Thin, white lines meet a dark background. In contrast to the other wallpapers, the wallpaper entitled When Now is Night from 1999 by Martin Boyce has a minimalist character. It consists of a uniform grid of white, diagonal and vertical lines that is superimposed on dark gride-like background. Behind it is yet another level in which interlocking geometric forms create a new spatial dimension.
With his wallpaper design, Boyce refers to the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest from 1959, which was created by graphic designer Saul Bass. In it, we see a mesh of lines against a green background, which initially condenses into a grid and then transforms into a reflective skyscraper façade. Through this combination, Martin Boyce’s wallpaper becomes a symbol of the omnipresence of geometric shapes in the modern world.
Q & A wit Martin Boyce
Why did you choose the medium of wallpaper for your work When Now is Night?
The initial impetus to create a wallpaper came from an exhibition in 1997 titled Wallpaper (CCA, Glasgow), where a number of artists were invited to create a wallpaper. Around this time, I was very interested in the idea of 'the city' as a site of mythology and fantasy as well as an everyday reality. I was attempting to channel the fictions of literature and cinema through my work and if a film soundtrack could direct the atmosphere and mood of a filmic sequence, it occurred to me that the repeats and rhythms of a wallpaper could form some kind of graphic soundtrack. A material and visual presence that could alter the atmosphere of a room.
What is the title of the work about?
I was interested in Night not just being a time but also a location. In my research I came across the epic poem, The City of Dreadful Night by James Thomson, published in 1874. It’s opening lines reads, 'The city is of Night; perchance of Death But certainly of Night…’ So somewhere between this poem and film noir I wrote this title.
Was the wallpaper created in conjunction with other works?
In 1999 I was invited to make a new installation for an exhibition at Fruitmarket gallery in Edinburgh (where I am typing this in the process of installing a new solo exhibition). For that exhibition I produced and exhibited a new version of the original wallpaper alongside a huge spider web constructed from fluorescent light fixtures. This new wallpaper was the work, When Now is Night. The wallpaper was shown on its own in one room and the spider web in an adjoining room. This two-room installation was subsequently shown at the Jerwood Space in London in 2000 and at Art Unlimited in Basel in 2002, where it was shown with the photographic work, Phantom Limb (Sister) and the bed sculpture, Day Bed Frame (You Wake Up Falling) from 2001. The wallpaper has since been shown in many exhibitions including When Now is Night at The Rhode Island School of Design Museum (RISD). There it was shown with a hanging mobile sculpture and a large black room divider.
