Degree Project: Digital Sketchbook

From my exploration of Sweet Tooth Colour, Jane questioned in my 1-1 last week, what would To Bite look like in black and white. I felt tempted to try this the night before I submitted for my group crit 24/03/21 and after my research Bruce Nauman, I also felt intrigued to experiment with slight slow motion. In reflection to Sweet Tooth in colour, I liked them but felt like they weren’t quite right, too much going on. I decided to cut this back and to start again – edit the film differently, trial it in an intense black and white. It immediately had Hollywood cinema old fashioned films, see initial notes below.

Reflection 30/04/21: It’s interesting to see that this was a large turning point for my work – I have really used this film to explore all aspects of it when installing it in situ. It has also up rose many ideas of how it can be perceived by both male and female audience.

Reflection 24/03/21: From my group crit 24/03/21 the black and white felt stronger to my peers, it was mentioned its just as visually bold as my coloured images which I was worried it may not be. It appeared much more effective and felt more like a statement due to the colouration being black and white just like the statement I am tying to make with the art work – sexualisation/consumption/desirability of women in film/by men.

With old fashioned films comes the sexual objectification of female actresses being used for their beauty and their body. Hollywood cinema aimed to build starry women for the gaze of the world – Marylin Monroe. From L5 where I used Monroe as a symbol of women from the 1950s+ that were used for their “to-be-looked-at-ness” (Mulvey, 1973, p 62) in the cinema, the media for the male gaze. The visual of this has surprisingly been continued through to Sweet Tooth B&W with an aggressive image of women being controlled/destroyed/consumed by male control. Monroe and among many women within Hollywood have experienced this, Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz was told to live up to the expected image of a beautifully small young women on screen. “Garland was hassled about her looks for the majority of her career” (Green, 2019) and battled with issues regarding her body size, she was told by the directors “whether or not to eat, how much to eat, what to eat.” (Green, 2019) “She was banned from having a single bite of candy, and she was put on a strict diet to maintain her figure. Her diet consisted of black coffee, chicken soup, and 80 or so cigarettes a day (which was intended to help curb her hunger)” (Green, 2019). Hollywood glamorises young happy women on the screen but wouldn’t never discuss the issues that lead to this. It had scarred her as it’s “the magic of Hollywood style” (Mulvey, 1973, p 59). “The cinema builds the way she is looked at into the spectacle itself” (Mulvey, 1973, p 67).

Mulvey talks about these kind of issues in “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema” where “she is isolated, glamorised, on display, sexualised” (Mulvey, 1973, p 64). This quotation has stuck with me, it’s represented in Sweet Tooth B&W below as the women, a breast, is isolated on display and sexualised. I introduced some slow motion parts – puts you off as you wouldn’t expect parts to be slowed.

Reflection 21/04/21: Currently I am working towards researching the representation of women in pornography, artists like Naomi Uman uses pornography to highlight the sexual objectification they face in Removed – pornography act as the cinema, creating a situation/context to normalise it, making, mostly men, refer to this way of using women.

Reflection 26/05/21: Me and Jane discussed how I, a women, have directed the male to put and bite down on the breast in his mouth, if this was a males instruction/direction, the outcome of the film would be different/sexualising and glamorising the control of the female form, instructed by a male. A female instructing a male to do the act makes the work feels female dominant in the sense of myself having control over the male in the film and essentially the breast. OR does it encourage sexual objectification?

B&W suggests no identity it becomes relatable for all women. See above, in Sweet Tooth Replay, I was interested in capturing this same repetition of an ongoing film, one that would “become an object just by being there, visit it whenever you wanted too” (Art21, 2013) as Bruce Nauman stated in a talk with Art21, but I wanted to change it slightly, to cut the other half of the film in reverse a moment, one that wouldn’t be expected. Does it suggest something different to the beginning of the film? Or does it edit the way the first half is perceived?

