Guyton\Walker’s Downtown Commission Part Two: The Process
May 25, 2010
Producing and installing Guyton\Walker's downtown project was an intensive process that involved a large team.
After holes are cut into each piece of vinyl, a technician has to grommet each piece by hand. Photograph by Pierce Jackson
Because the work involved printing on large-scale pieces of vinyl, the artists outsourced the production to SelectoFlash, a commercial graphic printing house. We visited their corporate headquarters in West Orange, New Jersey to see the printing firsthand.
A piece of vinyl comes off SelectoFlash's printer. Photograph by Pierce Jackson
We had never seen such a huge printer before! It actually filled an entire room. As the sheets came out, they were rolled down a conveyor belt and traveled underneath industrial-sized dryers.
Holes are die cut into every piece of vinyl that will be hung on the fence. Photograph by Pierce Jackson
City laws require that holes be placed in any material covering a fence, so Guyton\Walker designed a computer program to randomly die cut holes into each piece of vinyl that was to be hung at the site. These pieces were then grommetted by hand. For the pieces that would be placed on the pavement, SelectoFlash finished them with a special weather- and car-proof laminate.
The team lays temporary decals onto the pavement at the site. Photograph by Pierce Jackson
Installation at the High Line began at the end of April and took place over several days.
The vinyl is hung around the entire perimeter of the site. Photograph by Pierce Jackson
A large crew worked to place decals and hang the vinyl pieces from the fences and trailers, while Kelley Walker and Wade Guyton oversaw the installation. Luckily, New York City saw one its warmest weekends, and the installation was complete for the official opening on May 8. Guyton\Walker will be on view at the Whitney's new site through June 23. Stay tuned for the next downtown commission by Tauba Auerbach!
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the good weather didn't last too long! Last week, a rainstorm with extremely high winds ripped off some of the vinyl panels from the fences and crews rushed in to repair the project, which is now fully back on view.
By Sarah Meller, Education Assistant