The Accident Event Register

Useless the Flowers

A Clearing of Measures continues my investigation with the archive of newsprint backing sheets that I have collected, used and reused during printing over the last 15 years. Scans of these newprint sheets cover the gallery wall as a record and monument to the marginal, the accidental, and the residual. The form of the hollow square found frequently on these sheets is echoed in the arrangement of hand-crafted benches which frame a space for communal gathering as well as listening. A sound piece incorporating acapella voice and a recited poem plays softly through a dome speaker over the center of the space.

An essay written about the exhibition by Stephanie Schlaifer, artist and poet, can be found HERE.

Installation Components

PRINTS
104 pigment/inkjet prints, 24 x 26 inches each, on Japanese paper, arranged in a grid

Each print derives from a sheet of newsprint backing paper that holds a variety of marks from years of re-use in Bulawsky’s printmaking studio. The newsprint sheets were scanned on a large-format scanner and printed on an archival inkjet printer. The inkjet prints are meant to be as faithful to the original newsprint sheets as possible.

BENCHES
15 wooden benches, each unique, varying sizes, made from reclaimed and new lumber, some with casters

The benches are arranged in a hollow square, similar to the seating formation used in the singing tradition of Sacred Harp where the four acapella parts – bass, tenor, treble, and alto - each occupy one side of the square. In general, benches are a communal form of seating, at level height, and are non-hierarchical. The benches in this exhibition are intended for use by viewers.

BOOKS
Edition of 6 handmade books, printed on vintage Twil Tone paper using lithography, monotype, letterpress, and laser printing, and then hand bound

The books, entitled Odes and Epochs, incorporate historical print technology and draw from recent news images, headlines, Sacred Harp song lyrics, and the artist’s journal entries. Each book has approximately 180 pages with the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages printed black on both sides.

SOUND
Audio loop, 3’03”, engineered and mastered by Bo Bulawsky

The audio piece combines a vocal part, a spoken poem, electronic and ambient sound. The acapella singing is in 4 part harmony as arranged for the shape note tune Consecration (448t) from the Sacred Harp song book (Denson, 1991 Revision). The recited poem, entitled Time Outside, was written by Daniel Kelley. The sound is best experienced while standing directly under the dome speaker in the center of the hollow square.
An mp3 of the audio piece can be found HERE.