I continued with the breasts representing women as “Evidence from behavioural data suggested that female sexual body parts could be better recognised in isolation, whereas male sexual body parts are better recognised within the context of the entire body (Gervais et al., 2012). Bernard et al (2015) also found that the occurrence of sexual objectification results from a focus on the sexual body parts of women” (Zucco, 2019), it goes onto say that “women’s bodies are more likely to be perceived with a localised focus, especially the sexual regions, rather than as entire bodies” (Zucco, 2019) and its with medias such as Hollywood cinema Pornography and now arguably social media, that continues this portrayal of women, meaning we are unable to shake from the stigma. This is what is being explored through the breast perched in between the teeth of the male in black and white, the aggressive destruction of women by the media, the male gaze and the cinema.

Reflection 10/04/21: Dworkin stated “male dominance of the female body is the basic material reality of women’s lives” (Dworkin, 1981, p203) as that though that is all they’re there for, a sexual possession, this is highlighted in Sweet Tooth B&W, the harsh control/clutch of the male upon the female form. – Makes the film feel more intense and disturbing after researching Dworkin’s writings of pornography.

I installed the film, to work with the space the same way I did with Sweet Tooth in colour. As the film is very performative I felt it didn’t need much else, I wanted the focus to be on the action, the breast and the mouth to deepen this grotesque/uncomfortable emotion that follows. I projected Sweet Tooth B&W and it immediately gave off a new feel, more intense and a scary element which I was surprised about. Placements been important within my work and I’ve noticed it especially here. I projected it high up to begin with, see below, to have the feel of being at a cinema gazing up and this felt effective see below. The black seemed darker and the white seemed brighter, showing it for what it is, men consuming women.

Reflection 21/04/21: The term scary/sinister was used in the group crit 24/03/21 and it’s something I have continued to work with. I aim to get a reaction from the viewers, an impact. It’s a very delicate subject which I am passionate about I want it to come across that way.

Cellophane – I aimed to continue this glamorised view of sexualisation and destruction of the female form/representation in Hollywood – the cellophane stood out more and seemed to have a better place with Sweet Tooth B&W projected as the coloured projection felt confusing. I kept it simple with one mirror below the projection to focus on introducing ideas of voyeurism and developed this with angling the camera certain ways to suggests peeping in, watching something you shouldn’t see as Mulvey spotlights within her essay. See film above, it suggested thoughts of watching from a distance, looking without being seen, a grotesque angle. See below, the behind the scenes of the images further below.

Reflection 20/05/21: Cellophane has been massively influential within my installation of my practice form here. It has transformed the space as well as the way the work is seen. It also has evoked ideas of trying to hide something but not doing a very good job – like Hollywood cinema. This also worked very well in relation to Sweet Box projection.

I worked from Bruce Nauman’s Poke in the eye/nose/ear and Richard Serra’s Catching Lead where they include no sound in their films and focus more on action, this benefits the impact of the my film as there’s very little distraction. No dancing around the point of the art, but making a strong statement to watching/think about the work/message.

I captured stills to share a relation to Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Still #2 – she explores the way women are used/dismissed within film representation and Hollywood itself, hence the use of the title, Sweet Tooth Film Still. As researched previously, Untitled Film Still #2 works with the gaze, mirrors, young women and also photography. See images below, I wanted to work with the thoughts of women being an edible, a treat, a dessert, and the cellophane accentuated this. I wanted the aim to be on the mouth, the moving lips that encapsulate the breasts and to evoke emotion whether that’s anger, disgust or frustration to express how we as women feel.

Reflection 26/05/21: I was contacted by A-N to be part of their Degree Show Guide 2021, so I put forward a still from the selection above alongside 3 other images capturing the graduation of my work from them to now! Following the same themes of consumption, it was so exciting!!

Reflection 10/04/21: Also the white icing breast becomes slightly unclear, just like women in Removed, once projected and suggests showing all that is wrong with male dominance over the women in sex/sexual objectification. Feels confrontational to pornography as well as sex obj.

See above, I used the large wrap of cellophane to create a sweet wrapper effect around the breast, highlighting this desirable like feature of the breast further. I wanted it to feel aggressive and almost angry, the screwed up cellophane appears like its been crumpled – does this add to the effect?

Reflection 24/03/21: From my group crit 24/03/21, my peers picked up on this use of a sweet wrapper and creates the projection to become a 3D sculpture in situ of the space, not just the projection. It becomes an object of its own, like the objectification of women. And also suggested it has ideas of censorship, almost a warning/cover up before seeing the real image. Does this make it feel more disturbing? Is this a good thing?

