Every/One
digital wallpaper, terracotta, mirrored blown glass, 23' x 15' 6" x 8", 2022
Oregon Percent for Art, Oregon Arts Commission, Unthank Residence Hall, University of Oregon
EVERY/ONE, a collaboration with Jessie Rose Vala and ASL instructor Chad Catron, brings awareness to the full richness and diversity of sense-based communication, especially non-verbal forms of communication. It includes a digital camo wallpaper/print with hidden regional references, five ceramic wall sculptures signing the phrase EVERY WORD WAS ONCE AN ANIMAL, and handmade terracotta tiles that translate the wallpaper's intricate pattern into a low relief pattern so the wallpaper design can be experienced through touch by persons with low vision.
Every/One, digital wallpaper, terracotta, mirrored blown glass, 23' x 15' 6" x 8", 2022
Situated on an accessibility ramp at the main entrance to the residence hall and food court, the installation is designed to be experienced across sensory modalities, over time, and at varying heights and distances.
Detail of hands signing "WORD" in the prhase EVERY WORD WAS ONCE AN ANIMAL
A QR code links to the university’s ASL language website, with a video of ASL Instructor Chad Catron teaching how to sign EVERY WORD WAS ONCE AN ANIMAL in ASL.
Every/One, wallpaper detail
The wallpaper contains hidden local references and landscape elements that conjure the natural landscape of Oregon.
Thirty species of native bees are spread across the wall, appearing to fly in and out of the adjacent window. Bees, like ASL speakers, have evolved a gestural language that is highly symbolic.
