Scotch Tape

Tangled

I am ashamed to say that I had been here 10 months and had not yet been into the art museum!  How embarrassing.  It's right around the corner, and there was no excuse, except that I was occupied with the business of living and thought that I'd visit when everything else I needed to do was done.  As we know, it's never done.  

one of my favorite views

Thankfully, Betty Siegrist's visit gave me the push I needed to get into the museum doors.  There was an exhibit of furniture I didn't want to miss and I had read a little clip in the paper about an artist who was putting up an installation made entirely of Scotch tape in the courtyard of the museum.  To be more accurate, it is an exhibit of packing tape.  And it takes up the entire courtyard of the art museum.

raw materials

I didn't take my camera with me when we visited.  It's been hot here and I honestly haven't wanted to carry around the extra weight of the camera.  I also sometimes want to be in the moment and enjoy the whimsy without trying to get perfect photos.  So my first visit was camera-free.

And enjoy the whimsy is exactly what I did.  I was charmed by the artist, Pierre-Yves Congnee.  It was still a "work in progress" at that point.  (I suspect that it will always be a "work in progress.")  We could hear the sound of packing tape being ripped from the rolls--there were about 6 people at work on the installation when we visited.  M Cognee had set up a teaching room and had taught some young students his technique and had given them a corner of the installation to work on.  So everyone was busy ripping tape and wrapping it around itself over and over.  

Section done by students

I loved watching the artist work; it was almost like watching a dancer.  His movements were fluid, graceful and seemingly random.  The students were more slower and more careful, which resulted in work that was sturdier and not as free, but still effective.  

Interesting shadow pattern

I went back two days later with my camera.  I found interesting patterns, viewpoints and shadows cast by the tangled web of tape.  The workers had finished and the installation was silent.  I met one other art lover--a lovely tortoiseshell cat.  

My fellow art-lover

There was an article in Sunday's paper about this installation.  49 kilometers of tape.  And while the most obvious reference is to spider webs, the artist also talked about slices of bone as viewed under a microscope.  He's a really intriguing man.

Tomorrow I will return to the furniture exhibit and do some photo work.