Me, You, Us
'Me, You, Us' is an interactive way finding installation that increases the localized scale of the Demo Tape exhibition to inhabit the surrounding community. We are proposing to create signs that will be placed in our private residence, our studio, and on site in the primary sign holder. All satellite locations are in close proximity (1-2 blocks) to Demo Tape and will help increase community awareness of the exhibit within a historically significant and continuously developing area, while recognizing and mimicking the community relationship that was created when the car wash was active.
An illuminated sign with the letters ‘ME’ will be installed in the artist’s residence. The word references the private nature of a home, and the scale of a single person.
At the artist’s studio, Pith Gallery, the letters ‘YOU’ will be illuminated and installed in the window of the gallery space. The word references a place of work, and a space where artists collaborate with others in creating works for exhibition.
At the Penguin site we will create a third illuminated sign with the letters ‘US’ installed into the existing primary site signage, at the top of the signpost. The word ‘US’ visually recognizes the collaborative spirit of Demo Tape and the Wreck City Collective, emphasizing the public and interactive nature of the exhibition of works.
The signs are geographically close to each other, but located in different areas of the community, engaging viewers both to the exhibition as node within Ramsay and Inglewood, and to the greater communities themselves. The installation(s) create connections between collaborating artists and those who enjoy the arts, as well as community members and people from outside of the community. ‘Me, You, Us’ comments on multiple scales of relevant components within a community,
establishing an understanding of the individual, the group, and everyone in between.
The installation as a wayfinding device guides collaborators and visitors through the community to the destination site. As part of a mapping graphic that can be incorporated into various handouts and media for Demo Tape, the signs are visible both to vehicles and pedestrians traveling from various parts of the city. The wayfinding device, or signage, becomes an installation within the function of itself.
Status: Complete
Design: David Tyl & Jenny Bassett
Location: Calgary, Alberta