‘Bread and Roses’ has dried out considerably since becoming saturated with rain water some weeks ago. Continuing scrutiny, austerity measures and draconian cuts within the welfare system means that many people – namely, the poorest and most vulnerable – continue to be deprived of the basic necessities of life.
American socialist and feminist, Rose Schneiderman made the statement: ‘the worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.’ It was these words that inspired me to create ‘Bread and Roses.’ Schneiderman was credited with coining the phrase in relation to her concern about worker’s rights and what she believed was their entitlement to something higher than subsistence living. Despite her statement going way back in history, it’s as pertinent today in relation to what’s happening under the current government and is a damning indictment of the way in which a number of UK citizens live their lives, forced in many cases to go without bread, let alone the luxury of roses.
Today I started a new blog here on the a-n website. It’s called ‘Keeping It Moving’ and will document the process of making a short film. I’ll be working with film maker Henrietta Thomas, drawing on her expertise, and hopefully learning some new skills!
The idea for the film is inspired by my collection of vintage music boxes and will focus on the subject of ballet and dance. I will be recording the process in this blog as things unfold – the developing dialogue and creative decision making between Henrietta and myself.
This project is supported by a professional development bursary from a-n The Artist Information Company. I’m very grateful to them for the opportunity.
You can read my first ‘Keeping It Moving’ post here:
https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/keeping-it-moving
My overriding feeling of disappointment and upset about the state I found ‘Bread and Roses’ in days after the Referendum result stayed with me for a while. While intellectually, I was able to accept the dramatic change as an exciting part of the process, emotionally, it was a whole other ball game. Up until this point, I had been really enjoying watching and documenting the subtle, delicate changes to the decaying bread and roses as they unfolded. It was hard to stomach seeing it transformed so suddenly, to a black, treacle-like sludge.
I’ve now got things back into perspective. Since the deluge of rain managed to find its way in, ‘Bread and Roses’ has dried out considerably. Yesterday I photographed and documented the more dried out version. I no longer feel that it’s been irreparably damaged, my immediate response when I saw the assemblage in its saturated, sodden state.
If things happen for a reason, then the sudden, dramatic change served as a pertinent reminder of just how bad things had become. There was a marked increase in racist and xenophobic attacks in the weeks following the decision to leave the EU and, for those whose lives run parallel to what’s been happening to the bread and roses – ie. those citizens being neglected and not cared for – things have continued to get worse. It doesn’t make the news very often, but austerity measures continue to impact on the most marginalised and disadvantaged people in our society and the standard of living for many, including children, low-income families and people with disabilities, continues to spiral downwards. Sanctions imposed upon the lives of some UK citizens are considered to be so draconian that reports by the UN has warned that austerity policies are a breach of international human rights – that’s how bad things are for a section of the UK population.
If every picture tells a story, then these images speak volumes about the impact of an uncaring, neglectful society, from one year to the next.
July 2015
July 2016
This is a postscript really, to my last post here. I’m writing it because it feels important to me to acknowledge how disappointed I’ve been feeling since the end of last week, when I went to photograph ‘ Bread and Roses.’
The rain unusually, had managed to find its way in and I was presented with a very different landscape from the one I’ve been documenting over the past year.
The bread and roses are a sodden mess, swamped in water – sludge and smears and a real sense of ugliness has developed. The rain water had clearly been sitting around for a while and the entire assemblage stank when I lifted the plastic box away. The irony, as I said in my last post, has not escaped me – that this should have happened this week of all weeks. Can it get any closer to reflecting what has been going on in British politics these past few days?
When things turned ugly …
‘Bread and Roses’ consists of an assemblage of slices of bread and a handful of roses, laid out on a wooden platter. It has been left, quite literally, to fend for itself since May of last year when a Tory government was reinstated. I’ve documented the impact of neglect on a regular basis in the months since, mirroring the experiences of many people affected by the Tory government’s draconian austerity measures – no nourishment, no nurturing, no care or sustenance.
The decay up until now has been gradual and in line with the amount of time the bread and roses have been left. This week however, has been exceptional – in all manner of ways. Politically, the UK has undergone the most dramatic upheaval for decades. We’ve seen alarming increases in xenophobic and racist attacks. Today, checking on ‘Bread and Roses’ in order to take a photo, I noticed that rain had managed to make its way into the box that normally shelters it from the elements – the amount of rainfall has been exceptional, too. In keeping with the ugly mood of the country, here is how ‘Bread and Roses’ looked today.
