Willard Boepple

Description

'Room 3' is part of a series of works which explores the idea of how we relate to domestic objects through the shapes and spaces created above, below, inside and outside of their forms. Looking specifically at the negative areas of space made by shelves in an empty room, this work explores the effect of putting them out of their original context, by placing them high against the ceiling, in the middle of the 'wall' and low near the floor. In this way, the traditional notion of how items fit in a room is turned upside down, causing the spaces inside to be compressed, enclosed and stretched.

Human interaction is a key element of this work and the meanings derived from it range from feelings of confusion to the idea of the room being hostile, with every feature being almost the exact opposite of what is expected. The material chosen by Boepple adds weight to these ideas, in which all of the stereotypical features of a room are contradicted. The walls, ceiling and some shelves are see-through. Some shelves are overtly thick and heavy and all lines are sharp, cold and jagged - contrasting the domestic ideal of a warm, safe and cosy home.

The most striking feature of this work is the difference between looking into the space and looking out from it, in which viewers change from being the examiner to the exhibit, in a sense caged or trapped inside a wall-less, empty space.