6 hours in the rain, and probably the most intensive bit of large scale manual kerning I have ever been guilty of. The notion of using this lyric has been around in my head for several years (left/right & audio/stereo connection), the opportunity to paint on these shutters since late last year. I tend to keep my work indoors in the colder months, unless I head abroad…
My first venture into the outdoor for 2011 had to be this idea. I was surprised how the letters fell, sometimes right into the crease of the shutter (E, K & R), or even making a symmetrical pattern (see the ‘O’) or an unnatural repeat (as in the two S’s). Here’s a digital sketch of the initial concept, detailing the building and its arrangement of corrugates:
There were so many permutations of how this would (or should) pan out. Firstly, get the lyric matching the position of the viewer, or the teller? Left had to be Red, Right – Blue. Was it to be singular (matching a single viewer) or plural? Who is to the right, and who is to the left?
Its quite a complex task to do this right (I assumed) so I went back to the drawing board and rearranged my ideas with a bit more finesse.
Came out alright in the end:
Only got night time shots right now, as I’ve just come back from painting it. Video below:
Well I don’t know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain’t right
I’m so scared in case I’ll fall off my chair
And I’m wondering how I’ll get down the stairs
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am
Stuck in the middle with you(Gerry Rafferty, April 16th 1947 – January 4th 2011 R.I.P)
