EnvironMental SerVices

Douglas Weathersby

EnvironMental SerVices

Design for the promotional materials for EnvironMental SerVices, Inkjet Print / Performance

/

EnvironMental SerVices (E.S.) is a cleaning and home repair company that encompasses both my livelihood and my art practice. I intend to call attention to ways in which mundane experiences, as well as art experiences, are ordered. E.S. deals with questions of perception and how we construct personal space. The work is a collaboration between the client and me as the service provider. The client chooses the general site and project to be performed. I use the client’s outline of the project as a jumping off point to respond to my experience of working in the site. On a typical project I collect the dirt found while working in a client’s space. Using the light and shadows specific to the architecture and objects in the space, I articulate the boundaries of the dirt. Sweeping the dirt into the shadows has the effect of both illuminating the dirt and the shadows, calling attention to these things that often go unnoticed or are undesirable. I use photography and video as means to capture my perceptions of and interventions in the client’s space during the work process. When the documentation is complete I remove the installation to finish the job. I follow up by meeting with the client presenting them with a “Project Report” which details my observations and interaction with the client’s space. The goal of each project is not only to complete a job well done, but also to provide new perspectives on both the client’s space and our relationship as client and service provider.