If These Walls Could Speak Part 2

I am not certain about the history of the invention of walls, but I think it safe to assume that walls have proven to a permanent and effective deterrent, a functional structural form that is perhaps a psychological extension of its creators’ long-lasting yearning for loneliness. Take for instance the walls of a lavatory; the isolation and purported privacy they inspire are as welcome as blindness or a blockage of that which is unknown, untrusted and therefore threatening to personal ideas of intimacy. The wall’s existence becomes an extension of inner walls of a mind, by blocking the eye; walls can therefore place a premium on inter-personal relations.

Often than not, the widening gulf between neighbors, family members and individuals who find themselves on opposite sides of an arbitrary border in the form of walls of an enclosure is directly linked to the construction of walls and their psychological impact on others. A form of ‘Othering’ is inferred by the mere existence of the wall, even though in an ontological sense the wall itself is the truer ‘other’. Over and above the vulgar thoughts and caricatures penned on walls, here might exist monologues that can only be told to the deafness of walls, a mute recorder that will preserve the identity of innumerable secrets. 
 

Would it not be fair to grant walls their tongues that would be deciphered in the language of thought in solitude? Would not a telepathic conversation with caked buttocks and soiled fingertips of previous lavatory occupants be best told in this sordid verbatim brewed from a privy self-regurgitation of excreta and piss?

The images posted below, peeling paint and scratch-marks, portray a voyeuristic conversation with lavatory walls, and as opposed to the common blasphemy and usual ablution-scribbles smeared on public urinals, I focused on what can be called “ the aging of the wall” and its stories told through decay. Similarly, the premise was the same with images captured from rusted zinc surfaces, and this time around the investigation is focused on the depletion of a painted surface, listening to volumes of whispers, tears and confession that this wall has endured.