Repair

Assignment:

- Repair something that is not broken

- Repair something that is not seen as worth fixing

- Repair something in an unconventional way

The definition of the word repair is to fix or mend (a thing suffering from damage or a fault).

Think about what things could be considered damaged. Perhaps something that has been weathered could be considered damaged or maybe something that is not performing its intended function or is performing its function but has been altered in a way that wasn't intended.

State Standard:

VA:Cr2.3.IIa Redesign an object, system, place, or design in response to contemporary issues.

Guided Questions:

Without the knowledge of how to fix a particular object or thing, how could you repair it? What do you know how to repair? Could those same techniques you

use to repair be applied to something else? What things are seen as not worth fixing? What would it take to repair these things "not worth fixing?"

Artists

Nina Katchadourian, Francis Alÿs, Diana Shupunjin, Katie Vernon

Nina Katchadourian

Francis Alÿs

Francis Alÿs is a favorite artist of mine who hand-painted a yellow traffic line with a tiny brush and a bucket of paint. This project fits under the idea of repairing something in an unconventional way. Taking the time to paint a traffic line with a tiny brush shows so much care for the road and the process of it is perhaps a bit silly since there are easier ways to repaint the traffic lines. Why would he feel the need to hand-paint a line on the road in such a time- consuming difficult way? If the line was still serving its purpose what was the point of hand-painting one tiny line?

Here is a link to the documentation of Alÿs' work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij2RYjQO2Hc&list=PLqmVdadRfYl9R7

Reparation and care for something that is often seen

as insignificant or something seen as not worth fixing

is a curious idea to me. In 2014 I made a piece called

"prosthetic branch" which I made after seeing a

handful of branches that had fallen off of a tree. I

ended up picking up these sticks and wrapping them

tightly while sewing them together with a layer of

muslin. Maybe something not seen as worth fixing

can be a great thing to attempt to fix.

>Fiona Barney