Packing peanuts galore!

As the different elements to my exhibition have developed and my installation has progressed, I have been conscious that there is something missing. This something is the thing that will add a little more texture and physicality to the work. At the moment I feel that the sculptural element of my practice is lacking within the space. Rather than make an individual sculpture, I want to find a way to unite the works so they exist as part of an installation rather than works on their own.

I have been considering doing some kind of drawing on the floor, but I feel this may be too controlled and flat. I enjoy creating experiences for the audience, and want to do something that would affect the way they interact with  the work.

I've been researching different materials and surfaces that I could cover the floor in. After much consideration I opted for green polystyrene packing peanuts.





















I'd looked at various colours of packing peanuts, and found one colour that was ideally matched to the colour of one of the scouring pads in one of my video animations. 

I did a couple of quick mock ups in photoshop to give me an idea of what it may look like, and this confirmed my decision to opt for the green packing peanuts.

It was rather difficult to gauge how many bags i would need as the volume of the bags were measured in cube feet, but after a bit of calculating (and an element of consultation with my piggy bank to see how much i could scrape together), I ordered 6 bags making a total of 90 cube feet worth of packing peanuts!