While wallpaper has a history almost as long as architecture, it is disconnected from it because wallpaper is simply ornamental. Unlike architecture, it serves a meaningless function of decoration. It is excessive, indulgent and even decadent. Wallpaper has been applied as a term to creative efforts that are all surface without substance. It suggests a lack of depth, rigor and integrity. It attempts nothing else but to be beautiful and enhance its surroundings. However, some may say ornament has a function: It symbolically identifies space through decoration, motif and illustration, much like the furniture and objects within the rooms.
Wallpaper and decay have a specific history. Wallpaper is dated, it stood still as the world moved on. It symbolized class, wealth and taste in the past. With its decline in use, it began to decay, along with the houses that display it.
Ruffles & Rot seeks to inject ornamentation with content and meaning, while maintaining wallpaper’s original, decorative purpose.
Artists included are: Cab Broskoski, Ian Burnley, George Christian, Willis Elkins, Griffin Frazen, Phillip Gabriel, Emily Grenader, Mei-Ling Hubbard, Billy Jacobs, Louise Ma, Lansing-Dreiden, Zlatka Paneva, Tim Riccio, Scott Schwartz, Alex Spain-Strombom, Jessica Williams
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