The family have left me for Scotland this week, to give me time and space to work. I am trying to get as much out of it as possible by spreading out all over the house. It is a great luxury and somehow I can't help feeling a bit guilty, even though I don't have to. It seems that being a mum always comes first, so it is hard to put them all in the back of my mind.
I have finished all the written work so I can focus on the practical when we get into the gallery. I just want to get in there now. I feel prepared and as ready as I will ever be.
I have decided to knit covers for the breeze blocks that support the arches in the tunnel. I started of with knitting torn up duvet covers, but after some time I changed my mind and started all over using some very delicate cotton tread. I really like this and was quite exited when the first one was tried on a breeze block.
They work really well and the knitting is a symbol of the time that is invested in families plus the fact that members of a family all are bound together. The covers are however very time consuming to produce but is one of those things that can be made almost in the dark in front of the TV! I am not entirely sure if I have enough cotton but I will have to cross that bridge if and when I come to it, I am sure I will have a solution.
I have been trying to solve the problem regarding incorporation of the ‘tent’ in my installation for the Degree Show. Because it won’t be possible for me to hang the ‘tent’ like I did in the studio, I had to think of some other solution. I found myself constructing some complicated structures, before coming up with the idea of using the frame from one of the very cheap gazeboes that can be bought in all DIY stores. Because I want to keep the costs down it was the perfect solution if it would work. If I had to make a great wooden or steel frame it would be far too expensive. It also has to be a structure that easily can be taken apart and reassembled in the Gallery, so transport to the Gallery won’t be too complicated either. In college I assembled the thing and I very quickly realized that the structure would be far too big. I decided to try just to play with the different pieces, and I managed to make a small frame by only using some of the pieces provided in the kit. I didn’t like the look of the white metal frame so I wrapped it in socks and tights. I am very pleased with the outcome of this little experiment and I will definitely use this method for the installation.
In my last essay I have decided to examine the term ‘participation’ when it is used by artists in their practices. It is very interesting how audience participation has become such a great part of the contemporary art scene. And it was very enlightening to discover how this is a reflection of the time we live in. Life in our society is very much dictated by instant access to information through the technological appliances such as computers, mobiles and televisions. This quick pace has meant that we now expect instant answers. We are all individuals with individual needs and ideas which creates a very ‘selfish’ society. We don’t need to see ‘real’ people; everything can be done from the comfort of your own home, no need at all to get out. Everything from shopping to dating and socializing can be done in the virtual world. By letting the audience participate in a piece of art will give them this instant and very personal experience of art.
This is exactly what I want with my piece for the Degree Show. I want the audience to enter the tunnel and the experience of being in it. I won’t be able to control what will happen to every single person who enters, because they all bring their own life experience with them. It will be interesting to see if people will enter the tunnel at all, or they will remain outside. I have decided that the title for the piece will be ‘Roots’; I think that captivates the idea behind the piece. It is about family and relationships within families so I think that it is the right title.
Something funny happened yesterday when I was speaking to my mum on the phone, she was asking questions about my work and I was trying to explain my ideas to her. She became very offensive and argumentative she very clearly found this theme hard to talk about and most definitely was of the opinion that she had done something wrong because I wanted to work with this subject. I found myself justifying to her how having these restrictive and claustrophobic feelings about the family didn’t necessarily mean that I had ‘shit’ childhood. Very strange, I never expected to have to justify my work to her; it is not about her it is about how I see the world; she will obviously have provided me with some of her inherited behaviours but that has happened and not necessarily a bad thing! It will be interesting to see what she thinks when the installation is up!
