wish you were here (2004 version)
wish you were here adopts the colloquial phrase commonly used on postcards, and similarly beckons the viewer to a place they cannot go. During the opening reception, a hired plane circles the sky trailing a red banner with the phrase ‘WISH YOU WERE HERE’. In the hallway of the gallery, are 15 — 6’h red nylon letters (from the banner) — each individually hung by one corner (the way they are stored alphabetically in the airport hangar) and spaced to indicate the phrase, illegible yet recognizable as a sign. In the gallery space, a pre-recorded flight of the plane/banner is projected onto a freestanding wall (6’h x 11w’) with 2 oversized red nylon pillows for spectators to sit and watch the DVD loop. At the reception desk, blue balloons printed with an line drawing of a plane/banner are available for gallery visitors to take with or without helium.
Usually reserved for low-key advertising such as closing-out sales or low interest rates, the banner-toting plane enjoys a potentially new status in this work, breathing new life into an over used expression. I am interested in the reinvestment of seemingly banal language as an extension of good will or commonality, locating profound elements in the everyday. (The phrase is also a Pink Floyd lyric).
*The project relies on existing commercial forms, a hired plane with banner, promotional balloons printed with a line drawing, and in doing so conflates the commercial world with the heritage of ephemeral practice.
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wish you were here, 2004, YYZ Artists' Outlet