This installation piece involves the daily, continuous collection of tea bags from the tea I drank over the course of a year. The tea bags were removed from each hot cup of tea, squeezed, and placed on sheets of watercolor paper where they each left their individual, creased and delicate mark. The imprints left behind by the tea bags are testimony to the passage of time, to memory, and to an individual ritual. When the tea bags were dry, I wrapped them up, in on themselves, using the string of the tea bag. These dried bundles, as they accumulated, formed an archive containing the debri of this daily ritual. In the installation itself, The tea bags are arranged as a strange topographic map that tops off, and is contained by, a Victorian-style table. This piece of furniture places the individual daily ritual of drinking a cup of tea in the larger context of a shared colonial history.
Esta instalación incolucra la recolección diaria y continua de las bolsas de té, de las tazas de té que yo tomé durante un año. Las bolsas de té fueron sacadas de cada taza, exprimidas y colocadas sobre hojas de papel acuarela donde dejan su huella individual, arrugada, delicada. Las impresiones dejadas por las bolsas de té dan testimonio al paso del tiempo, a la memoria, y al ritual individual. Cuando las bolsas de té ya se habian secado las envolvía utilizando el hilo de la bolsa. Los bultos secos, a medida que se acumulan, empiezan a constituir un archivo de los deshechos del ritual diario. Para la instalación, las bolsas de té están acomodadas de tal manera que forman un mapa topográfico encima de y enmarcado por una mesa que sugiere la epoca victoriana. Este mueble ubica el ritual diario de tomar una taza de té dentro del contexto de una historia colonial compartida.
Tea Time, topografías interiores. materiales: tea bags, table, tea cup, teabag prints on watercolor paper. 2011
These are great. I love the idea of taking something that wasn't ever intended to endure and refocusing attention on it like you've done with these prints. I'm interested in making prints in nontraditional ways like this myself (http://www.johnhunterdesign.com/1/post/2014/02/picture-process.html). It's interesting how you've used something potentially mundane like a used teabag to bring attention to and connect us with the past. The pieces help me stop and think about the lasting effects of my actions now, I'm really glad I stumbled upon them. You've got me thinking about other kinds of "archives" that we form intentionally or otherwise, accidental or unintended records.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking my work out and for commenting. I am fascinated by archive and by how memory can be contained within an object. I have also been thinking a lot about the "ritual" practices that we engage in daily. I look forward to reviewing your work.
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