This year I would like to research how I can work around current restrictions, having limited access to studios and storage. Such restrictions may mean I work in smaller parts. These smaller parts will then come together on the day of the exhibition to converse with the space. I will simultaneously therefore research the work of artists who have done, or are doing, similarly. In doing so, I aim to broadly comment on social distancing and how, although we are all physically detached from one another, still keeping in touch and showing support online via various networking systems/softwares. An important aspect of my research will be observing the interactions between people on the streets and in shops, how they avoid one another or stare at people in angst of a breach of restrictions. Through my work, I intend to display my found neglected objects in a mimicry of such actions, anthropomorphising them in a way to suggest how we interact in space and the feelings of uncertainty, anxiety or even paranoia which come with it. Additionally, through my primary research I intend to create seemingly ephemeral arrangements out of contrasting industrial and household objects to further infer feelings of insecurity. In effect, I will explore how to disrupt the space in a way which immediately transfers such feelings on to the viewer.
Month: September 2020
I went to Sam Burns (scrap yard) to gather some inspiration for my work this Semester. Walking through the site I noticed gates and griddles, implements and objects used to constrain and divide. I couldn’t help but think of the current regulations imposed on the public by the government, stressing for isolation and separation.
Certainly, I find the idea of SEPARATION really interesting- particularly how we separate ourselves and divide space and the concurrent mental affects of such actions.
The theme of containment of space and of people’s actions with no effect/success I also find interesting. It is both humorous and frustrating. Despite best efforts (although this is certainly questionable) of the government at the moment, certain groups in society are disregarding regulations and progress seems to be back-tracking, much to the despair of those diligently following them.
THE ATTEMPT AT CONTAINMENT WITH NO SUCCESS could also therefore be something I look at this semester…
My work previously has seen found objects manipulated in a way which responds to the space in which it is placed. They have imposed the space, encouraging the viewer to walk around (or through) them and engage whilst simultaneously conveying feelings of awkwardness, uncertainty or unsettlement. In so doing, I have aimed to reflect the nature of both the internal and external spaces we occupy, ranging from the anxieties towards the current climate crisis and our deteriorating environment to uncertainties about ourselves and our relationships. As a result, the everyday, neglected objects take on an anthropomorphic presence, becoming installations which actively, perhaps even intellectually, converse with the viewer. Such themes are those I wish to continue pursuing in my practice.
