the knitting.
Installing the sculptures (Please see images A – I)
B. If moveable walls and a fence panel are not available(!), another idea would be to suspend a light metal grid from the walls with steel wire rope tensioned with turnbuckles, attached to staple plates on the walls (B.1)…. or from the ceiling. Alternatively, a number of smaller grids could be used.
B
B.1 Steel wire rope Staple plate Turnbuckle Steel grid panel
Vertically, continued: I have also suspended the sculptures using C. screw hooks, screwing them into the ceiling then hooking the individual sculptures on to them through the loops in the knitting.
In this iteration, there was limited space in the gallery, so I only installed some of the sculptures there. The rest were installed in the foyer and by the entrance. If there were more space, all the sculptures could be hung in a cluster like this, with a pathway through the knitting, so that visitors could walk through the installation, if they chose to. D. staples, stapling the knitting to the ceiling. Here the sculptures were installed in a corridor, with a clear path for visitors to walk through.
C
D
This image includes a couple of other, larger red knitted sculptures which I sometimes install with Red is the colour of… See images F. & G. (As they weren’t in the original submission, I haven’t sent them to you. However, they are available if you would like to install them too.)
F. & G. The two other, larger red knitted sculptures. In these images, they have both been tensioned to create form by tying them with red wool, responding to whatever is available in the space. Hooks or staples could also be used.
Horizontally: I have also E. draped the sculptures.
E
F
G
Horizontally, continued: I have also
H. installed a trail of these knitted sculptures through one floor of a cell block in a decommissioned prison, using whatever connection points were available and joining/tying them with strands of red wool. I invited visitors to ‘follow the red thread’, alluding to the Greek myth of Theseus in the Minotaur’s labyrinth. I. threaded them with chains and steel wire which I then attached to two moveable walls and tensioned with turnbuckles.
H
I
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I like the idea of relinquishing control of the installation of Red is the colour of... I’ll be very interested to see how you choose to install it and I hope you enjoy the process. If you have any further questions, please ask. Lou Baker loubakerartist@gmail.com