Tape Shadows

I went to Olympia Washington over the weekend to visit my twin brother Joe and his family. Olympia was very wet and very beautiful and very wet and also very wet. I took a lot of photos, most of them include some form of moss or hippies, and sometimes mossy hippies. Joe is an artist, and I helped him set up a show at the Blackfront gallery

I will include his artist statement here so you get an idea of what he is up to:

My work explores the relationship between time and space. By “painting” a shadow in tape I turn a moment in time into a physical object. The tape shadow is left behind, stuck in place, flopping over a curb or bending up a wall, as the actual shadow continues on its path. Some shadows are captured from people or objects that are only temporarily filling a space. They move on leaving their presence recorded.

The blue shadows created with painters tape are reminiscent of the shadows in Monet’s paintings of haystacks. Whereas Monet painted idealized scenes of agrarian life in expensive oils, my shadows are cast by urban ephemera and recorded in a common commercial product. These shadows are a form of temporary public art. They are removed as easily as they were put in place.

It is a coincidence that this show corresponds with Groundhog Day. I can make no promises that my work will bring an early spring.

One thing I didn’t suspect was that by the time we got to the last shadow, the plant, it would be midnight and I would be so tired of kneeling on hardwood and painstakingly tearing tape that I would want to tape Joe to the wall and leave. I pushed through that phase and finished up the taping and was glad. It looked great and the show went really well.

PS- I bought a new camera (Nikon D80) and will likely be tormenting everyone with hundreds of photos.

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8 responses for Tape Shadows

  1. Ryan says:

    Why doesn’t the table in the middle of the room have a blue shadow? Maybe this should be directed at Joe. Maybe you can use your special twin communication powers and ask him for me

  2. Joe says:

    That is a great question. I actually thought of taping it, but wasn’t sure if the bench was going to be there for the show.

  3. s'mee says:

    This is extremely cool. I am really really liking this. I wish I were in wet and mossy Washington to see it for myself.

    Congratulations on the show!

  4. micah says:

    Really interesting work. For some reason it’s more interesting to me because it’s tape rather than paint, or something else. Paint would have seemed to much “at home” on a wall.

  5. i bought that exact same camera on almost the exact same day! we need to exchange tips…i.e. you need to tell me how to turn it on and use it. i’m glad you were out there to make sure that show had a figure holding wire and someone to take nice pictures in my place.

  6. brian says:

    Hey Joe, Did you have trouble with the tape not sticking to the street and sidewalk, etc., when you did this around the city? Did you have to take special measures to clean the surfaces first?

  7. brian says:

    also, how do you sell such artwork to interested folks who come to your show?

  8. Joe says:

    Brian, I take a small handbroom with me and sweep the area if it is dusty. There are always bits of rock and glass that I have to brush or kick out of the way. It seems to stick fine on the sidewalk, I haven’t really had any trouble with it.

    AS far as selling art at the show, I show photographs documenting all of my pieces and I did a bunch of small shadow drawings that were also for sale.