2019
used window envelopes
Waterfall version for Between The Earth And The Sky exhibition.
Inspired by Wordsworth’s “this sky-born waterfall”
Lauterbrunnen Switzerland

2019
toy dog, paper hole punches
36 x 55 x 20 cm

2018
mixed media on acrylic globe
6 cms

2018
mixed media on acrylic globe
6 cms

polypropylene, umbrella, fish wire
2014

polypropylene, umbrella, fish wire
2014

2014
found objects, acrylic paint

2014
found objects, acrylic paint

2013
glass light bulb, wire, beads, glue

2013
glass light bulb, wire, beads, glue

2007 – 2012
used window envelopes, pva glue, 3 extending metal poles
300 x 300 x 300 cm approximately
Installation assembled at The Gallery HAC Harrow Arts Centre London 2013

‘Distance Travelled Time Taken’ is an installation that addresses Ann Kopka’s engagement with the research, process and transformation of discarded everyday ephemera and disposable objects of little or no intrinsic value. Through the concept of ‘making something out of nothing’ Ann seeks to draw attention to the throwaway nature of consumer society and question our perception of its value systems.

‘Distance Travelled, Time Taken’ is made from thousands of used window envelopes collected by Ann, her family and friends in homes, offices and schools. The willingness to save used window envelopes was clearly captivating and rapidly spread from person to person as a network of collectors grew across the country and mountains of window envelopes began to appear on Ann’s doorstep.

The windows were hand cut from the envelopes and glued together by Ann to form chains eventually reaching a mile long. The collectors constantly asked to be kept informed when certain ‘milestones’ had been reached. This spurred on both collectors and Ann. Without this enthusiastic and encouraging support this project would not have been realised.

However Ann had not anticipated the disappointment that would be expressed by some of the collectors once enough envelopes had been received or the disappointment of others who wished that they had made a contribution. Ann resisted the pressure to continue and felt the ‘mile’ to be an appropriate cut off point if the project was to be completed: from conception to completion took about five years.

Dispatched with a lick and opened with a rip, each envelope has travelled on its own unique voyage through the post connecting people together in a web of communication. The handmade links of this installation evoke both the distance travelled and the time taken to realise the work and provide a playful antithesis to the technology of electronic mail.

2007 – 2012
used window envelopes, pva glue, 3 extending metal poles
300 x 300 x 300 cm approximately
Installation assembled at The Gallery HAC Harrow Arts Centre London 2013

2007 – 2012
used window envelopes, pva glue, 3 extending metal poles, LED rotating disco lights, electric fan
300 x 300 x 300 cm approximately
Installation assembled All Saints Church Harrow Weald London 2011

2007 -2012
used window envelopes, pva glue, 3 extending metal poles, LED rotating disco lights, electric fan
300 x 300 x 300 cm approximately
Installation assembled All Saints Church Harrow Weald London 2011

2007 – 2012
Distance Travelled Time Taken Installation
used window envelopes, pva glue, 3 extending metal poles, LED rotating disco lights, electric fan
300 x 300 x 300 cm approximately
Installation assembled All Saints Church Harrow Weald London 2011

2007 – 2012
royal mail post box, used window envelopes (2007)

2007 – 2012
400 yards of used window envelopes, pva glue (2010)

2013
polypropylene, umbrella, fish wire
Site Specific Installation assembled at The Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2013

2013
polypropylene, umbrella, fish wire
Site Specific Installation assembled at The Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2013

2013
Polypropylene, umbrella, fish wire
Site Specific Installation assembled at The Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2013

2012 – 2013
found papers, aluminium wire
160 x 15 x 15 cm
Installed at the Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2013

2012 – 2013
found papers, aluminium wire
Installed at The Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2013

2012
Published in Freedbook. A collection of one page visual art stories
by CollectConnect for the Books For London Network.

tea, teabag paper, PVA glue on canvas squares
58 x 58 cm

teabags, found magazine photographs, cotton thread & net curtain
100 x 100 cm
Installed at The Gallery HAC, Harrow Arts Centre 2012

‘Celebrity Tea: Dunked, Drunk & Dumped’ addresses Ann Kopka’s engagement with the research, process and transformation of discarded everyday ephemera and disposable objects of little or no intrinsic value. Through the concept of ‘making something out of nothing’ Ann seeks to draw attention to the throwaway nature of consumer society and question our perception of its value systems. ‘Celebrity Tea’ is a wall hanging made from teabags, found papers, cotton thread and net curtain.

Each tea bag acts as a repository for a small photograph of a ‘celebrity’ cut from magazines found lying around on tube trains. Famous for something or other over for a limited period of time the ‘celebrity’ represents yet another commodity in our throw away consumer society, precious for a few moments then dumped like a teabag.

The repetition and uniformity of these images lends them an air of anonymity and results in a loss of individual identity. Some of the images you may recognise, some are unclear and some have faded from our view, dissolved into nothing, just as ‘celebrities’ fade quickly from our collective memories.

Ann found the process of stitching to be a contemplative and nostalgic activity, with connotations of femininity, domesticity and home. The fragile teabag papers were prone to splitting and tearing, and the sewing became a constant act of mending and preserving, mirroring the way the plastic masks of celebrity are mended and preserved to hold back time.

Stitched to a net curtain to add stability, the grid like formation of ‘Celebrity Tea’ and the uniformity of the tea bags create a pattern reminiscent of wallpaper or a decorative quilt. The net curtain itself conjures up notions of privacy, concealment and hidden suburban lives as it filters the light and obscures the ‘celebrity’ faces waiting to be dunked, drunk and dumped.

2006
teabags, found magazine photographs, cotton Thread, net curtain, rotary clothes dryer
100 x 100 cm

2006
teabags, wax, acrylic sheets, fishing line, PVA glue
Based on UK rainfall statistics for England & Wales 2005