This Summer I’ve been working on the AIDS Chronicles at the ICI; reading New York Times pages, scanning for articles and then obscuring them with layers of paint. This process has become less and less a mechanical action for me as I gain familiarity with the contents and form of the pages. The process begins by cutting a stack of plastic sheets to paint on throughout three painting stages. I comb through a month’s worth of the cover pages for articles on AIDS, HIV and Ebola, marking datelines and obituaries. Then I paint the backs and fronts of the pages with a protective gel coat, followed by black gesso (at first just outlining the key pieces of information on the front of the page), and finally cover the pages in red paint. These layers result in a skin-like texture and dark, blood-red coloring. I have never felt very politically conscious or invested in the news. Yet, while looking for articles on HIV and AIDS, a scrutiny of the other articles on each cover page has brought me closer to the current events of those times in a broader context.
Lizzy