After my feedback with Catinca 12/03/21, I projected To Bite first at uni in my studio 17/03/21, but they weren’t as successful due to the bright lighting. I used this as an experimentation, using the walls to create different perspective of the film. I centralised the film in the hollow box to add shadow/distortion to the image (I wasn’t sure how to approach this work yet), it made it feel like the mouth was consuming the space, it brought parts of the mouth closer. The mouth sat directly in the box you can’t take your eyes off, purposely drawing your gaze in to the mouth. The lips, chin and mouth stretched inside the box and onto the floor, see below. It stretched the chin, making the male in the film have slight creepy feel. This was what I liked about CUBED and Are You Watching?, the film/image covered the figures/breasts as well as the walls, making the whole space the exhibition, not just a display.

Reflection 18/04/21: Purposely objectifying the breast, the women for the viewers to understand the objectification present.

Reflection 26/05/21: I am glad I decided to work with B&W as I think it has transformed my practice with a level of seriousness/intensity to it with the need to listen/watch what I am trying to explore.

These helped me have an idea of how I could use objects/space around me to deepen the appearance of the film/content. I projected To Bite on my home studio wall 18/03/21, I wanted to work with changing the appearance of the projected film and continue the direct focus of the mouth. The dark space made it feel over powering and as though its invading your space – disturbing, this was a different feel compared to the projection at uni. See below, I used pink card to highlight the mouth as it chewed, I noticed the mouth/lips appeared very wet/shiny as they chewed, I wanted to exaggerate this.

Reflection 21/04/21: I began to accentuate this with cellophane and it has become a massive part of my practice/projection from this point which adds to bringing the projection into the space.

Reflection 23/04/21: From my 1-1 with Jane, it was mentioned Jane liked this image above. The square colour capturing the mouth/movements almost drawing the eye in. There’s this inverted approach in my prints – black text in the mouth and a pink mouth which may be interested to mimic in my exhibition proposal projections, with text?

Mirrors – Catinca suggested working with them, from my series of US in L5 semester 2, they changed the way you viewed the clay figures, create a new angle you wouldn’t often see. I placed a large mirror below the projection. The shine on the lips reminded me of cellophane, I decided to drape it across the mouth and the space to accentuate the wetness. I laid the cellophane on top see below, this created another view/peculiar approach to the mouth. Made it feel like the more you peek over into the mirror the more you maybe seen, relation to the gaze by Lacan, quite a grotesque/scary angle. – What if mirror below was the whole of flooring?

• NOTE: Could project this film a lot smaller to fill the mirror. Could be strange having a large space with an intense small projection of a destructive mouth? Having to bend down to see it? More voyeuristic? Impactful upon the viewers? – create a box surrounding it?…

Reflection 26/04/21: It maybe interesting to use these elements in my exhibition proposal – coloured cellophane? Coloured paper? Coloured text? Working with the black and white film.

The projection light bounced onto the cellophane creating a glistening effect matching the lips made me think of sweet wrappers, especially with the icing breasts caught between the teeth – seductive/idealised yet intense, continues to play off this idea of women as a treat. I positioned the pink cellophane to bring the wet look out of the projection/environment. Editorially bold colours are captured in this film, representing this idea of how society glamorises the way women are controlled and treated as objects e.g.films/magazines. The cellophane glamorises the appearance, creating a cover up of what is trying to be said like how Hollywood cinema creates a glorified cover of castration anxiety/sexual objectification. This cover is clear meaning you can still see the issues, its up to the viewer to chose to ignore them and focus in on the cellophane, the bubbly/pretty/sweet like wrapper, instead of the destruction that is happening to women behind, like society does.

21/04/21: I realise I was trying too hard with the colour because I felt I needed it due to the reaction from Are You Watching?.

See Sweet Tooth below, there’s this play on words with the way women are used as a desirable treat, something to consume by the male gaze. Will the male gaze always has a sweet tooth for the female form, no matter the repercussion upon women?

• Bruce Nauman’s Feed Me comes to mind – face/mouth focus and Live and Die – bright neon like colour.

