Catawampus

foam core plastic pipe / urethane paint / retroreflective glass beads A site-responsive sculptural installation. ‘Catawampus’ was a site-responsive installation in Federation House, Manchester – the former headquarters of the Cooperative Society. On each floor the ceiling was supported by rows of cast iron columns. Working from on-site measurements and original building plans, I made a series of 12 columns dimensionally identical to those already in place, and arranged them according to the same layout, only skewed around an imaginary centre point. Each of the new columns was coated with retroreflective glass beads (ordinarily used to add reflective qualities to road marking paint), thus allowing them to become reflective according to the lighting conditions. catawampus [kat-uh–wom-puh s] Adjective Out of alignment, crooked, skewed, askew, awry, off-kilter. Positioned diagonally, cater-cornered. Fierce, destructive.