118 Project
The 118 Project is a body of work containing the interventions that Melissa Cayford performs in a low income, stigmatized neighbourhood, attempting to reactivate place as well as change visual signifiers of abandonment. This was a project completed over the course of September- November of 2015.
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These textile works were created to bring attention and care to an abandoned building, that has been vacant for a long amount of time.
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These pillows were added to some of the benches on 118 Avenue in order to bring comfort to the people that used them. This work was about taking care of the Avenue as if it was part of the domestic sphere.
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This work was featured on the close Avenue Theatre of 118 avenue. This site has been a theatre pertaining to all sorts of entertainment for the last 100 years. I played old movies and music from the theatre in the boxes in which people were invited to look into. This was about reactivating memory.
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These gold moldings were an experiment that I branched off of from the Avenue Theatre project. I was looking to bring in gold moldings as a way that people might decorate or try to enhance their homes with. The gold is about a preciousness.
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This lightbox was made to reactivate an abandoned building on 118 avenue. The lightbox was about bringing a window to those that had been boarded up. Lighted windows create a sense of life in an area. The piece was interactive which allowed people to open and close the curtains as they chose. When they opened up the curtains text was revealed. The text "We all need Bright and Beauty." is based on a quote from author John Eldredge who claims that beauty is refreshing. I started to think of light and beauty as a commodity in which is valued and sought after, however is only accessible to certain people