Offering me the opportunity of realizing my brand new project The Temporary Art Repair Shop in his project space PS2, demanded a great leap of faith from artist Peter Mutschler who runs the space. Fortunately, belief, in the power of art and creativity, is something Peter has in abundance. For many emerging artists, PS2 has been the testing ground for the first really ambitious project, and in my case, it offered the possibility of trying out a concept I was convinced would work, but that I had no proof whatsoever to convince others. I am still grateful to Peter for taking on his role as a supporter of experiments and young talents, so much needed in an environment where most institutions are looking for safe bets and tested names.
My first task was to turn his empty, store front, exhibition space into a convincing repair and workshop. Fortunately, PS2 has a large back room stacked almost to the ceiling with leftovers from previous equally ambitious installations. there were plenty of battens, and chipboard and plywood that we could reuse. There were even enough half empty paint cans that we didn’t need to stock up on that either. All we needed to buy was fresh screws.
After three days of building, painting and organizing, we had a very capable make-shift workshop. The tools came from Peter’s own studio upstairs as well as from mine. A lot of the materials were donated to us from the incredible Play Resource, a charity that collects leftovers from industry and business and donates it to schools and art groups as craft and play materials. Not any kind of industrial leftovers, has to be understood, but just things kids could play with safely. There were no toxic cans of chemicals there, but a bunch of really unusual, and for an artist equally useful materials like: whole huge crates of bottle caps, rolls of fake leather scraps from a car upholstery business, a large range of plastic, perspex and metal sheeting bits that were too small for industrial but ideal for craft use, a good selection of paint cans just past the expiry date, big bits of foam rubber, rubber matting and rolls of thread and string. We went through it with a large shopping cart and helped ourselves to anything inspiring, and the best of it all, the price was a voluntary contribution of what Peter felt the space could chip in. Great to find such inventive and useful projects.
Putting the sign up on the day of the opening was a very special feeling. I had no idea of how the project was going to turn out, just that it would. Luckily enough, which saves me every time I do a project like this, there is always a small, loyal following of the space itself that turns up for the opening, so that I get enough materials and people in to get started.
What greeted the visitor was a simple but sturdy counter, limiting the visitors to the entrance area, but allowing their eyes to wander freely over the tools, materials and making process. I have stuck to this design in the later editions, finding that it works really well. Firstly, it frames the project in a way that people understand and recognize from elsewhere: the small service business or repair shop. Secondly, it creates suspense and anticipation, as the visitor can see everything, but not reach it; a bit like hinting to a child what they might get for Christmas. And thirdly, it stops people from bumbling about and hurting themselves as well as my half finished projects.
After a week or so, the first art works started appearing in the window. As soon as I finished something I displayed it together with a simple photograph of what it had looked like before. The neighbours now started taking an interest, getting curious at what was going on, and intuitively understanding the process and possible results. By the second week they were coming in with their own broken objects, and the project had by then taken on a life of its own.
The Temporary Art Repair Shop ran from May 28th to June 23rd, 2012.