Jas made five trips to Spain between 1993 and 1999 to gather the raw material for the construction of The Smoking Room - A Memorial to the 20th Century. During those trips he collected 4,471 empty cigarette packs of 227 different brands and types. This Spanish Collection includes, in addition to those packs excavated by Jas himself, donations from Colectivo Stidna (Barcelona), César Campos (Tarragona, Spain), Dolina Garriga Diaz (Barcelona), Editions Phi (Luxembourg), Hedwig Groeneveld (Barcelona), Iris Garland (Vancouver), Jose Carlos Soto (Barcelona), Marylin J. Califf (Memphis, TN), Pep Orti (Barcelona), Pere Sousa (Barcelona) and Tartarugo (Vigo, Spain).
Two basic patterns were designed for the 'tiles' which will cover the walls of The Smoking Room.
Each tile will measure approximately 15 x 15cm (depending on the size of the cigarette pack). Construction of a tile requires two packs. Using the front and back of each pack, the 4 panels will be affixed to 2 ply acid free mat board. A central square made of 2 ply mat board covered with a section of the foil found in the packs will be located in the centre of each tile.
A 'square' is an arrangement of 9 tiles (3 x 3), with a border of smaller tiles made with gold or silver foil. The tiles are separated with a 'grout' made from the ash of the cigarettes actually smoked by Jas. As two packs are required for each tile, each 'square' requires eighteen packs. Only seventeen of the 227 different packs in the Spanish Collection were collected in sufficient numbers to permit the construction of a 'square' based on a single brand. These seventeen packs were scanned, duplicated and arranged using computer software. As many as 9 different studies were made for each Square. This exhibition is a selection of those studies that have been used, or will be used to create The Spanish Squares.
Several of The Spanish Squares have been exhibited in Spain and Canada. Some will be included as part of the design of The Smoking Room, while others are already in the hands of private collectors. They are an ironic commentary on society's careless littering and material waste, both indicative of the ways in which we use the goods of the earth: all that is left after we consume tobacco and paper is smoke, ash, acrid odour, tossed containers, carcinomas, and at least in this case, works of art.
Enjoy your visit, and as always, your comments are most welcome.
