TY - JOUR
AU1 - Weinthal, Lois
AB - The word “impression” is twofold in meaning. A material can be physically impressed to alter its characteristics, while an onlooker can be aesthetically impressed by the composition of a room and its decor. Wallpaper, as an interior finish, contributes to the impression of a room. It is chosen to coordinate with the components of an interior while occupying a background presence to allow furniture and decor to come to the foreground. A second finish that contributes to the impression of an interior is dust, but unintentionally. A discussion of the history and endurance of wallpaper and dust are entry points in this article that lead to the works of two contemporary art installations that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. In the first example, the American ceramicist, Beth Katleman makes reference to traditional French Toile de Jouy, and transforms the bucolic scenery associated with these prints into a contemporary version of three-dimensional wallpaper. She crafts “islands of folly” in porcelain that require a second look to fully grasp her new narrative. In the second installation, the architectural preservationist, Jorge Otero-Pailos captures decades of dust from a former factory wall through a process of impressing dust into a latex skin. The result is a site-specific installation that reveals decades of industrial dust displayed as if looking at a backlit microscopic slide. Together, Katleman and Otero-Pailos transform ordinary background surfaces into three-dimensional installations that dissolve the boundary of a wall and allow onlookers to occupy fictional and factual narratives.
TI - First Impressions
JF - Interiors
DO - 10.2752/204191114X14126916211148
DA - 2014-11-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/taylor-francis/first-impressions-fM9TCIAqHg
SP - 277
EP - 295
VL - 5
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -