phogh floating shelf | chrystalmcconnell

"phogh floating shelf"

interactive installation

mixed media

32" x 11" x 9.5"

2022-2026

This project is an extension and expansion of my larger work, Play Hard or Go Home (PHOGH).

As a commissioned piece of art, the collector was interested in owning a smaller version of my work that could be displayed as a floating shelf on their wall. That meant providing between 20 - 30 finished books which could be pulled off the shelf at any time and viewed as a single piece of artwork. The collector picked out three favorite colors which were: orange, white and blue; and so, I began sourcing those colors along with the corresponding book titles. I also began searching out vintage square photos to match the titles and concept; purchasing library pockets; and gathering all of the necessary materials I needed to complete this project.

When everything was finished and done, there were 28 completed books: 7 orange, 8 blue and 13 white. In Play Hard or Go Home, you'll notice that I arranged all the books by color so that it represented a rainbow. But in this version of the work, I organized the books into a specific repeating pattern of blue, orange, white, and white. Its only at the very end, that the pattern deviates, and switches to blue, orange, white, and blue. There is a very strategic and conceptual reason for this change that involves another layer with the titles. Not only do the book titles, the photographs, the page numbers and the cut-outs in the photos reveal my innermost secrets, but the book spines (titles) also form a poem when read altogether. The book titles are listed below in order from left to right on the shelf:

Anger is a Gift
I Swear
Cut and Run
Into Thin Air
Give Me a Break
The Good Teen
Permission to Screw Up
I Know Just What You Mean
Invisible
Against All Enemies
Till We Meet Again
Ah, Treachery
Lies Come Easy
Lies Like Wildfire
If I Understand You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?
Sweet Liar
It All Comes Down to This
Power Play
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet
The Breakaway
Ordinary Wolves
Never Eat Alone
Welcome to Utopia
Salvage The Bones
Permanent Sunset
Blood Orange Night
Who’s Got Your Back
Chasing Life

Additional notes:

*This was a paid commission for a Private Collector

As I stated in Play Hard or Go Home, this is an on-going project. Everything has been done by hand: from the selection of each book (title and color), to the finding of each photo, to the pasting of the library pockets, to the stamping of the page numbers, to the hand-cutting of the photographs; each book has been handled and treated individually. Each title is different, each contains a rare photograph, each cut in that photograph is singular, and each secret is distinct and unique. No two books are alike.