I chose to trial a peephole through toilet roll to create a tunnel gaze reflecting on 1-1 with Catinca, peep holes from her work I Am The System Master (No Signal). Helps zone into the area of the mouth that is doing the destruction, bringing the issues of objectification/female consumption by men/society to the forefront, to force the viewers to see what I want them to see/take away. I use the camera as if it is the audience. So really, does the audience have a choice? The peephole limits the rest of the environment e.g. this is what you’re only allowed to see, similarly how women are told what to do. Will women always be stuck under these stigmas? Also suggests peep holes aren’t always safe to look into – the aggressive teeth/bite becomes negative an angry reaction to looking? Appears confrontational, see below.

I also film the tunnel vision through the roll – a fun aspect to the work, use it as a device to watch/move over the film, see below. Something disturbing by watching someone eat, becomes repulsive seeing it in a up close in space. As researched in L5 Marcel Duchamp’s Étant Donnés explores depth, perception and the female form’s legs sprawled, he almost uses the woman as a decoration for this piece. I liked that his piece was “visible only by looking through the peepholes” (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021).

Using small mirrors, as discussed with Catinca, divert the initial gaze, it changes the relationship with eye to work, creates an illusion visual instead. I aim to use these for my upcoming group crit 24/03/21 as they have a lot going on, open to many interpretations. See below. There’s a lot of experimentation here but I feel the cellophane is most successful.

Reflection 13/04/21: The night before my group crit 24/03/21 of Sweet Tooth B&W I decided to change the appearance of this current works and colour the film black and white, stripping back the extra materials e.g. mirrors, peep holes and focused on the film. This worked so much better. I feel these upcoming works are too busy and not the angle I want to approach, but they were fun experimentation.

NOTE: Mirrors call to reflection and individuality, it calls to female experiences making the work relatable for each women. –  Sarah Everard, speaking out about their experiences with male dominance.

The delicate hand holding the mirror, almost acts as an invitation to look, suggests this accepting gaze Mulvey discusses, “there is pleasure in being looked at.” (Mulvey, 1973, p59), yet it appears to be contrasted with the aggressive imagery reflected in the mirror, does this image juxtapose with the rest of the work? Or is it another way of exploring this glamorisation of the raw/real effects that is present within film? I am unsure.

I throughly enjoyed Catinca’s talk of her performance work exploring technology and “how our vision has become scanning machines like CCTV cameras”, this reminded me of Macleans Make Me Up and her use of 24/7 surveillance. “Tunnel vision and polluted eyes” is explored through how we see due to technology. The panopticon effect was mentioned where we are surrounded all the time by supervision and eyes. These were all ideals I spoke of within my dissertation and was really helpful to listen and talk to someone who is interested in the same area as me. Catinca made this interesting point of photography being a technological tool where you can be both behind and in front of the camera. It’s an aggressive medium that acts almost like a gun, in someway you are still a victim of your own gaze and viewers will feel the same.

I had a 1-1 with Catinca and it was amazing to speak to someone who is confident with the male/female gaze and technology and who is also a student. I ask Catinca to view To Consume, Just a Nibble or Two and To Bite to get her opinion. See initial notes from 1-1 below.

Reflection 30/04/21: After my 1-1 with Gary 29/04/21 it’s interesting to see different perspectives, one a man and one a women, on To Bite B&W Repeat projected. Even though the worked are at different stages, they both expressed different ideas, Catrina the way to the work I have – the male gaze, control, consumption of women etc, where as Gary has seen it as male violence and destruction. It’s all about the audiences view – I aim to revise this.

Catinca described To Consume as “uncanny but beautiful” and suggests the issues that come with women and their body through the beauty/modelling industry. “The sculptural element of the icing breasts are taken away when the act of eating comes to play”, in someways does the eating of the icing breast glamourise it, the moisture from the mouth makes the breasts shiny and wet. Like how women are glamorised by the media to appear seductive and beautified for the gaze of the male as well as the gaze of other women and their inner comparing self gaze. Margaret Wood – Edible was given as a book suggestion.

