charlie barlow
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●●●●●●●●■●●●●●● 2018
Installation |
Self Adhesive Labels | Slade School of Art Stairwell, London 
Sticker stationery - typically used for labelling and organisation - is repurposed through an unconscious, painterly process that decoratively reveals hidden architectural details. A playful trail of dots winds its way across floors, up walls and along pipes, leading to a seldom-used staircase with unusually high steps. Circles and squares build through repetitive placement - guided by hand and eye, the pattern grows with an obsessive rhythm, each mark slightly varied. With no prior plan, the process becomes almost automatic. The micro dots evolve organically into a kind of 'digital bacteria', coded with the aesthetic of a bygone era. Style shifts emerge at each landing from bright reds and shimmering metallic silvers to a burst of multicoloured shapes spreading spontaneously. They draw attention to the forgotten: chipped walls, scuffed banisters, and old paint spills. As the dots snake past a library, floor plans reference the stairwell’s historical purpose, once leading to rooms of anatomical and botanical study. The steps themselves become a quiet journey through space and time, shadowed by the presence of limiting labels, rational systems and the ideal of perfect communication. Yet this imperfect visual code resists literal language, remaining cryptic. Contemporary political speed is met with slowness; the meditative process of making parallels with the healing process of Aboriginal sandpainting; after a long duration of work and a limited viewing period, the piece was destroyed. 
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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​Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photographer: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photog: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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​Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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​Photo: Katarzyna Perlak
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​© charlie barlow 2025
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