I wasn’t too sure where I wanted to approach Only Touch With CLEAN Hands from, I had previously mentioned social media abut I am unsure of it’s workings. I hope for some good feed back from the group crit 24/11/20. Only Touch With CLEAN Hands was extremely successful. As mentioned, with film comes noise, movement and visual appearance. There’s a lot more to consider/involve when you create films. It engages the audience and could easily evoke more emotions of discomfort/awe as it helps you visual and immerse yourself into the film as “you felt like you didn’t know what was going to happen, you feel as though something else would happen so you keep watching” said by a peer. It becomes an “immersive experience” which is what I am hoping to continue with this performative element.
Reflection 08/03/21: The word immersive is what I like to work to since this crit. Only Touch With CLEAN Hands and Are You Watching? are two different kinds of immersive experiences. One being on a screen, the other a space – I want to work with this, the space, noise, content in my end of year installation for Sweet Tooth B&W.
It was mentioned it would be interesting to create an illusion of a loop, keeping people hooked – will it end?
Reflection 15/04/21: These are on going ideas I am working with today with Sweet Tooth B&W, I have taken forward the illusion of a never ending film of eating – plays to the loop.
Possible research points for me and my work: The use of speed of film was effective from the feedback. In the film starting out slowly and delicately and then speeding up and become aggressive – this was reflected in Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen in 1975. See below, it was less about language and more about body language and the way we convey actions, much like my piece Only Touch With CLEAN Hands. She works with the patriarchal roles of women in the kitchen in a confrontational manner.
The slowed down approach could be something fun to use too which was suggested by another peer, like with Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho in 1993. See below, Gordon slowed down the whole film over 24 hours a film with so much action carried so much more drama due to suspense in the film Psycho.
Later a peer said it’s as though “the more breasts in the hands the more they were disregarded by being dropped at the end, the value has deminished”. Like the more women a man or woman has, the dirtier they feel – wash their hands thoroughly after. The use of a female hand holding the clay breasts open up the visuals of not only men being able to manipulate women, but women can do it to each other and themselves? Self gaze? It was also spoken about how men possibly struggle to get over the patriarchal change between men and women? No longer as divided, still is there!
Reflection 27/03/21: There has been an underlying approach from the female gaze within my work that doesn’t seem to fully addressed early on, due to still writing my dissertation I was still learning. It becomes about forcing the viewers to see sexual obj and male dominance from a female POV.
Dehumanisation of the breasts, separate from the body like objects. They are so small and as I discussed in Talking about breast sculptures, they are sweet size, resemble delicacies, desirable element which adds to the way I hold/use them. Reflection 26/01/21: this desirable element is playing within my Interim exhibition currently, especially juxtaposing with the environment of the kitchen where the breasts are displayed, continues ideas of women being desirable foods for society/men.
Sexual objectification is too a present among issues that come with the male gaze and it also reflects “the porn industry and their representation of women by using them. The visuality of the hands suggests the manipulation of women”. – peer.
Reflection 15/04/2021: Pornography has been a comment I have thrown around a lot surrounding my work, currently I am tackling it and it’s adding layers to the sexual obj of women/representation. With Only Touch With CLEAN Hands, there is this representation of women being used, fondled and disregarded just like the industry. So early on there was dark avenues within my work where I hadn’t chose to explore.
“I never have seen anything like it, cleaning of the hands could suggest the NHS hand wash routine for COVID”. The hand sanitiser was part of my film to suggest the climate we are in currently – COVID, need to be clean & the cleansing of the hands before you touch a women. There’s this image of women being pure, untouched, a prized possession. I was glad it was viewed this way in the group crit and as I have discussed hands having a language, I thought it was interesting that my peers to picked up on this. “The cleaning of the hands thoroughly suggest the clear intention those hands have for the women”, however this is contrasted with the squeezing/dropping of the breasts, suggesting “abuse/harm” to them. A humorous/dark contrast with the film.
