Laura Vickerson

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Sub Urban (White Tent & Tarp & Small Box Architecture)
gauze, thread & used paper discards nylon , bunjee-loaded tent poles, fibre fill, feather duvet & camp light
10’ x 9’ x 8’
2004

Sub Urban

Sub Urban continues my ongoing interest in how, as humans, we position ourselves in relationship to nature: acknowledging both our reverence for it as well as our inherent desire to possess and control it.  The white tent suggests the possibility of a getaway but can one really escape the trappings of contemporary urban society. The windows of the tent are made of gauze with a leaf pattern cut from found and recycled paper.  The pattern is reminiscent of cast shadows from surrounding trees in early morning sunlight. The paper materials, however, are the stuff of our fast-paced, post-modern society and evidence of our negotiations within it. They provide a strong contrast to notions of living within nature; which the tent suggests.

The Small Box Architecture are perhaps the urban counterpart to White Tent.  By using the packaging of consumer products to create tiny, imaginary buildings, there is a reference to the recent infiltration of Big Box Stores into smaller urban centres all across Canada.  Their inherent playfulness seems to contradict the more serious implications of such progress. These pieces are located in various corners, on the walls and on the floor surrounding the tent.