Day 5

Unfortunately, gravity works in mysterious but entirely predictable ways.



On Monday evening we received an email from Emily, who had gone up to the school on the weekend to check on the pathway. Strong winds plus gravity meant that the project had fallen down.



With the rest of the group not knowing how bad it was, we tried to arrange a time to fix it, and settled on Wednesday afternoon. Because of the large nature of the project, we had to make sure we could all be there at the same time, as one person would not be able to repair it on their own.

This morning we got to school to find that the project had been taken down. Unfortunately, some damage occurred to the paint on the posts because of the tape, so we are currently trying to contact Facilities to apologize, and to see what we can do to fix it.

Process Video

Day 4 - Installation

Today we began the installation of our project. Emily finished sewing the seams in the morning, and then we had about an hour to get it up.



We used zip ties to secure the fabric to the lamp posts. Emily also wrapped the first and last posts with gaff tape to give the fabric a little extra to hold onto.



The lamp posts form a zig zag pattern along the walkway, so stretched the fabric taut over the second and third posts, hoping this tension would support the weight of the fabric.





We soon discovered that the tension would not be enough, so we pulled the fabric up over the lamp on the second and third posts (after obtaining permission, of course).



During the installation, we received several comments and questions from passersby. Some thought it was a joke, understandable since our installation date coincidentally fell on April Fools Day. Others simply asked "What is this?" However, the best reaction by far was the man who asked "Is this art?", and then skipped off saying "Yippee!"



Once everything was up, we returned to class, and then the groups all headed out to present.

Day 3

Our decision to not cut the fabric presented a problem when it was time to rinse the dye out. Even if we rinsed the approximately 40 metres of fabric by hand, where would we hang it to dry?



At this point, we decided it made more sense to cut the fabric at the points where it would wrap around the lamp posts. These three cuts would allow us to rinse and dry the fabric in the washer and dryer at school.



We began the task of unrolling the fabric, which had a very unpleasant smell from being left to sit in the chemical water for a week.



Luckily, once it had been washed, the smell disappeared and we were quite happy to discover that the dye had worked perfectly.





We then began sewing the pieces back together, and placed grommets on the ends so that we would be able to tie the material securely to the posts.

Day 2

Today we began the work on our Christo inspired project.



Emily purchased a bolt of fabric from a theatre sale, so we had plenty, but before we began we wanted to make sure it would be long enough.



After stretching it out we were quite pleased to see that it would be just enough.



Next we had to decide if we wanted to leave the fabric as it was, or if we wanted to dye it.



We were inspired by the colour and texture created by the water stains on the outside walls of the Birch building, so we made the decision to dye the fabric using direct application Procion MX. We headed back to the classroom to get started.



Dyeing such a large piece of fabric presented some challenges. We wanted to keep it in one continuous piece, so we were not able to wash it before dyeing because it would not fit in the washing machine in the classroom. However, from our Surface Design class we knew it was possible to dye without scouring the fabric first, and in some cases it actually produces a darker colour than if the fabric had been washed first, so we decided to take the risk.



We wet the fabric as we dyed, hoping to create a spread out, drippy, natural looking effect. We rolled the material, wrapping it with plastic sheets. Once everything was done, we wrapped the entire bolt in a sheet, and placed it under one of the tables to batch. Generally you only have to leave it for 24 hours, but we waited until the next week to rinse.

Day One

Today was the first day of the Christo assignment. We toured the campus looking at potential spots for our project.

Some of the ideas we had included:

• Wrapping lampposts leading to cafeteria (from library)
• Curtain cover in undercover area outside library
• Covering flagpole on top of library building
• A runner of fabric up the library stairs
• Wrapping over benches/sleeping area in library
• Covering a cement wall in or outside of birch
• Ramming a curtain across birch windows

The ideas we liked best were covering the sleeping space in the library, and wrapping the lamp posts leading to the cafeteria. We all liked the idea of creating a space that could be entered, but realized that it did not really fit in with Christo's aesthetic, so after speaking with our instructor we decided to wrap the lamp posts, creating a running line from the library to the Birch Building.