Hannah Barry Exhibition

I decided to make a new piece of work for the Hannah Barry exhibition which was testing an idea i had been contemplating for quite some time. Framing. 

The print is a cropped version of an accumulation of chairs i had photographed when in Cornwall. I have become much more compelled to using images of places i have been and then presenting them in spaces which allow the viewer to encounter them from all angles, merely as objects. Choosing this specific section of the image to impose a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty of place. Using the foam as a support to mix the familiarity of photography with the unfamiliarity of this medium. I have framed just the edges in an attempt to portray this idea of encapsulating a moment or experience. Allowing the back to be exposed so that when the viewer first approaches the work it is almost like a trick. From a distance, looking at the front they may question whether or not is it just a framed elongated photograph placed on the floor. Once looking closer, discovering its distinct texture and quite 'dated' appearance, they are then encouraged to question the origin of this material. Stepping round the work to see the back, and there it is, the material quite literally uncovered. The visual of the chairs alongside the dirt which permeates the foam, gives the work a visual history. A sense of wonder. 

 I was unsure whether or not to go ahead with framing this piece as there was always the possibility once this was done, then the work would no longer exist as an object, which was always my intention for the work. Would it now be considered merely as a 'piece of art' just because it had been framed. Through the act of making this piece for the show, it has now pushed me to think about framing but unconventionally. What it does to the work and whether its actually necessary.