Mon Jan 07, 2013
To be able to use the Mobius space for my video projection art, I needed white walls. The black walls could be used if I were to project "over" a band, or other performance. But to showcase the projections clearly, I wanted white walls. So I had to decide...do I paint? or paper. A classic home improvement project!
Anyway, to paint would have shaved off several days of the time I had to show, so I decided to paper. The cost benefit was not that much different, as it turns out. I used 5' wide "banner paper" and installed one side with gaffe tape, and the overlapping side with double sticky carpet tape. The trick, as it turns out was to make sure to "smooth" the paper out BEFORE sticking. This is obvious. But it's not obvious "how" to do it.
I'm making note of this, because I searched far and wide online to find out how to create large scale paper screens on walls, and could only find how to make small screens.
So I'll continue.
Supplies: 3.5 rolls of white gaffe tape (professional gaffe tape, not the cheap kind in the hardware stores). You can get it at stage hand stores, like the Backstage Store in Boston. 2 x 55 yard rolls of 5' banner paper. white upholstery tacks (not sure how many...maybe 50?). I investigated several types of paper, and decided on the banner paper, because it was widely available, affordable, and came in different sizes (in case I could get away with not using the whole 2 rolls). I also wanted to experiment with using the banner paper on the windows and "rear projecting" onto the paper, so that people outside the gallery could see the projections on the paper. As it turned out, because the banner paper worked so well, there was no reason to project onto the windows. Because people on the street could see the projections on the far walls. So I took the window paper down. For future refernece, if you do not have the luxury of projecting onto far walls, you might like to use tracing paper, which gives an eerie effect and allows cheaper projectors to be used...less crips projections aren't as neceesary to get through the thicker banner paper.
Anyway, on to the installation of the banner paper to make the walls into a huge screen.
The paper was applied in "columns"...from top to bottom of the wall, with each "column" being right next to each other, overlapping a couple of inches. On the first column, BOTH sides of the paper were gaffe taped to the wall. On subsequent papers, only nne side of the paper columns was gaffe taped to the wall. The the other side was overlapped onto the first column and carpet taped to the first column. More detailed instructions follow.
Step 1, unroll the paper on the part of the wall you want papered. We used a large step ladder and left the roll of paper on the floor, and pulled the edge of the paper up as one of us walked up the ladder. This unrolled the paper from the floor on up. If you're doing this, make sure to LEAVE THE ROLL ON THE FLOOR while you get things ready to "stick". The weight of the roll and the tension that the roll places helps keep the paper flat and smooth. In other words, DO NOT CUT the paper, til it's stuck pretty firmly to the wall most of the way down the wall.
Step 2, Once the paper is rolled out along the wall (top to bottom), tape the top using small pieces of tape to tape the paper in place. At this point ONLY USE SMALL PIECES OF TAPE...like 1 inch pieces, because you'll move the paper around a little til you get it lined up with the corner, or the other pieces of paper. Once you are happy that the paper is lined up, THEN tape the entire top of the paper, really good...like maybe two rows of tape. If this is your first "column" of paper, then gaffe BOTH sides nice and firm, two rows of gaffe tape. If it's the next column, then BEFORE pulling up the column from the roll, make sure to put carpet tape onto the nearest side of the previously taped column. But DO NOT PULL OFF THE SECOND SIDE of the tape...or else you'll end up with everything stuck to you, and ruining the second column.
Step 3, install the carpet tape on the nearest side of the first column. Put it ON the gaffe tape, if you feel like you want to preserve the paper after the installation. I hadn't fully decided if it mattered, really, where the carpet tape went, but I felt like it was "more secure" to have it on the paper, rather than on the gaffe tape.
Step 4, roll out the second column, tape it lightly and line it up with the first column MAKING SURE that the paper fully covers the carpet tape BEFORE fully taping down the second column
Step 5, continue til all the walls are covered.
Step 6, hammer in upholstery tacks at the top of each column...maybe one every 1.5 feet
Step 7...enjoy!
