Upon returning to the space after one week I was surprised to find that the installation had remained largely untouched. There were 5 locks that had been broken to allow for individuals to gain access to their lockers but it was interesting to note that 4 of these seemed to have undergone an attempt to repair. One individual who was in the space at the time that I was observing the work seemed to have a moral dilemma regarding whether or not she should break the lock to gain access to her locker. Upon letting her know that the work was mine and that it was ok to tear the aluminium foil she was adamant that she would try and put it back as she had initially found it.
This was quite odd to see. It made me wonder whether the same reaction would have been had if the work had been set up in a space where the visitors were the general public, rather than art conscious visual art students. Would the work have been treated with the same level of delicacy?
The moral dilemma is an important subject to address within this piece as it is the artwork directly influencing the viewer. In order to gain access to their personal space, they must break the foil and directly disturb or, in the eyes of the viewer, ruin the piece. I would be interested in watching the space to see the reactions to the work by the passersby.
This is the only lock that was removed from the locker and left on the floor, all of the other locks remained in place, partly broken but with an attempt to be repaired.
I left the lock on the floor and scattered the leftover keys that I had made in front of the lockers. I felt that this added to the message that I was intending to give.
The lockers in the studio room.
The keys attached to the existing locks worked to allow the viewer to also connect those with the work. The key seemingly counteracts the existing padlocks.
Apart from the keys scattered on the floor, it would actually be quite easy to pass by this work without noticing its presence.
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