Installation using helium balloons, ribbon, chalk rocks, tracing paper, polaroid portraits.
By Ingrid Plum
2005
"First Impressions" was exhibited at "CouRAGe", celebrating 5 years of RAG (Revolutionary Artists Group), and was christening of sorts for the next era of RAG. It also explored themes of contact, space and memory. It ties in with the idea of intangible memory from my last installation "Dead Space".
The installation consisted of a white helium balloon for each member of RAG in the exhibition. This represented the subconscious, the unknown.
Attached to each balloon ribbon was a white origami bird, representing exploration, flight, the possibility of ever-evolving journeys through repetition. These also are thought to bring you luck in Japan.
The ribbon was tethered to a piece of chalk rock, representing earth, our roots, that which is tangible and solid, and also Worthing and the south coast in particular for RAG.
Underneath the bird was a polaroid of each member of RAG in the exhibition; representing human curiosity, the distance between perception and identity, and each member individually.
Strung along the ribbon were strips of paper with a haiku poem i wrote for each member of RAG. Each haiku was individual, delving into my subconscious reactions/memories of each person, written instinctively and abstractly. The haiku I write stick faithfully to the traditional 17 syllable structure in the classic 5-7-5 stanza. Instead of traditionally alluding to a season through imagery to represent the capturing of a moment in passing time, I think it's more relevant in this modern urbanized environment to use imagery prompted by immediate impressions and abstract thoughts to capture the moment in time.
At the end of the exhibition each RAG artist was invited to detach the balloon from the rock, read the poem and set the balloon free. I like to think that someone somewhere may have found a balloon with the bird and the photo, and they in turn could develop their first impressions of RAG.
