Faculty of Design

Graphic Design

Laiken Breau

You Have Observed Me Everyday, But What Was There To Witness

A megalopolis’s accumulations are informed by its past trauma and damage; a cycle of vandalism and collateral eradication. The urban built environment becomes a cluster of surfaces covered in inherently unplanned shapes of varying forms, sizes and colours. You Have Observed Me Every Day, But What Was There To Witness questions buffing as being solely a tool of anti-vandalism enforcement and instead reevaluates the unintentional resulting marks of graffiti removal as separate, aesthetic entities and compositional building blocks. These unintentional remnants are addressed as alluring forms with aesthetic potential beyond their intended applications. In doing so, these buffs we encounter and ignore, are accentuated and percolated to the forefront of our consciousness as embryonic elements of larger subconscious accumulative compositions emerging within the urban environment. By developing new arrangements with the original building blocks, You Have Observed Me Every Day, But What Was There To Witness presents contemporary sculptural prints. Three instances of covered vandalism have been implemented to pull multiple editions of seventy-five monoprints. Paper was dropped over the vacuum table randomly allowing the suction to place it sporadically before printing. As a result, the silkscreen erratically overprints previous pulls and concocts subconscious accumulations. Two hundred and twenty-five monoprints were delivered at fluctuating levels of accumulation. These two hundred and twenty-five monoprints were then extracted and merged to form nine tapestries of subconscious accumulations, that then integrate to generate larger subconscious accumulations. When hung on the sterile gallery wall, the united tapestries reveal hidden layers, textures and patterns. These combinations are a direct response to naturally occurring Subconscious accumulations that form on urban surfaces and can no longer be ignored when introduced to the white cube.