For my exhibition at the FOFA Gallery in Montreal (July 12 – August 13, 2010), I presented an interactive digital version of my sugar mural, Cargo. In this digital version, participants can simulate the erasure and process of degradation that the original mural underwent.

With each rollover of the mouse, the images would fade, in 5 different stages. All of the images used were taken from actual documentation of the sugar mural’s demise. There is also the option to move “tiles” around, changing the composition, or completely removing “tiles”, dragging them out of the frame. In the gallery installation, participants could also print out their own composition, and post it on the back wall, where a new mosaic of images was created over the course of the show.

Visit the online version of this project and experience it for yourself!
www.shelleymillerstudio.com/tiles

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Posted by admin on September 16th, 2010 :: Filed under Cargo (Montreal),FOFA Gallery Exhibition (Montreal)
Tags :: azulejo, Darling Foundry, FOFA Gallery

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I basically finished installing on Sunday, the day before the opening. The humidity was super high, so the tiles were becoming re-saturated with moisture, and thus, softening and beginning to slide. All of this was leaving me pretty anxious about if things would stay in place until the opening. Then, Sunday night, it poured all night! I just kept thinking, there’s no way it’s all going to in tact after this rain. So Monday morning, I went back to the museum to assess the damage. And… it was actually ok! One tile had fallen off, but a staff member picked it up and kept it in her office for me, so I was able to put it back up. I decided to put up a little more sugar “glue” between the tiles, kind of like grout, to help keep things set. The icing I use for this dries hard and doesn’t rehydrate like the tiles do, so it makes for more secure adhesion.

Here are the photos of the last touch ups and then the final product.

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Posted by admin on June 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Memoria (Brazil)
Tags :: azulejo, Brazil, public art, salvador, slavery, sugar

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Day 2 was a little more tense than I had expected. I suppose the tension began when it rained overnight, and I spent the entire night wondering if all my tiles would slide down the wall over the course of the night. Arriving at the museum the next day provided some relief to see that everything was still indeed on the wall. However, the humidity was like a steam bath. ALL of the tiles from day one were wet, actually “sweating”. Even the ones I was applying fresh, the ones that were dry, were becoming moist as I was working. I began wondering if this mural would last until the opening!

It was all up by the end of the day, but I was still feeling extremely nervous about the whole thing. I always had doubts as to whether or not doing this project at this particular time of year in Salvador was feasible. As I was applying the tiles, realizing how quickly this mural might decompose, I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t much different than a very elaborate wedding cake, where the decorator spends days or weeks planning and preparing, and then it all gets eaten in a single night. My work is temporary and ephemeral. This I know, and this I must accept. Everything is impermanent anyway. Better to embrace this than to deny. Accept more and expect less.

Let’s see what happens…

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Posted by admin on June 15th, 2009 :: Filed under Memoria (Brazil)
Tags :: azulejo, public art, sugar

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Posted by admin on May 23rd, 2009 :: Filed under The Wealth of Some and Ruin of Others (Brazil)
Tags :: azulejo, public art, salvador, slavery, sugar

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