The Seated Artist

Dear reader,

I’ve had this image sat in my sketchbook for a long time now.

This magazine cover for Interview really struck a chord with me as it is representative of the trivialisation of disablement, describing the chair as a fashion accessory.  For those with a need for a wheelchair it represents their independence, it is not a prop for the able bodied.

There is a lack of representation of disability in all art forms, so this representation is damaging to the disabled community.

The hypersexualisation of the model posing in a wheelchair could be viewed as a shock tactic. However, if the model was a hypersexualised disabled woman this would be seen as unacceptable.  Those with disabilities are often not viewed as sexual-beings but as child-like and needing care.

A spokesman for Interview magazine defended the photograph in the following statement: 

“The Kylie Jenner cover by Steven Klein, which references the British artist Allen Jones, is a part of this tradition, placing Kylie in a variety of positions of power and control and exploring her image as an object of vast media scrutiny. Throughout the Art Issue, we celebrate a variety of women who are both the creators and subjects of their artistic work, and the Kylie feature aims to unpack Kylie’s status as both engineer of her image and object of attention. Our intention was to create a powerful set of pictures that get people thinking about image and creative expression, including the set with the wheelchair. But our intention was certainly not to offend anyone”

(https://www.etonline.com/news/177158_kylie_jenner_slammed_for_posing_a_wheelchair_for_interview_magazine).

Unlike Kylie’s questionable photoshoot that claims to be a statement of power, I cannot help but compare it to photograph of dancer and choreographer Alice Sheppard. Power is being comfortable in your own skin and pushing your limitations.  Although any photograph can be deemed as creative expression, it is difficult to understand why a beautiful able bodied person, such as Kylie Jenner, needs a wheelchair to express themselves.

Alice Sheppard is a wheelchair user who has uses her chair as an extension of her body when dancing.  Her wheelchair, is more than an aid, it is part of her identity.  She creates art with it. This is true creative expression. She draws on her own experience of being black, disabled and queer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjLRPVnmY30

Dear Reader,

Today, was an exciting day!  I finished the editing process for my 3D scan, meaning I could move onto a test print.  Moving to a new programme, called Prusa I made the final edits.  Prusa allowed me to make final tweaks, such as cutting the bottom off the scan to ensure that it was flat on the plate for printing.  It also allowed me to scale down the print and choose the infil.  Different infills have different properties such as, hardness and durability, these factors can affect the speed of the print.  I chose the grid infill, which you can see in the picture below (top left), I mainly chose this infil to cut down the speed of the print.

The test print is much smaller and therefore was faster and cheaper to print, it also meant that I wasn’t committed to a large print and could work out what adjustments need to be made for the final print.

Supports weren’t necessary for my 3D sculpture due to the modifications that I made in Artec, which made the print self-sustainable.

Before printing the scan the nozzle of the 3D printer had to be warmed up to eject the previous plastics, however, even though I did this at the start of my print there was some residue buildup that bobbled up on the plate and affected the start of the print.  This was rectified by quickly removing the excess plastic before it damaged the print.  Following this there were a few technical difficulties, that arose from the bottom of the print not being flat enough and this needs to be addressed for the final piece.  Luckily this didn’t compromise the test run and after adjusting the nozzle to be closer to the plate to squash down the plastic, it became sturdier and the print recovered.

I had to watch and monitor the start of the scan to make sure it was printing successfully and watching my scan materialise into an object was both mesmerising and fascinating.  The complete print took about 3 and a half hours to finish, so I didn’t see the end result until the following day.  Seeing my sculpture come to life as a 3D object was extremely rewarding after all  the time I had spent planning, preparing and working on the digital construction.

Dear reader,

Following on from my last blog post I have spent the last few weeks continuing to work on my 3D scan.  This process has been extremely challenging and time consuming … but satisfying!

Despite changing the materiality of my wheelchair by draping it in fabric, it was still a huge scan that was difficult to capture.  The scanning process resulted in multiple images, that together created a multi-layered abstract work in its own right, which is brought together in the video linked below.

https://youtu.be/GEKNVvCrzQw

It has been a challenging process and this was the first time I have ever edited a 3D scan, which has meant learning new skills which was very enjoyable.  I then had to take these abstract scans of my wheelchair and piece them together into a cohesive piece that was then identifiable as my chair.  Peeling them back layer by layer I then began to piece them together like a complicated jigsaw puzzle, meticulously lining them up so that they would render correctly.  This process was cathartic, stripping back the layers of my wheelchair felt representative of the layers inside me.  The imagery of the abstract wheelchair scans feels more representative of my identity, than the singular object of a wheelchair.  I too have lots of colours, layers and complexity to me.

What are your thoughts on how the two images compare?  Which would you prefer to identify with?