Tom Fawley — Artist

Lancaster, UK

Work 02 / 03

Bubble Wrap Walls

Year

2025

Medium

Site-responsive installation

Dimensions

Variable — set by the room

Status

Recreatable / adaptable

A studio room with all walls covered floor to ceiling in bubble wrap.

Installation view — all wall surfaces covered, furniture left as found.

Statement

I put bubble wrap on the walls to make them safer.

Reconstruction

  • Cover all wall surfaces from floor to ceiling with bubble wrap.
  • Cover the ceiling where this is practically possible.
  • Sheets should meet edge to edge. Some overlap is acceptable; there should be no gaps.
  • Existing furniture remains in the room. The installation is built around the room as found.
  • Add extra layers wherever a person would be most likely to be struck on the head if a wall collapsed inward.
  • The number and position of the padded areas are not fixed. Determine them afresh for each room.
  • Fix with double-sided tape where it will hold securely. The original installation used staples.
  • Do not extend the protective logic to other objects. Only the walls are being prepared for.

Documentation

Installation-in-progress views, retained as build reference and developmental documentation rather than final installation photographs.

Bubble wrap wall
Bubble wrap fixed across a studio wall
Bubble wrap wall
Wall surface and adjoining covered wall
Bubble wrap wall
Junction between covered surfaces
Bubble wrap wall
Layered wrap used as additional padding
Bubble wrap wall
Corner, floor to ceiling
Bubble wrap wall
Detail — covered wall surface
Bubble wrap wall
Detail — seam between sheets

Viewer interaction

Viewers may gently touch the bubble wrap. They should not intentionally pop the bubbles, because doing so would reduce the protective capacity of the installation and undermine the safety logic the work is performing.

The viewer does not need to be given the full framework. The work can operate through the direct encounter with a room whose walls have been visibly padded with the apparent intention of protection.