I used to have a studio at the Tolbooth and have therefore been part of it's shifting history. Some of the images on the walls were made by me. It made me interested in the marks that others may have left behind recent or past, perhaps inmates of the cells would have left something behind for others to remember their fate. So I went back to the building while it was being redeveloped and took photos of the walls and rooms. As expected I came across recent graffiti, 'DAVEY', 'FREEDOME', but also deep and deliberate scratches on a window ledge and what looked like a drawing of a sail ship scraped into the plaster wall of the upper debtors cell, rigging, sails and all. The photographs themselves displayed a variety of pattern and texture which along with the graffiti I decided to use in my work.
I chose to sandblast the graffiti onto perspex light boxes to give texture and depth. You can feel the deepest cuts and the layers of flaked paint depicted by layers of sandblasting.
The photographic box allows the patterns and scenes to speak for themselves. The exterior is of wall, plaster and paint texture and the interior is of rooms, old fire place, 70s wall paper, a chair, and the spiral staircase that led up from the cells to the court room.
The Tolbooth has a new role but its history remains in the walls.