Up Shit Creek
Up Shit Creek, 2010/2023, printed paper, handmade paper, aluminum, synthetic cord, 102 in x 64 1/4 in
At some point prior to the Dwelling project, and for no discernible reason, a camping and outdoor equipment catalog came in the mail. It was small format, about 5 by 8 inches, and printed on the cheapest, thinnest and most translucent newsprint I had ever seen. The catalog was full of printed hand drawn illustrations of every product and had no photographs in it at all. It was fascinating to me. The catalog company had clearly hired someone to make drawings of every product they offered, and it was a huge group of items; from cookstoves and vented shorts to shoelaces and a twisty bit of reusable wire, anything you might need for a trip into the wilderness seemed to be represented inside. The drawings were very similar to what you could find in an old dictionary or encyclopedia. I adopted the tents and a few canoes and kayaks for Dwelling but a lot of the other illustrations had caught my attention. I waited years until the idea for Up Shit Creek brought me back to this material.
Instead of the social tableaux of the Dwelling drawings I wanted Up Shit Creek to function as an ambiguous narrative in the form of an unfolded accordion book that could cycle through a series of illustrations while describing, in a tongue in cheek way, events which most of us will find familiar. The sequence of tags describes the journey by suggesting essential items that will hopefully see you through.
The accordion book somehow became a series of handmade luggage/info/price tags, each with a product illustration collaged onto its face and protected with an aluminum sheet metal backing. The cut-out illustrations were a great way to use drawing without having to do any myself, which was handy because depictive drawing isn’t something I know how to do.
The first draft of the project, about fifteen tags, was made in 2010 but it wasn’t until an exhibition opportunity came along in 2018 that I made an attempt at an installation. It wasn’t successful and I put the project away again until 2022 when I added 7 more tags, rethought the sequence of the story, and worked out a much more interesting way to present the piece on the wall as a unified narrative. The tags now hang from long cords like a sort of waterfall, moving gently with any air currents. Hanging at about gut height the knots securing them trace the days developments, eventually depositing you back where you began.
All Image Credits: Tom Powel Imaging
