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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Art on a budget

15:30 / 20.03.06

Related to this thread, I’m looking for advice and tips for filling some of the big blank wall spaces in my flat. I can’t afford to buy paintings, I don’t really like prints of paintings and, hell, I can’t even afford to frame anything sizable, so I’m looking for alternatives.

Stretched canvases look pretty affordable, so of course making my own paintings has occurred to me. However, lack of expertise aside, I think I’d always be too critical and unsatisfied of anything I created, so I just don’t think that’s an option.
I thought briefly that collage might be a halfway house after seeing some excellent stuff Jonathan Miller had done with strips of old fly posters, torn from decrepit billboards and forgotten alleys, but I’m still not sure. I just don’t think I’m artist enough.

So, is there anything you could suggest? I want big, bold, colourful things that I could hang (ideally unframed) on my walls. I’ve thought about buying some stretched canvases and some paint, and letting my little nephew and niece go to work on them; I’ve even thought of just painting a canvas one colour like they do on those property ladder programmes. So I realise I’m probably lacking imagination on several levels.

One idea I’ve had: There are these fabrics by the Timorous Beasties that I love. If I were to buy a metre of that, how difficult would it be to construct and stretch it over a simple wooden frame? Are there places that you can get that kind of thing done quite cheaply?

11:14 / 21.03.06

Those are fabulous fabrics - and I was going to suggest fabric hangings (decorative and insulating...). It would be easy to do it oneself with a staplegun, but I am sure there is an art supplies shop out there that would be able to recommend someone who could do a proper job. Maybe Cornelissen's near the BM, or the ones near central St Martin's? Or a framing and mounting specialist...

13:19 / 21.03.06

Aren’t they great? I remembered the Beasties from when they were short-listed for designer of the year in 2005, because I’m a sucker for that thing of surfaces that look conventional and respectable from a distance, but reveal sinister, darker goings on when you get up close (the ants in the lawns in Blue Velvet, the landscapes by Nigel Cooke that I’ve talked about elsewhere, etc). I’d seen their Glasgow Toile, and had that in mind when I looked them up, but then I found London Toile and it’s just perfect.

I’ve spoken to a friend who knows a bit about this stuff, and he thinks that any good art shop should be able to make a stretcher to whatever spec you want, but that actually doing the stretching can be quite tricky – requiring some special tools if you want to avoid sagging. I’d prefer to get a professional to do it form me, but fear the cost. When I’ve gone to a framing specialist in the past, it’s always been pretty lumpy. But I’ve got a two week wait for the fabric and I should probably ask around / get some quotes in the meantime, so thanks for the recommendations.

21:53 / 22.03.06

Hangings work well. We've brought back the most gorgeous jewel-like throws from India and stitched a pole to top and bottom, so we could hang them on the wall. Light can work well too, projected onto the wall through a plant or with a specific Mathmos type effect.

I guess we're fine with prints of good stuff, though, and with mirrors (we have a hall of mirrors). Let us know what y'come up with, Smoothly.

22:15 / 22.03.06

have you considered murals?
if you can begborrowsteal an ohp, a design of your choice is easily printed onto a transparency, projected onto the wall and then painted upon...

00:10 / 23.03.06

I've had to rule out murals, prariac, along with a number of other more traditionally decorative techniques because my flat is rented and the people we rent from are pretty strict about the place being returned in the state it came in. This is quite an important consideration that I probably should have mentioned. For example, we are charged £10 for every picture hook we hammer into a wall - so even clusters of pictures (or mirrors) become problematic.

Also, we have some big spaces, and I like BIG pictures, which is another problem with prints - they need frames and big frames are expensive. And having bought a couple of oils, I've really gone off having pictures behind glass, even the non-reflective sort.

Projection is something we've considered before when we saw some of our favourite pictures available as slides in Tate Modern. But the logistics of mounting a projector high enough to avoid shadows, and the fact that projectors tend to be quite noisy things, put us off in the end. But the idea of using projected light in other ways is appealing. We have directional spot lights on the ceilings, and I now wonder if we could be using them more creatively. Hmmm. Could probably do something nice with a coloured gel, or some kind of refractor or reflector. Nice one. I'll have a think about that.

I've been thinking more about collage. I like maps, and I've been thinking that we could probably do something interesting with a few quid spent in Stanfords. Could probably do something quite fun with an old A-Z... Will have to think on.

I really appreciate these suggestions. It's funny what you don't think of.

04:19 / 23.03.06

You could always build your own frame for fabric and hangings and whatnot. I had a friend who built a canopy for her bed in the dorms out of PVC pipe. It was not the most terribly attractive thing in the world, but I'm sure it would be possible to build a large frame out of something nicer, such as wood or metal, and hang things from that to avoid putting holes in the walls.

For murals, large sheets of newsprint are an option, although again, not always an acceptably attractive one. Cheap, though, and a reasonable medium for big collages.

Regarding projection, digital projectors are silent but pricy.

19:00 / 23.03.06

Incidentally, if you have white walls, it's fairly easy to cover up holes from nails and picture hooks when you move out. Just use a little spackle, or - in a pinch - white toothpaste, or a mash of water and baking soda. Provided said holes aren't giant gaping wounds.

Thus no tenner to the landlords. Unless they're the sort who examine the place regularly while you're in residence, in which case you may have larger concerns.