So, where have my text experiments led?
I’m learning to trust my instincts, so I begin by flicking through magazine and newspaper articles ranging from the more well-written and serious to the sensationalised. What leaps out is material with a fashion bias, which reflects my enduring fascination with the seductive qualities of the stereotype of the feminised image in mass-media. I’m irresistibly drawn in by it whilst simultaneously being repelled – ensnared in its ‘…golden thread of glamour.’ (1) I work as always by setting a series of rules – this time to switch gender references so female become male and so on and to change any distinguishing data such as identities and brand names.
Articles with a strong stereotypical gendered perspective give interesting results. In the most extreme cases, the switch results in ‘wrongness’ that is clearly distinguishable. However, other articles are more subtle producing something ‘slippery’ – they don’t read quite right without being completely clear why. Printing the entire article seems unnecessary and over-kill. I’ve used the same picture format as recent collages – it replicates ratios used on 1930’s film star promotional cards. I’ve positioned the crop to reveal the columnar roots of the original text, so part of the second column shows with truncated text leaving an incomplete meaning for the viewer to reconstruct.
I suspect the power of these lies in repetition – I see several presented together, giving sufficient clues of my intentions to the audience. Production means will be mass-media based – a poster to keep the results flexible rather than the static, fixed nature of something like a board. Scale will be large and assertive – likely 2m on the longest length – hung simply. They need to honour their graphic origins so I think colours are best left neutral. Black text on white will hover on the gallery wall, whereas the reverse makes a stronger, more forceful statement. Not sure as yet which will be best.
This is the first time I’ve made work that doesn’t involve a representational or abstract image of something. I don’t have the same relationship to them I usually do – I wouldn’t want them on the walls at home – but they feel like an assertive communication that fits what I want to say and I can’t wait to see how they look in a gallery setting. I realise my response to them isn’t aesthetic but is positioned in the intellectual. It feels like I’ve made a step forward with the titling issue – no longer apologetic but assertive – appropriated in the spirit of collage from current research material
Bibliography
1. Stephen Fry, Inside Claridge’s, BBC2, 10/12/12
