The History of Wall drawing, 1930 - 1935
Wireframe rendering of computer model in black enamel on flat black wall w/ liquid graphite stenciled reproductions of "Ghost" handwritings, Pilot:2, London, 2005
The History of Wall drawing, 1930 - 1935
Side view showing the change in reflection of the enamel lines
The History of Wall drawing, 1930 - 1935
Detail
Documentation:
From Harry Price "The Most Haunted House in England", page showing the photo of the wall writings the way Price found them in 1937
Documentation:
From Harry Price "The Most Haunted House in England", Floor plan showing where the different writings were found
Documentation:
Marianne Foyster, the adressee of the "Ghost" writings
Documentation:
View of the Borley Rectory
The History of Wall Drawing... was done for my participation in “Pilot:2” in London in 2005. The two touchstones for the piece were England as context (my associations at the time: old, haunted houses) and the fact that I was nominated to the show by Sol LeWitt (closely identified with wall-drawing in contemporary art).
The wall-piece has a back story: In 1937 the famous ghost-buster and psychic researcher Harry Price moved in to the Borley Rectory northeast of London to document and investigate a long series of paranormal phenomena supposed to have taken place in the house. His findings and theories were published along with photographic documentation in the book “The Most Haunted House in England” in 1940, which gave the rectory widespread notoriety.
The starting point for The History of Wall Drawing... is a series of writings on the interior walls of the Rectory that appeared between 1930 and 1935, during the residency of the Reverend Mr. Foyster and his wife Marianne Foyster. The messages are cryptic, but are legibly addressed to Marianne.
The drawing consists of two elements: The first element is stencils in liquid graphite replicating the wall-writings from the photographic documentation done by Price in 1937. The second element is an acrylic wall-painting based on a computer rendering of the house, painted in black enamel on flat, black wall.
Link to my page on the Pilot site:
http://www.pilotlondon.org/artists/details.php?id=95
Link to Wikipedia's site on the Borley Rectory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borley_Rectory
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