“Lodged in among American urban legends and folklore, there is a personal family story about my father’s Aunt and Uncle driving across the country from Missouri to California in a two-week long semi-annual adventure. Before interstates deserted the thriving Route 66 roadside novelty stop offs and before Route 66 carved its way across the country, there was nothing more than handwritten guides, suggestions from isolated farmers, compasses and the memories of previous successful journeys to guide travellers. One such story is the story of the barn and the tree; the brightly coloured red barn and it’s companion the enormous walnut tree. Here, all involved highly recommended a turn to the left for sure success as a turn to the right would put you on another route altogether. One summer, the owner of the farm, friendly as he was, repainted his barn a different colour and chopped down the picturesque walnut tree (as it was suffering from blight). And without his knowing, caused great confusion to passing motorists, which led to many losing their way.
Coming from a graphic communications background, I have always been interested in the way in which information is presented to us, in terms of all things graphical. Though we are constantly inundated with such information, often what makes a building a referential icon is its signage. Without the comfort of text and imagery, we are left wanting. We are left unbalanced. The removal of the sign takes with it the workforce and its identity and leaves us with a hull; a structure without a particular location, an eerie testament of something that was.
I am a Design Lecturer at the Waikato Institute of Technology. A print-trained graphic designer from a small Midwestern American town [hole on strap of Bible belt] I now reside in Hamilton, New Zealand, after extensive travel stateside and several years spent in Antwerp, Belgium. Currently I am interested in the similarities between small town USA and small town NZ, especially in terms of corporate giants settling in amidst the diaries and the emergence of mega-store strip-malls. Additionally, I am exploring more formal ways of doing research in relation to my own arts-design practice (including writing, investigation and experimentation) and continually mixing up the media I have at my disposal; which is generally referred to as making stuff.” Andrea Wilkinson, 2005