Green Space Floral foams. 2020-21
Floral foam board. Varnish. Metal sub-frame.
This work was made as a commission for ‘You Belong Here’ for Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the University of Salford’s Art Collection.
text from the exhibition catalogue
Jack Brown makes work about “the overlooked, things that should be given more than a passing glance, and moments that would benefit from magnification”. For You Belong Here, Jack sought out evidence of the hidden behaviours in public parks by exploring as many of the 60 plus parks and green spaces across the city as he could. Seeking to avoid busier areas, Jack followed ‘desire lines’ – the unofficial paths and tracks made by people and animals in open spaces. His explorations led him to the peripheries, under brambles, into bushes, and through holes in fences – investigating the more playful, mischievous or deviant narratives of public spaces.
During these encounters with secret dens, animal tracks, rope swings and dead ends throughout the city, Jack collected both found objects and video/audio recordings to create his three artworks. Bottletops, wallets, keyrings, litter, rocks, twigs, and other personal items found their way into his pockets – each hinting at former human (or animal) activity. These items were pressed into
large tiled sheets of floral foam, leaving indents and impressions in the installation Green space floral foams. These insignificant items take on a new persona and invite speculation: Was the destroyed wallet dropped by accident, or on purpose after a theft? What are the more abstracted and unrecognisable forms? A tool, weapon, device, an important memento or something more innocuous? Together they offer a time capsule of some of the current everyday behaviours in parks.
details
