A bit of background to the Airspace Dialogue Box piece and the "without whoms"

The opportunity to design work for the Airspace Dialogue Box came out of a 2nd Year Staffordshire University Module, AM00070-2 Introduction to Site Specific study. The site for which we were to design a piece of Art being the Airspace Dialogue Box.

The gallery were very helpful, not only with allowing access to the parts of Airspace which are not normally used and supplying background information on the gallery and the building in which it is housed, but by looking at the resulting proposals and associated sketchbooks and giving invaluable feedback. The directors Andy Branscombe and David Bethell also did the bulk of the installation for me - Thank you chaps!!

The Image used for the final piece was not the main proposal, but one out of my sketch book which the Gallery liked. It had been taken on a site visit in one of the many rooms above the usable galley space where traces of the original occupants can be seen in the layers of old paint and objects left behind.

There were some lovely details

and textures.

Also leftovers from previous occupants

This is the image we chose to go forwards with:

Unfortunately the image having been taken with my compact camera, and not on it's best setting either, was not good enough to blow up to 3m x 3m needed to fill the airspace window. I re-took the image using a good digital camera belonging to my friend Lindy Brett, many many thanks to her and Roger for the loan of the camera and the technical help with setting it up.

Thank you Lindy and Roger.

Here is the final image as can be seen in the dialogue box until the end of the month.

I now needed to get the image blown up and decided getting it printed on a banner would be the best option both for ease of hanging and storage and also cost. The image also had to fit through a small door into the window space so one that could be rolled or folded would be best for this. After much trawling round for a printers I decided to use one based in Macclesfield that had the advantage both of being local to me and having an offer on banners. I'd established in May that they could do what I wanted and could turn the banner round in a week. Minor disaster then struck, I called in with my image with 2 weeks to go before the hanging date to find that they were closing down and accepting no new work!.

A bit more ringing round and I tried Colour Concepts down in Stoke Town who had done some A1 boards for me for the end of year show. http://www.colourconcepts.co.uk/contactus.htm

they not only quoted a price that was cheaper than the idiots in Macc who decided they were dissolving their partnership, but would be able to turn the job round in 3 days! They were as good as their word and the image was more than acceptable! Thank you Colour Concepts.

The last "without whom" is my sponsor Mary Howie (aka as Mum) who helped out a struggling artist by funding the printing and my travels to Stoke and Hanley to get the printing done and install the image in the Airspace Dialogue box. That she is a geologist directly influenced my choice of title "Metamorphic Intrusion?" referencing the overlaying of the old by the new and referring to the superimposition, of both electric lighting and the modern white cube gallery onto the original gas lit Victorian building.

REALLY BIG THANK YOU MARY HOWIE!!!