The Psychosomatics of

‘I want to send a postcard’

Postcard Project

1. Psychosomatic map of ‘I want to send a postcard’

stomach-grief-weight / burning-warm-throat / prickly-tense-throat / pressing-airway-cold-openness

2. Considering how to create a ‘wearable’ map of those sensations, folded out from a 105mm x 148mm postcard

(v floppy initial version)

Rough version (against body)

Compared with below – bulging ‘weight’, bound thread chest,  spiky throat section, tube-based airway sections

 

Materials: stretch/tights, wound thread, scored plastic spikes, stretched thin plastic, melted plastic tubes

(References: Sarah Lucas, Emily Botelho, Molly Kent)

One postcard a texture display (left) One postcard wearable (right)

considering colour – material/time restrictions meant it was easier to explore on paper

Application of colour – felt ‘inaccurate’ to the colours I associate with those sensations, and time constraints meant I just painted over in black and white so the textures and shapes could be the key focus

(above: top images = front of wearable postcard and reverse with instructions for wearing, lower images = texture explorations of the sensations depicted in my wearable postcard)

Sadly the wearability of my postcard is a little limited and had to be attached to my face with medical tape (felt some NG/breathing tube associations). If it was more wearable it would also be *a lot* more easy to take photos of.

It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, definitely on the experimental end of the polished work spectrum.

With more time: would like to explore colour, and glitch type effects around ‘throat’ area, would like to add more physical weight, maybe even explore temperature, how the different ‘areas’  and textures interact with each other, how better for  my postcard to be ‘wearable’

Sep 26, 2020