I had a conversation with an artist about a week ago, who said that what I've been referring to as ‘dresses' aren't actually dresses at all, but are more accurately read as négligés. I spent quite a while trying to think of a way of create a dress which didn't have an obvious historical grounding, as I didn't want to limit the work to something in the past. The reason I went with this particular style is because I saw it as something that could have been worn in the past, but also as something that would be worn today. I chose thin, translucent fabric, as I saw this as a way of suggesting fragility; the lace had references to domestic environments, but also clothing. However, as was pointed out, other the obvious reading, (which had kind of skirted across my thoughts, but not really settled into my conscious), was that flimsy fabric, revealing a body (which in this case isn't actually there) has quite apparent sexual undertones. This wasn't what I was aiming for, and obviously brings into play a whole host of other issues (one of which, interestingly enough, is that négligé is the part participle of the French verb négliger, to neglect. The neglected bit I like, but not in direct association with a female body, which could be used to go down an abuse avenue).
So I'm putting the ‘dresses' on hold for a bit, while I explore some other ideas I've been tossing about. Firstly is the idea of casting some domestic objects out of unsympathetic or materials which seem slightly wrong, so that the cosiness, safety and security associated with home is shifted. I'm thinking along the lines of concrete or porcelain. I've also been preparing a range of possible supports for printing photographs of the library onto – brown paper bags, plastic carrier bags, reclaimed letters and bills. The first time I tried this yesterday was a bit of a disaster, as they all pretty much fell apart as soon as they hit the developer, so I've invested in some waterproof PVA and a subbing and hardening solution.
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(29th April continued…)
I'm making a concerted effort not to effectively realise my ideas in my head, rather than allowing the making process to also inform the concept and content. I can easily talk my way out of making things, by seeing the idea in my mind, and then working it out on paper. This links back to the problems regarding really well-crafted work which is effectively concept-less, or not making anything at all, because it's been thought about so much. I want to make casts of objects because I like the idea of re-making something pre-existing but having it ‘shift' slightly ( I envision this idea like a something I've seen on a film, when an image is overlaid by a repeat of itself, but it's not quite aligned). The problem is that I've never cast an object before, I don't really understand the processes, and it's getting rather frustrating trying to find out the best way of making a mould so it can do what I want it to.
This ‘it's been a bit of while since my last post', is getting to feel a little habitual now. This isn't done intentionally exactly, but I do feel that I ought to be writing something interesting if I'm going to write a post, rather than rambling on pointlessly. Also (as usual) I've been rather busy of late, so haven't had so much thinking time.
I spent a couple of weeks working on (for want of a better phrase) a community art project. I normally cringe at the idea of these, picturing murals in primary colours, but the concept behind this was a bit more interesting, hence my getting involved. I was working on what was effectively a small part of a much larger site-specific theatre project. Basically, myself and several other visual artists and theatre practitioners were working in a couple of areas of Tyneside, speaking to residents about their memories of these areas. These collected stories were then used as concepts for the artists to make memory boxes or ‘shrines', which were then displayed in a local hall. These shrines will then be used as part of the outdoor theatre performance event in the summer.
The theatre company work across the UK and parts of Europe on projects like this which involve using local communities and their stories and memories to form part of the event. Local shops, markets, car boot sales and charity shops provide the majority of the materials for making the shrines, as a way of giving back to the community from where the visuals come from.
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(16th April continued)
I really liked the concepts behind the project, the use of stories and memories, plus the collection and use of second-hand materials, as these are all things I'm regularly using in my own work. However, it was a pretty intense project, because after the initial research time of talking to people and collecting stories, there were only three days allowed to make three shrines. It was also a little tricky, because although I (and several other artists) were employed partly as being ‘local', I'm not originally from the North East, so not particularly local. So, you've got that weird thing of making contact with community members so speak to them about their memories, but feeling like you're parachuting in, taking their stories to make ‘art', then swooping out again. There were a few groups of people who were really up for helping with the project, particularly members of the local history society. The theatre company too, have run loads of projects like this, and they seem to make some really interesting performances, so perhaps this occasional uncomfortable feeling came from me not being used to working like this.
The major problem I really had was the level of pay. There are a couple of other blogs on a-n discussing this issue, and it's not what I set up this blog for, but nevertheless, £80 a day is pretty crap however you look at it, especially given the immense range of skills, both artistic and otherwise, required for the job. The reason I got involved despite this, is that I could see ways in which the research from this project could lead into my own work, otherwise I would have avoided it.
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(16th April continued)
Just before the project described above, I managed to negotiate entry into the empty library building I mentioned in my previous post. I spent a weekend hanging my dresses and photographing them and the rest of the interior with my Brownie and borrowed Lubitel, with the help of a friend. I'm pretty pleased with the results (see images attached to post) and also very glad that I gave up on using a digital camera in the first half hour of shooting. I've gotten so used to using a digital camera to document my work, taking loads of shots with varying exposures to get documentation right and checking them immediately, that it felt incredibly liberating not to have to do this. The two cameras I've got are much less accurate – the Brownie leaks quite a bit of light and you've got to work out the exposures (of anything from 2 seconds to five minutes) by referring to chart in the manual I downloaded. The Lubitel is more accurate, but a bit of guesswork is required to get the shot lined up as the viewfinder is through the second lens and it's completely manual, so I've been teaching myself all about handheld light meters and reflective and incident readings.
But not knowing exactly what the shots were going to be like was great. They feel rougher, less precise and I like it where the exposures are out a bit or the shot isn't lined up that well. Everything feels less clinical, less ‘perfect' and I like that. I'm intending to print some of these photographs onto old paper bags, old carrier bags and patterns of the dresses, cut out of pattern paper. The idea is that the photograph becomes an object, and that the material qualities of the support of conceptually relevant to the photographs and the dresses themselves. That's why I'm interested in using quite low value objects, cheap everyday stuff, which has perhaps had another use…. I want to be able to explain or ‘justify' this further, but I'm aware that this could easily become an overly intellectual exercise, and that some of these answers will come about by my making / using the objects and materials.
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