20/04/2017 - PASTE SESSION 2

For my second paste session I was well prepared with much stronger paste and this time I had mentally marked a few places which I wanted to hit. I found small inset doorways which created small alleys at right angles to main high street sections which were just long enough to display a poster in, so that it may be seen by passers by, but not within their walking space. (see right) I hoped this would both increase visibility whilst lowering the chances of the piece being torn or ripped as members of the public walk by. I also chose some walls with BT green broadband boxes next to them, I could climb up onto these to paste my work above the reach of foot traffic, hopefully increasing their longevity further.


The subtlety of the bees meant they could be layered over areas which had already been tagged to create great textural and visual depth, blending in as part of the fabric of Norwich's urban art scene. (left) Their direct cut outline which closely follows the form of the image also means they can blend into larger textural surfaces instead of masking the surrounding area, as the poster does. By hitting Norwich with both pieces at once I hope to be able to analyse the difference in engagement between an advertising style piece (save our seas) and a typical subtle street art piece (bees) and compare the difference in response.

I also revisited any surviving pieces from my first session in order to replenish them with newer, stronger paste. I found that on the second coat the newsprint took the paste much more readily as if the paper's grain had already been slightly expanded by the first. This is something I should bare in mind however for future pastes I would like to try specifically poster paper, as this has the thinness of newsprint with added absorption.

When returning the next day I was pleased to see most of the pieces had survived, as it is typically the first night where most of the pieces immediately disappear, so the fact they had gotten this far was a very good sign. I am very excited to see the social media response as it develops over the coming weeks, especially as I planned this campaign to coincide with Earth Day on the 22nd, which should hopefully boost this response and increase the spread of my work.

 (all photos taken the next day)