I’ve been experimenting with the 6ix Souls Drowning splash video in he last week or two. I’ve shortened the original footage considerably, and will now present a short, loud splash on the water screen.
I now (thankfully) have what is known as ‘The Black Space’ to use for my degree show. It’s a totally black installation space, and is (alongside the rather obviously white ‘White Space’) the main reason why I wanted to attend University Campus Suffolk; that, and living nearby …
Showing the water screen in the Black Space gives me the opportunity to create apprehension, anxiety… dread even. Subtly, of course. My film will be made up of 4 very short bursts of bright video (drowning//fading/crashing/burning) interspersed with irregular periods of complete darkness.
I have 8 static artworks to accompany the films, which are vital to the whole. 4 paintings that represent the last few seconds of 4 people. 4 shelves/assemblages that represent their lives and aftermath of their deaths.
It has been suggested to me that I could display some of this static artwork in the Black Space itself (rather than the two not perfect wall spaces outside the entrance, where I probably will). One reason for not putting them in there would be that they might be impossible to see. Now I’m a great believer in being conceptual, and if it works I’ll certainly go for it; but only if it works …
The other reason for not putting them in there is that I had always planned the piece to include static artworks representing memorials, to view before the spectator enters the darkness to see what lies within. It’s a narrative. Strip that back and the narrative is diminished. I must be careful about that. Picasso was right about standing your ground on issues of creative decision-making.
I hope that people will see that the result works – and if they don’t … ah well … that’s what being an artist is all about. I don’t particularly like or ‘get’ a lot of art by others in the rather artificially created ‘art world’ – and I accept that people won’t always ‘get’ what I do. I’ll still do it though. They keep doing theirs after all … and rightly so. Art is for all – not just for a few who tell us what to like. Those ‘thought police’ are not for me.
If you apply it to music – it’s akin to someone not liking the same music as you. Nothing to be devastated by – you’re just different. I wouldn’t tell a musician to play their music ‘more like wot I like’ …