The female gaze is hard to approach as often the camera is quite a male dominated object in response to how we look. For example, within the cinema male film makers use the camera to sexually view a women, slow motion, zoom, panning etc. It’s interesting to see how Charlotte Jansen suggests photography is a female dominated area as it hasn’t been discovered as much by men, but I agree with Catinca, the camera is like an eye as Mulvey refers to, of which we look from. It feels as though it is a gendered technology/material. But it’s interesting with how I respond to that – the camera allows you access to how and what you see and this made me think, as I am the one filming, am I being problematic? Or am I highlighting and forcing the viewers to look at the problematic? – Yes!

Reflection 22/03/21: When creating Sweet Tooth, I used mirrors to help divert the eye of the camera (which becomes the audience) to see what I want them to see, it becomes a very direct approach to the art, creates a clear focus/structure.

Reflection 16/05/21: I am using the camera to go around/between the projection, as though the audience are viewing themselves. I want them to view all aspects of the work, as much as they can digitally.

We discussed the use of materials within the film, clay = feminine as we use our hands as tools, whereas men use actual tools with materials such as marble. Since the material in To Bite is icing it made me think of the relation to domestic household roles for women and the process of making them. The close up of the mouth, skin, beard and breast suggests this intimate skin on skin visual which is disrupted when the male begins to eat, bite and chew the breast. Because of the close up the screen becomes the skin and it “speaks to something within us internally” as though it is present with us. – Touch/feel its presences? It screams ideas of women being ‘binged’ especially in A Nibble Or Two, the repetition of eating the breast over and 0ver – almost too much?

Reflection 17/03/21: Reflecting on this 1-1 and thoughts with my 1-1 with Jane on the 19/03/21, its made me realise how intense/uncomfortable my work is visually getting. This was a goal I had at the end of L5 as I grew to realise uncomfortable work is much more interesting and attracting.

Catinca questioned my thoughts on the representation of women in the cinema/film. I immediately thought of the newest Baywatch 2017. This was a chance to change the sexualisation that was put on women in the famous series, but instead, it felt like they intensified the attention and objectification on women in bikinis etc, only using slim models, slow motion, attention on their body and breasts etc. Feeding the male gaze/sexualisation on women further, this could’ve been avoided and arguably changed. We also discussed film maker Joanna Hogg – female gaze director who uses mirror to break up and divert the gazes of the viewer as a tool. “There is a wall length mirror that occupies Julie’s apartment and it acts as a device that reflects the characters back to themselves unflinchingly and when the mirror is broken it distorts them and splinters their reflections.” (Cate Crafter, 2020).

This lead to the use of the camera/control I have with it and how being a female adds to the control and authority of diverting the gaze directly at the the mouth of the male consuming the breast. The male/model being my boyfriend suggests this level of comfort and added relationship to the use of the camera. – Fighting back the gaze with the use of the camera/threatening the audience.

Reflection 19/03/21: Conveys this intruding aspect to the work? 

Reflection 21/04/21: Where as now I have welcomed this direct gaze, projecting films directly in front of the viewer/camera, forcing those to watch and observe what I am trying to explore.

Catinca asked for my thoughts on the female gaze, its use and is it effective. From the research of my dissertation and my own argument, has taught me that the female gaze is arguably more damaging than the male gaze and is somewhat more like the gaze itself. There’s this level of uncertainty/paranoia and nervousness that comes with the gaze itself, that has developed into a form of the female gaze, which has intensified with technology/social media. This is where comparison has also intensified and become much more damaging to the female gaze/perception. It is effective but we have to provide visual of sexual objectification etc in order to get our point across. We also discussed my thoughts on how the male gaze only just impacts the women, not the man viewing, where as the female gaze, impacts women themselves as well as other women they view as it is a two way impact.

As Catinca uses mirrors and diversion within her work, it was interesting to see this relation in mine again too. I have used mirrors in L5 and was something that was very successful and exciting to work with – distortion/diversion/reflection.We discussed the use of them when photographing the actual work itself, through the mirror. Suggests the lack of direct gazing, seeing the visual on a screen through a mirror that has been distorted/flipped.

!!! Reflection 21/04/21: I have taken it back and am excited after this 1-1. I threw all ideas at my work – zoning in on the mouth/breast more, mirrors, peep holes etc. Instead I am simply projecting the film in different spaces, I stripped the colour away which helped focus/work with elements (the gaze/observation) in a more subtle way which don’t distract from the actual film (Sweet Tooth B&W projections) as I felt they started too.

