Placement©
standard labels, 5 cm x 3 cm

Ireland, London, New York & Toronto: 2009
Toronto, Chicago & Iowa City: 2010
Ireland, Lake Tahoe (US), Antibes (France): 2012

Placement© is an ongoing temporary project in which I print out images of artwork from my 25+ years oeuvre onto standard mailing labels and then put them in various locations.

This project allows me freedom to experiment and to take a number of issues into consideration, such as scale, site, context, disposability, and collaboration/participation.
My images may be seen as “pleasant” and therefore may be looked at as a surprise or gift to the viewer who comes across the image entirely by chance. The image provides a moment of curiosity for the viewer: who placed this here? why? what does it mean?

The project will be documented on my art website, and as the project title Placement© will be included on the stickers, the more intrepid viewer will be able to discover details about the project by searching the internet. While initially this project was dependant on my personal travel plans and home location, I was open to the possibility of participation by others in placing the labels. As a result, friends and family members are working with me to disperse the project globally and the results will be documented over time!

The images on the labels are completely out of scale – the smallest work of art portrayed is originally 15.3 cm x 10.2 cm, but on a label it is even more minuscule at 5 cm x 3 x cm. The labels remove my work from their original context, either as gallery paintings or as site-specific installations. The labels are small enough to be sited spontaneously and in unconventional spaces (both indoors and outdoors). The labels are thin, gummed pieces of paper; they are both temporary and biodegradable.