Exciting UV Discovery!/ Solo show idea!

For a couple of weeks now UV pens have been mentioned to me multiple times by different people who listened what i had to say about me and my work. Because it was mentioned to me so often i took it as a sign to try and work with them, give them some thought and energy. After going over again and again over the similarities of my work and how different they are too, i kept noticing that i am trying to highlight the "invisible", "imperfect" or "abandoned". 

Then suddenly the UV pens seemed to have a lot of sense in my work. The possibility of using UV pens to highlight something to make it visible really excited me as the UV pens can only be seen using a special light, therefore by highlighting something i can play with the audiences reaction too as i can control when the UV light can be switched on or off. Play with the impact and the element of surprise with the audience. 

As a tryout i found a dark space in the studio which was blocked out from light. It was a small box like space with white plain walls. I grabbed a UV pen and started to look for imperfections on the walls such as scratches and dents that i decided to go round with a UV pen to make them stand out and form a combination of linear forms on the wall. 

I have found the process very relaxing, repetitive and therapeutic. I enjoyed working under UV light looking how slowly the dents and marks appeared before me. So bright and full of life! I worked very slowly enjoying the meditative process. I really like engaging with things that are present already as in a way the process is bonding me to the place and the marks. 

When i have finished i switched off the UV light and suddenly the marks and dents i worked with disappeared. They suddenly blended with the environment again, with the wall. I had to carefully look for the marks again to remember which ones i have worked with. That transition of visibility and invisibility i really enjoyed and found fascinating. I became very excited to see other peoples reaction towards it.  

I decided to bring students in to see what i have done, and see their reaction to it. They entered the space and suddenly i switched on the UV light to make my work visible. Some people gasped to suddenly seeing the UV marks, some had a physical reaction where they stepped back from the wall to look at it all, as though the marks have invaded their personal space. They looked like the work has physically moved them. I really enjoyed looking at peoples reaction, they seemed to be part of my work, engaging and working with it. Suddenly this made me think about performance which i tried not tho think about as i didn't want to force it into my work, however it touched it. This work is in a way performative, not in the sense of me doing the performance, but in the reaction of others to my work and the sudden light change. The performance is in me switching the light on and off and looking at the reactions i get. 

This work felt right to me and seemed to combine all the recent tryouts i recently made. This work also opened up a lot more possibilities for me. It made me think about what i can do for the solo show at the start of May. The room i am given for the show doesn't have any windows and is 7x10 meters which is a very good size! This works seems perfect for the room. At the moment i am thinking of going round imperfections with the UV pen on the walls and the floor, also i want to play with the timing of the light change so that my work gives the biggest impact for the audience. I have yet to discuss this with the people responsible for the show, but hopefully i am allowed to do it and will have enough time to finish it! I am very excited and cant wait to start it!

~Ev