yearning to breathe...
Saturday 16 June 2012
Thursday 31 May 2012
PCS evaluation
It’s strange writing this evaluation before installing
my work, it means this is more of an evaluation of the journey and process I’ve
been through than the final outcome. I
like that.
I think the final evaluation of my sculpture/installation
should be in the response of those who view it.
I can look at my final piece and evaluate how well I met my aims or how
it feels in my opinion; but what’s important for me is whether it communicates
to, provokes or gives pleasure to others.
What’s been most interesting about this process has
been how my own psychology and physical limitations have interfered in my work,
determining which direction I took. I
started out full of ideas, energy and with a determination to capture a sense
of freedom. I thought my main focus
would be on producing a film when in fact the film became much less important
than the space and the sculpture itself.
Partly, this relegation of the film was through practical roadblocks
like the malfunction of my Super 8 camera; partly, it was my health ruling out
the travelling and complications of pursuing some of my other film ideas.
These are all things I was able to document in my
online blog about the journey as it was happening. For me, an online blog made sense; my artwork
is informed and shaped by my thinking and experiences, writing is how I explore
these; through writing (and reading) my work takes shape and ideas become
concrete. I completed 20 entries since
21st March 2012, a mixture of ideas, ruminations, video experiments,
interviews, plans and photographs. It has been fascinating reading back through
my own words; it has triggered little realisations and thoughts about my work.
One of those realisations comes from the very start of
my blog when I wrote a piece based on my original statement of intent called
‘what’s it about?’ In it I said “I will
be exploring these issues in relation to myself, my body, and my
surroundings. I will think about
questions of sexism, the bonds of expectation and what a woman ‘should’ be or
‘should’ do.” This was more prophetic than I realised at the time, what
started as a somewhat abstract idea became painfully real to me; this work has
become all about me, my body and my relationship to physical surroundings – how
I navigate the stormy waters of degenerating health and the accompanying
depression, how I can make my ideas reality within my limitations and my anger
at having to do so. I don’t know if it
makes my work stronger or weaker, it just is what it is; attempting to ignore
my physical limitations and depression in my work would be like trying to
ignore the elephant sitting on my chest.
I attended many exhibitions and considered many
artists in the course of this work but I think that three come through strongly
in my final piece. Firstly, Josiah
McElheny’s exhibition at the Whitechapel was clearly what solidified and gave
direction to my desire to project onto something more than a flat white wall. It was his wood frames, constructed at angles
and combining with mirrors which endlessly refracted the films being projected
which inspired me to create my ‘moveable projection screen sculpture’. This was at a point when I did not know the
space I would be in and wanted something that could fit in any space in many
different configurations.
Secondly Bill Violas ‘Five Angels’ can be seen in my
fascination for underwater filming and editing.
I went through in my blog why
my fascination with water and desire to use it in this piece. As I’m writing this now I have yet to edit
the raw footage I captured of me underwater in my bath. I’m slightly nervous as to how it turns out
because I have no fall back plan or at least only the shadow of a fall back
plan.
Finally I have to mention Tracey Emin in relation to
my patchwork carpet; when I came up with the idea I was very aware the image
that flashed into my mind was of Emin’s needlework blankets. When I saw her retrospective at the Hayward
Gallery I really didn’t enjoy her collection of blankets, it wasn’t until I had
done further research into the feminism/craft/art relationship that I started
to appreciate them. I wanted my carpet
fragments to be roughly sewn together with large slashes of violent red,
disrupting the ‘comforting’ nature of carpet; I was aware of these red slashes
hinting at self-harm, though I think that would be a reference only those who
had experienced self-harm might see.
At one point early on I wrote “my worst nightmare is being trapped in one of those little corner
spaces squeezed into the limited space that we have here in the college for our
exhibition”, as it happened I ended up wanting
to be squeezed into a space. I
wanted those viewing my work to experience a sense of the physical limitation I
feel all the time. I did worry somewhat
that instead of an expansive and uplifting experience, I would be subjecting
people to something that was not either visually interesting or obviously
meaningful. I hope that when I install
my work I will resolve that worry.
I should mention the aspect of my installation that I
am least certain will technically work on installation day. I plan to use an old camcorder hooked up to
an old TV monitor. The camera will
either be facing the projection or facing outwards, towards the viewer. What is captured will be transmitted to my TV
on a plinth outside the space. I’m
determined to make this work somehow as I love the idea of ‘me, watching you,
watching me’ of the viewer becoming a part of the work. The other option is the TV monitor outside
will show what those who manage to get into the space will be seeing, the
projection. I’m aware that not everyone
will be able to crouch down and enter the space to watch the projection, in a
sense that’s part of my point, it’s about disability, ability, exclusion and
inclusion.
I had to resolve and overcome countless difficulties
with my materials and process throughout my work; from realising that I was not
physically capable of cutting the wood I needed (my solution was to buy my wood
pre-cut) to my non-functioning Super 8 camera (necessitating a change in
direction). I have had and rejected many
ideas, from my lip hair fascination to my wedding dress diversion. I have had the absolute highs of being
accepted on the BA Sculpture course at Camberwell to the absolute lows of not
knowing how I could possibly be on that course given my health. It has been a difficult journey but one I am
proud of even if everything falls apart on installation day; I know that even
if it does I am capable of solving whatever is thrown at me.
Thank you and
goodnight.
