One of the things that I have learned from Veronica is the
importance of thrift stores. They are a great place to find unexpected and
cheap materials. Plus Veronica likes to incorporate things that are aged and
have had a past life because it gives her pieces a more eerie effect. Lydia and
I have had several adventures digging through ragged piles in order to find
materials for Veronica. One week she gave us the task of finding old children’s
blankets. She said “the dirtier the better.” Our first stop at Philly Aids
Thrift on 5th and Bainbridge turned out to be a jackpot. We came
away with several sheets and all together it was under $10.
Veronica used the sheets for an exhibit called And There The Moon-Bird Rests From His
Flight. The installation was
set up on the Broad Street window in UARTS’ Anderson Hall. It represented Veronica
and fellow CHER artist Jessie Clark’s interpretation of Shel Silverstien’s
poems.
In order to make the installation Veronica created a goblin
child peaking out from a tent, which was made from the children’s blankets we
had collected. Lydia and I became masters at glue gunning as we spent an entire
day making goblin hands, drool, and pillows. The pillows featured drawings by
Veronica and quotes from some of Silverstien’s poems. Jessie drew her
interpretations on fabric, which was hung from the ceiling of the window box.
On the actual installation day we painted the wall to look
like it was a child’s bedroom, including doorframe, windows, and picture fames.
Veronica taught us that lighting works best when the bulbs face opposite,
diagonal directions. We were constantly running in and out of the building to
make sure everything looked level and even, and I think some people were more
interested in seeing us waving our arms and making expressive faces in order to
communicate since the window glass was nearly sound proof. One man watched us
the entire time proclaiming that the installation was part of the art piece,
although we believed he might have had his eyes on something else.
In the end onlookers of Broad St got a great view into the
dark world of childhood nightmares mixed with the lightheartedness of
Silverstien’s poems.
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