'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Gallery Space.

The gallery space was incredible to work in for Oppression. Serving as a stage for myself and fellow performance artists, the space was perfectly composed to host and celebrate.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Stills. I am.

The composition for the live installation utilised four transparent jars; two filled with identical units of water, and two with identical units of salt. These substances hold infinite meanings, yet to the immediate eye they represent the components of tears; which are not only reflections of pain, but also the ingredients of salt and water are vital components of the human body. Thus, the dislocation of the the jars filled with these components from the body aim to visually reflect both the emotional and physical disjunction of one's self. After each performance, another layer of wool was added to the jars during the binding process, which proved to be aesthetically most interesting to photograph. I was instantly reminded of the patterns of nerves in the body when binding the wool to the jars, which in turn reinforces the concept of physical disjunction.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Stills. I am.

I chose to bind the wrists and the fingers, to visually symbolise numerous concepts and images; the most prominent being the marks of self harm on the skin. The way in which the wool was bound for each performance was spontaneous, however the documented process of the binding holds importance to the concept examined in the piece. I considered binding the ankles and legs, however I felt that it would hold more of a sexual resonance than I wanted to suggest. In addition, the binding of the lower extremities would detract from the symbolism of the hands -  they hold an autonomy which renders the identity of the oppressor in this piece as ambiguous.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Stills. I am.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Raw Footage. I am.

This is a short insight into the binding process in preparation for the performance. Interestingly, members of the audience believed this process to be part of the performance, which added another dimension to the concept being explored - who is the oppressor? Part of the stigma surrounding mental illness is such that the affected individual is believed to hold some responsibility to the development and progression of their illness, which in some way is reflected in the process of self binding in the footage. There are no other forces present in the frame, aside from my own hands. Yet, this is fiercely contrasted against the literary content of the performance; in the process of defining, who is it that is defining?  Shrouded in ambiguity, it would seem as though outside perception has taken the role of oppressor; yet this footage could reveal that perhaps I myself am my own oppressor?

The very process of the camera observing the transformation myself as Francesca into the performer reflects a weird vulnerability. What is the role of the camera during this process? How is the camera implicated in my oppression? For me, the camera holds a symbolism in this particular documentation of footage that it does not in the filming of the performance in its entirety; the camera as the engaged eye.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Filmed Performance Piece with Live Installation. I Am.

I am.

I am

Ask, Don't tell. And in the silence I will find a way, to answer.

I am woman. I am fantasy.  I am here. 

I am free.... I am here....  I am happy....

I am happy... I am free... I am here...

I am here.... I am happy... I am free...

I am strength... I am sound... I am here.

I am free.... I am here....  I am happy....

I am happy... I am free... I am here...

I am here.... I am happy... I am free...

I am  peace... I am perfect ... I am here

I am free.... I am here....  I am happy....

I am happy... I am free... I am here...

I am here.... I am happy... I am free...

I am healthy... I am smiling... I am here

I am free.... I am here....  I am happy....

I am happy... I am free... I am here...

I am here.... I am happy... I am nothing but happy

I am who you say I am.

Italian. - Sono cio' Che to dici che sono         

Russian. skajitye mney, kto ya takaya           

Yoruba. - Mo wa bose sope mowa              

Somali. - Anigu Waxaan ahay waxa aad tiri waxaan ahay

I am what you say I am.

Ask, Don't tell. And in the silence I will find a way, to answer.

As a form of documentation, I decided to have my performance filmed. However, little emphasis was placed on the technicality of the film, as the importance of the live performance was far greater to the concept I was exploring, than recording the content. I am aware that the quality of the sound is rather mute, and so above is the script for the performance piece; the composition of the text holding equal importance to the performance.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Artist Statement. I am.

I am

'I am' is an abstract fusion of conceptual installation and performance art. The piece explores and examines what it is to be young and mentally ill; inspired by the literary material produced by young people whom I helped to support while volunteering with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Within this piece, the stark yet delicate paradox between chaos and order is additionally explored through the live installation, as well as the conceptual framework surrounding the disjunction of emotion from the self. Every aspect of the piece, from the objects used to the clothes worn, the languages spoken and the way the wool is spun, is symbolic of the message carried through, although individual interpretation and projection is absolutely vital to fulfilling the execution of the piece. The decision was made to attach two transparent jars to my wrists using string, each filled separately with water and salt, both of which are attached in turn to the floor by gravity. The superficial and very distant attachment of these elements to the body aims to physically embody emotional disjunction and a disjointed recall of internal division, as well as a strange sense of attachment. In addition, the choice to use wool at the binding material between the flesh and the glass jars carries significant resonance; the spiritual meaning of wool denotes truth from celestial origin which in itself is good. In correspondence with this spiritual meaning, the way in which the wool is so loosely spun awards it a fragile quality; easily detached, which serves to reinforce the literary material.  The languages spoken possibly hold the most significance in this piece, for  the variety of the languages included aims to illustrate a universality the piece, with no specific identity attached to the performer; I as the artist and ultimately the performer stands as a plural, not only as the personal body. Upon saying this, it is integral to this piece that the performance remains as abstract and ambivalent as possible; clarity is not necessary to be sought. The very process of the audience observing this piece is part of the performance itself; serving as the passive onlooker, yet the enagaged eye.