Saturday 26 May 2012
sketching the space
I did an extremely rough sketch of how my piece fits into the space, its for logistical purposes rather than aesthetics!
I have emailed to all the technicians along with my plinth & tech requirements... in the closing straits now!
I have emailed to all the technicians along with my plinth & tech requirements... in the closing straits now!
Thursday 24 May 2012
Why a patchwork carpet??
I’ve been reading a lot about feminism
and art and have been interested in how the feminist movement brought to light
the unseen art of so many women, art that was classified as less than ‘real’
fine art and consigned to a dustbin marked ‘craft’.
Women’s artistic production has been
historically undervalued and devalued, incredibly intricate work filled with
symbolism and meaning would never reach ‘gallery’ status. Quilting and needlework more generally was
one of these areas consigned to ‘less than’ status.
I wanted to put something in the space
that made it clear people were invited to bend down and enter the space under
the stairs – I didn’t want to have to put a sign up asking people to come in
(far too welcoming) or have to hang about my work all night asking people to go
in!
It struck me that a carpet would be
inviting, but I also wanted to follow through with the dis-jointed, broken up
theme which has run throughout the piece.
That’s when I remembered what I’ve been reading about feminism, art,
needlework, quilting and thought why not use that and make a patchwork
carpet. This would be sufficiently
broken up and visually disturbing to fit with my theme, but also invite people
into the space.
Sourcing the carpet was tricky given
my health, I placed an advert on Freecycle and then trekked to the two people
who got back to me – one was a real find, lots of purple and lilac carpet (I
was worried all I’d get was beige), the other I’m not sure I’ll use as its nasty
browns and has seen better days. I also
went to my local carpet shop and was offered a stack of carpet samples to take
away; these were great colours and quality.
Here’s my Freecycle advert…
Saturday 19 May 2012
Physical limitation leads to new direction
When I started this process I was focused on the
positive feelings of freedom; uplifting feel-good stuff. I wanted my work to reflect that feeling; I
wanted it to feel like taking a breath by the sea on a beautiful windswept day,
like bursting out of the water, like all constraints have lifted. This was my direction, where my head was
at.
As the months have gone on my feelings have become
much darker, much more focused on the restrained, the confined, the tortured
and the pained. This is in direct relation
to my physical health, I’ve being going through a real change in how my
Sarcoidosis affects me; it used to be I’d have one flare up a year, it would be
hell for a couple of months but then I’d be just fine for months before another
flare up. Living with the flare ups was made so much easier by the knowledge
that there would be an end, that I would feel better. Since December 2011 my illness has taken a
turn for the worse in that I was getting constant low level symptoms with no
let up. Steroids helped but left me open
to constant infections and massive weight gain, so in March I started to reduce
the steroids to the most minimum level and started taking a new drug -
Hydroxychloroquine.
Since March I have been feeling progressively worse
and worse, the physical pain and bone crunching fatigue were never ending, I
couldn’t see an end point and started to become severely depressed. Trying to make my wooden screens led to
floods of tears as my joints could not stand up to repetitive sawing; the
fatigue was so bad that considering the mountain of work I had ahead of me was
daunting; I had to scrap lots of my filming ideas because they involved too
much travelling and movement, something that would knock me out for days
afterwards - alongside all of this I am trying to maintain my job.
My depression got so bad that every time someone
would make the innocent inquiry ‘how are you? I would burst in to tears. I couldn’t conceive how on earth I would be
able to do a Fine Art sculpture course while feeling so awful and so physically
incapable.
At a
certain point I thought to myself it’s crazy to try and continue on this
project as if nothing was happening, sticking to my plan. I decided that I wanted the viewer to
experience some of the physical restriction I faced; I wanted them not to feel
uplifted but uncomfortable and uneasy. I was going to use my misery and
depression rather than fight against it!
That’s how I came up with the idea of using the space under the stairs;
it is accessible for some though most will have to physically contort slightly
to go inside. Others may not be able to
access it at all, for them there will be a monitor on a plinth showing the
projection.
I know it’s a big change in direction but I think
it’s still relevant to the theme. For
me, freedom right now would be being healthy, being physically capable of doing
everything I wanted to do - in reality I am constrained and limited by my
physical health yet I still yearn to breathe free.
These are some of my darker sketchbook doodles...
Saturday 5 May 2012
Deciding against 'The Dress'
I’ve thought long and hard about whether or not to
use the wedding dress in my final piece.
Visually, I love the effect produced by projecting onto the dress but I
can’t think of a way of using the dress in this piece that makes sense.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
1st May... panic sets in
Its been a while since I last posted, I have two blog entries in progress, one about the Gillian Wearing exhibition, the other ideas on finishes for my wood structure.
Ive been unwell, bogged down with sarcoid fatigue and pain, I managed yesterday to spend some time in the workshop making some rough cuts for my screens, it was hard on me health wise and left me a bit panicked about what I could or could not achieve in the time left. I have to make 16 boxes, even if I go to the workshop on both Mondays and Wednesdays between now and the end of May I think I'd be hard pressed to get it done.
Ive taken the wood I cut home so I can see whats possible; if I were to cut all the wood at college - could I construct it at home?
I was part of a study the other day where we were looking at Engles 'The Family, Private Property & The State', it got me thinking on my wedding dress and the history of women as property expressed through the continued tradition of bride prices or dowry's - Ive decided this is something I should look into more, will keep you updatedE
Lots of ideas, so little time.
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