Assisting Jay Walker, Days 2-4:

Michele had sent me an email about another local artist in the area looking for assistance in building his installation for three days. It counted as Summer Fellows hours so I went for it. Because this was work for someone I didn’t know, I was more anxious than my usual level of anxiety. Just the name alone was intimidating: Jay Walker. Doesn’t that put images in your head of a super professional no-mistakes-tolerated sort of artist? Looking at his work, which mostly consist of installation images made of tape,that called for extreme precision. I easily found the Pentimenti Gallery when walking to Old City and in fact arrived ten minutes early (in an email Jay said his pet peeve was people who didn’t show up on time). I was very anxious, quivering with anticipation of what this guy was to be like. When I saw that the artist I would be assisting for the next two days was a bearded guy in his thirties with glasses, I was relieved. And he turned out to be a very cool guy.

With an awesome beard.

His nice friend Alison and I made measurements of the wall both vertical and horizontal to determine the center of the piece. I was so nervous of how complicated it would get I could hardly hold the measuring tape still.  To map out the placement of the tape and strips of wallpaper (with wood appearance) We had to make a mark of every six inches.  While Jay and Alison put up the first few strips of wood grain onto the wall I cut thin slices of black tape that would later form the outline of the Theotokos (for those who don’t remember their art history, the Virgin Mary). 

Then the rest of the day was spent adding strips of masking tape and colored duct tape along the pattern forming a mesmerizing grid. While doing this Jay asked me various questions on what it was like going to Uarts (he went to PAFA) and my future plans. He then gave me some valuable advice: keep doing internships, find a good mentor, and learn how the business works. He said that being an artist is like a lawyer, that the school teaches you the practice of art, but not the business of it. It makes perfect sense, since I joined this internship for that experience

His original design on his iPad. Taken with permission from Jay of  course.

End of the first day.

The second day, though I was much more comfortable working with Jay, was much slower. We set up more lines of colored tape this time in thinner strands, so it got very complicated when trying to place another design onto the grid. 

Also some trimming.

The design was supposed to be a protein grid or something of hemoglobin, or blood. When the initial stencil Jay made wasn’t big enough we had to *gasp* USE MATH!!! Oh the horror! Jay handled that while another assistant, Nora, and I put the strips of tape in place. It was very interesting to witness Jay’s problem solving process and satisfying to see such a complicated design come to fruition.  

So...much...TAPE.

For the third and final day I started out by cutting strips of black tape to add to the Theotokos’s outline. Then it was time to cover certain lines within the hemoglobin design with copper tape, as well as aluminum tape, brass tape, and fabricated tape.  

Then there was the application of vinyl flower designs that Jay had specially prepared trimming. All we had to do was place it, and trim away anything in the pink tape or copper. There was a lot of careful trimming to do which got very exhausting on the senses. 

Trim, trim, trim.

Jay then made a decision to go for a different approach from the original concept he created on his iPad. This called for strips of black tape to be overlaid in diagonals that gave the design a real hypnotic aura.  As strenuous as it was, it was a great privilege to take part in bringing Jay Walker’s vision to life. Hopefully there will be a time when I could help him out in another installation again.