Reflection 16/05/21: Recently in In studio watching viewer watch To Bite B&W Repeat with small mirrors I have reintroduced this reflection element, using mirrors to divert the gaze of the viewer onto the work and those watching, being able to watch the viewer watch from another angle. The circular mirrors encourage voyeurism and a view you wouldn’t normally see of the audience.

Perspective with peep holes was mentioned as well – I felt like I had explored so much of this last year and it all worked so well, it was time to return and revisit this use of changing the environment and appearance of the work. Catinca uses peep holes in I Am The System Master (No Signal), see below, the holes to look through made the viewers realise it’s unsafe/uncomfortable to look when you are caught looking. We discussed it may be interesting to create a a space with similar holes while my films/images play so people have to place their eye to the hole to witness. It would intensify the simple act of looking.

Reflection 19/03/21: Recently I have projected To Bite and adapting the space/environment, using cellophane draped across the wall, with a large mirror below and small circular mirrors to photograph into based off of Catinca’s 1-1. It created some interesting and confusing images, almost abstract yet able to see what it is. The circular mirrors suggest peep holes and an interest to look. Sweet Tooth explores the female as consumption while exploiting the glamorisation society portrays it with.

Catinca Malaimare, I Am The System Master (No Signal), 2018.

Reflection 29/04/21: After my 1-1 with Gary today we discussed the way To Bite B&W Repeat projected feels very violent and becomes more about the after effects of the male gaze e.e. male dominance/violence. We discussed the current debate around it today and this reminded me of  Sarah Everard. Is this where I want my work to possibly head? Or could it just be an element to consider?

Hearing the news of Sarah Everard, I felt sick and sad. Sarah’s killer used his police status and hierarchy to abduct her and kill, a policeman is someone you are taught to trust. This was a freak accident but it has sparked something in everyone in the UK and social media which has now reached the whole world. She was found a week later inside a body bag. I felt women were slowly beginning to move forward and out of male dominance, but after this case, women from across the world have spoken out about their experiences and “among women aged 18-24, 97% said they had been sexually harassed, while 80% of women of all ages said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces.” (Topping, 2021) but not all speak out as they feel it would be pointless. I myself have experiences and its with stories and figures like these that pushes forward my reason to create the artwork I do. See below.

Women created a vigil to support/mourn Sarah peacefully, policemen brutally attacked women down to the ground for arrest. Face down, on their stomaches. But when the Rangers’ Scottish won the title lat year, the policemen stood by and allowed the men to chant and cheer in massive groups during high COVID restrictions. “Fans were seen lighting flares, marching through the streets and leaving rubbish in several areas” (Perrie, 2021) so, how does that feel right?

Sexual harassment is being shown within programmes and series more commonly now, for example Sex Education, in the third episode they show a situation where a women on a bus with a man touching himself behind her, throughout the episode they highlight the reasons why you should talk to someone/be listened too because its sexual harassment.

“Her death has sparked a wave of fury across the UK, with many women saying they are sick of feeling unsafe. They’re also sick of being told how to avoid being a target and insist the blame rests on the perpetrators of these crimes” (Perrie, 2021) women are sick of being blamed for being raped, killed sexual assaulted/harassment etc or, not being taken seriously, due to what we wear, how we look or how we act. For Sarah, she was wearing brightly coloured normal clothes and flat running shoes. She had no ear phones in and was on the phone to her boyfriend. None of which suggest ‘she was asking for it’ like how everyone labels women. “younger women are constantly modifying their behaviour in an attempt to avoid being objectified or attacked” (Topping, 2021).

With regards to how I feel, it’s sad and scary. I feel this will spark a whole movement for women. This does highlight those cases where men use their hierarchy and patriarchy status for power and control, like the panopticon effect by Foucault. This made me reflect on my current work, Chomp Chomp feels aggressive and the laugh mid way reflects the current situation of men using and abusing women freely because they have control.

Reflection 21/04/21: And Sweet Tooth B&W. It feels destructive and very male dominated regarding the beard and the aggressive bite, which is the aim to exploit this through female experience.