For ]BracketTHIS[ 3, Mercy have commissioned Laurence to undertake a large scale project that will take place across the city. The project began with placing advertisements underneath car windscreen wipers. These detailed an offer to ‘paint’ the car free of charge. The cars Laurence favored were examples of the kind of lived in and ageing machines that the owners, whilst unconcerned about its appearance, had developed a certain affection towards. It was important to her that the owners were not from the art crowd. Following the responses to her adverts, Laurence began a series of discussions with the owners, during which she developed ideas for the paintings that would cover each car. It was important that the project was a collaborative effort, and that the initial ideas came from the owners. They suggested an interest, a desire, or an individual fantasy, from which it would be possible for Laurence to ascertain something of her ‘clients’ self- projection - to select a signifier for their lifestyles. A car is a very specific place, where you can travel away from home, but still feel at home. We personalise our cars and treat them as a form of cocoon, a space where we can easily daydream as we pass through the public realm. The paintings will convey this personal landscape, this ‘eden place’, in which the owners will travel as the cars travel through the viewers eyes.

The desire to paint the cars stems from an interest in producing a project that will exist outside of the confinement of the gallery space. The work will continue to be exhibited around the region (or beyond) for an indefinite period of time, as the owners go about their daily routines. A large and incidental audience, mostly unfamiliar with contemporary art, will catch unexpected views of the work and be intrigued by its striking form of communication.