22.02.2019
Having heard back from Glen at AirSpace Gallery, my proposal has been accepted so I need to start finishing works off and getting fully prepped for the week. My 'In The Window' exhibition will run from installing on Sunday 24th March through to de-installing on the following Friday 29th March. My Proposal for the space is as follows:

PolluShine– Is It Worth It?

100% from the ocean 

My practice – 

I am currently a Level 5 Fine Art BA (Hons) student at Staffordshire University. Recently I have opened up my practice by experimenting with sculpture and have attained a love and appreciation for the three-dimensional world of art. Having gained some experience in prop making and scenic art within theatre, I was able to experience installation in a different context compared to a gallery setting. This has inspired me to create my own displays and scenes. Being a vegetarian and a conscious recycler I spend a lot of my time worrying about the waste in products I use, instead of being proactive and being part of the change. Producing work that could make a difference has always been an aim of mine, to leave a mark on someone and alter their perception, even if in the slightest way. I haven’t had an opportunity yet to reach a wider audience, and AirSpace would give me that chance. The more we see about how our lifestyles are damaging the world around us, the more likely we are to adjust. 

Aims –

I will create a luxurious staged shop window of a jewellery/clothing store ‘PolluShine – Is it worth it?’ to highlight how barbaric and damaging we are being to marine life and surrounding species. By featuring the animals we are neglecting through pollution debris we are leaving behind, I want to create a confrontational display in hopes of provoking change. By using recycled items and a plastic base clay I want to keep the materials a true reflection of the context. Including play on words like Pollution and PolluShine, Garnier’s ‘because you’re worth it’ slogan and other hidden gems. 

Proposal – 

I propose to have in one half of the window a large table covered entirely with a silver fabric and a three-part mirror, along with polymer clay sculptures of the animals/heads made in the fashion of mannequins. These animals will be promoting our pollution as fashion accessories or jewellery. The table will be eyelevel to those walking past so they can see the animals and themselves in the reflection. The jewellery and accessories featured will be a Penguin cape (beer plastic around neck), a Turtle nose stud (straw in nostril), a white stork rain coat (clear plastic bag) along with a few others. In the adjacent window, I will continue the theme and have a silver clothes rail featuring a few ‘one size fits all’ clothing items (also relating to images sourced) e.g. a fishnet dress suitable for any specie. From the ceiling I will hang the stork along with sun catchers fashioned from melted plastic beads and have a plinth displaying the seal head. 

My hopes for this project is to make a believable shop window that’s glamourous and enticing as viewers walk by, but they soon realise it’s a shop of horrors. I would love to be able touse AirSpace as a platform to reach more people than I ever have before, including a wider collection of people.  As the window is located in a busy pedestrian area in town, it opens up the possibility to an audience who may not normally access galleries or enter the world of art. 

Logistics – 

For technical requirement’s I would need access to a plug where I can use an upcycled plastic straw and water barrel lighting lit by an eco-bulb, and hang some elements from the ceiling with transparent fishing line. I would also use a tulle fabric hung by a thin curtain wire against the back wall. Along with the display in the window I will be handing out leaflets promoting a ‘sale’ to create awareness, also having brochure of the items. Using images the pieces were based on, instead of the price in a money sense it will be the price the animals pay each day. If possible I would like a leaflet holder outside holding this brochure.