Experience, Create, Review, Repeat

An idea that I’ve had floating around in my thoughts for a while makes use of a further element of abusive masculine language about women.

It stems from the Dapper Laughs language and the language aspects in a lot of Sarah Lucas’s work.

The good old online slang dictionary has an entire page dedicated to slang terms for vulva.  One specific term caught my attention and seems to have stuck in my brain:  Beef Curtains.

Notebook page of initial idea

Project details:

create a large sculptural piece of work

theatrical set of curtains made of sliced beef

luxuriously draped

viewers must walk through the curtains as though an entry way into my degree show

Draped Curtains, available at:

https://www.lnt.com/photos/product/giant/100840S252/panels-drapes-curtains/tyler-crushed-voile-sheer-panel.jpg

For a while I’ve needed to test different methods of preserving the sliced beef so that I can achieve two things:

– A fabric-like material that can be hung and draped like curtains

– A preserving method that keeps the beef from rotting too much while displayed in this way over a period of two weeks of the degree show.

I’m lucky enough to own a meat slicing machine and a vacuum packing machine so have been testing this method of preserving the meat.

I’ve just been buying cheap joints of meat when it’s on offer in the supermarket.

Meat slices in vacuum sealed packaging, frozen and refrigerated to test for preservation quality

Testing stitching methods using sewing machine

Packed and stitched slices left out in open air after freezing and refrigeration to test for preservation

I’m looking forward to seeing how the piece progresses.  I like the idea of stitching it all together and seeing it grow.  I imagine it like some sort of grotesque patchwork.  An interesting mix of feminine and masculine.

Direction might have changed slightly over the past months, perhaps more varied

different media i.e. performance is now a possibility and the idea of bringing in models to use in my imagery instead of focusing solely on myself and my body.  Using a model might allow me to  portray a stronger image of the message I am trying to get out.

multi-dimensional

I feel that I want to mimic the abundance of ideas, concepts and experiences I’ve begun to have of feminism in western society in the work I show for assessment.  One thing that I’ve been so fascinated by is how much material there is for contemplation and use in this area of study.  I’ve begun to notice connections to my subject matter in so many places, every day, and I feel that it’s right for me to try and express that abundance in the exhibition of my work.

Discovered new artists, new materials to work with, new ways of working, new ways of allowing myself to work.

All that feeds into my working process and influences the direction my projects move in.

I know I want to show several pieces but I think that, because of the organic nature of how new ideas for work come to me from so many experiences that happen every day, I will know for sure what to exhibit when the time comes.  At the moment I have several projects evolving and when I reach the point for decision making some will suit the show better than others.  I’m also very aware that the allocated space will play a big role in making those decisions and that hasn’t yet been confirmed.

I don’t feel short of work to choose from so am happy to keep working in the same way I have been and continue with the creative processes I’m exploring.

Moving on from my project in neon The Perfect 10, and influenced by discovering the work of Rebecca Horn, I am excited to be exploring the idea of a performance piece.

Aim:
– demonstrate the restrictions of ideals imposed on women by patriarchal culture (‘if you aren’t this, you aren’t woman)
– create powerful images and explore performance work
– use neon lights as restrictive ‘harnesses’ on my body

Notebook Page
On Friday I go to Cyprus for a week and I’d like to try and explore this concept while out there.  Perhaps try some night photography on the coast.

Does the site of the photos/performance matter??

I’d like to experiment with this.  My feeling is I might be likely to get a more powerful image if the background was just plain black.  But then, Horn developed her performance in wheat fields so I guess I’ll see what comes out in the experiments.

Rebecca Horn is another artist whose work I have come across recently.
She made a number of body sculptures and performance pieces in which she created harnesses that strapped up her body and attached other large forms to her.

I Like:
– The look of the strappings
– The restrictive quality
– In Einhorn, the clear references to opposite genders

Although (as I understand it at this early stage of familiarity with her work) the concepts she is working with are more to do with a person and their connection to their surroundings, there are definite elements of these sculptures and performance pieces that I feel I would like to explore in my own work:

– the binding element of the sculptures
– restricting the body in this way

When I first saw these images, I was instantly reminded of my 10 PRJCT works, demonstrating the dimensions of a ‘perfect 10’ in women’s dress sizes.

This discovery of Rebecca Horn’s sculptural and performance works has sparked an interest in me to work more with these neon strip lights but in a different format.

Why not apply the ‘perfect body dimensions’ element of The Perfect 10 project to a new way of working for me?
 
Why not try performance?

I’ve touched on it slightly in previous ideas, the Allen Jones Table parody, my On Show piece and newer ideas that I’m still experimenting with like I Am Woman.  Perhaps this is my chance to push myself even further and explore new things.  Eventually, I feel like I would like to end up with a photographic image but following the performance idea will be an exciting new venture.