Something that kept sticking in my mind was nipples, it’s such a peculiar, comical word but is the correct word but when we think of the word nipple; does a female or male spring to mind? I’ve began casting my nipples in pink wax which is a direct reference to their colour however what I’m curious to question is whether they could be considered or read as a female or male nipple? I am not making any claim that there is gender binarism or whether the female or male subject is a coherent being however with this particular work I find myself using my body but elements of the body that both female and male possess such as nipples, a belly button and urine. However as I am privately documenting myself urinating across a sheet of canvas whilst also introducing a live performance where I perform the action of urinating to a live audience, gender and the female body will of course become an instant reference point. With the urine work there is a dialogue conversing between the audience and body and the camera and body.
Researching Vito Acconci I found his series of works exploring the self and his body through a series of performances; particularly drawing an interest to the relationship of the private to the public. Acconci explored the archival capabilities of photography ‘camera as grasp, photo as storage’ (Vito Acconci) and the possibilities of physically seizing an image. I have always found that the body or reference to the body has appeared in my previous work but working (alone and privately) in this space over the last few weeks has led me to explore my own body and the possibilities of the body as a material; I find myself beginning to contemplate my own body as a gendered site.
Over the last week I have found myself casting multiples of wax nipples, cast after cast I created a production line of these objects but how many is required or even necessary? What’s interesting is how the nipple appears as a playful object yet references taboo. There is this repetition that appear with this work where I find myself repeating a process, an action; taking a direct casting off my nipple I find myself using my body as reference and not as the material, the material is the wax. They appear as sweets, the colour and size, also something you wish to play with, touch, possibly suck on. I envision a large pile of these nipples where there is an evident physical process visible due to the amount that will occupy part of a space. Will you loose the significance of the casting or the fact that is a casting of a nipple? Does this matter? Does the work then read as playful or awkward or both?