'Oppression' Exhibition 2016, Performance Piece.

On the 26th & 27th of February 2016, I exhibited a piece of performance art combined with live installation at an exhibition held in Norwich entitled, Oppression. My piece was one of fifteen to be selected in a regional competition, and thus became a featured artist in Oppression, which is due to tour at a later date in London. The competition was advertised to the public with nothing more than the word 'Oppression' as a stimulus for artworks; the work selected and collated for the exhibition serving as an immersive and powerful statement on what it is to be oppressed from the perspectives of several artists. Oppression was  exhibited across two days, receiving an extraordinary turn out. The nature of the work exhibited was beautifully diverse; the variation in discipline and compilation not only served as an absolute reflection of the complexity and ambiguity to the concept of oppression, but also was a celebration of the very unapologetic examination of individual experiences of oppression from the Fine Art perspective. The experience of exhibiting my work at this exhibition was invaluable; this being my first exhibition since graduating from Art School with a Foundation Diploma, it has set the pace for my participation in future exhibitions and has assisted in helping me to network with other artists in my region. 

I would like to thank Artistic Director and Organiser Molly Rose Curran, without whom this would never have been possible, as well as her Artistic team.

An Examination of Neo Colonialism in Humanitarian Communication

                                                   'Help Starving African Children.'

                                          -Save the Children. Live on Website; 2016.

                                                    Region of focus; South Sudan 

 http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8197811/k.31C7/Helping_Starving_African_Children.htm

                                 'What do our students know about famine in the Horn of Africa?'

                                                 - Oxfam Australia. Live on Website; 2016
                                                   Region of focus; 'The Horn of Africa.'

https://www.oxfam.org.au/2011/08/what-do-our-students-know-about-the-famine-in-the-horn-of-africa/

The photographic images above reveal another reality aside from acute poverty; a reality which sees the era of neo colonial rule harnessed by global and regional institutions alike. In order to shed light on this reality, we must embark on an unapologetic examination on the role and nature of these images within the mainstream NGO sector they have been elected to represent.

While utilized by differing organisations, Oxfam and Save the Children, both photographic images adopt the same regional focus of Eastern Africa. Yet, while one image is identified generally from  South Sudan, the other is simply identified as 'The Horn of Africa'- a reference to the East African region in its entirety of 6 countries. Thus, the treatment of the subjects featured within each photographic image corresponds with the conceptual ideology of Orientalism; why distinguish between African regions anyway? In his academic text Orientalism (1978), Said argues that the failure to distinguish among countries and differing cultures of a region reinforced an exercise of Western colonial power over the former colonised. Perhaps a comparison can be made between Said's examination of the 'Oriental' Middle East, Far East and Near East, and the contemporary treatment of the 'Dark Continent' as reflected in these images? Moreover, while the role of the inclusion of these images in their relative relief campaigns is to encourage sympathy and thus financial support, the notion of identity is brought into question. The discourse surrounding the concept of 'The West and the Rest', as explored by Stuart Hall (1992), has the resulting outcome of the 'othering' of all beings outside of 'Western' discourse. If discourse is indeed about the production of knowledge through language (Hall, 1992), then these photographic images above are reflective of implications of power operations; this conceptual notion of 'othering' is ever prominent within strategies of humanitarian communication employed by mainstream news media and particularly NGOs,  not confined to a single region, but rather a very universal depiction of the suffering 'other' in the regions that make up the Global South. But it's the truth being shown, right?

The concept of the 'Pornography of Poverty' is most prominent in these images, laden with symbolic inequalities that reinforce post colonial perceptions of cultural superiority. In both images, only the most vulnerable groups are utilized, which is highly representative of the treatment of different regions across the African continent by mainstream news media and the NGO sector. While there is no denying the fact that the realities are very real, filtering information to create a bias reinforces the discourse of the 'West and the Rest.' Through the use of such images, the African continent has come to symbolise poverty; 'flooded with images of the emaciated child.' (Mahadeo & Mckinney, 2007) This contribution to 'othering' through the graphic depictions of human suffering is a sharp reminder  that these images do not represent an encounter between equals (Hall, 1992).  Instead, these images ‘help to legitimise the foundational idea of all western-based development – that the global south is inevitably better off with ongoing interventions than it would be without them’ (Manzo 2008: 652).

But is it all bad? In the last decade, there has been a marked shift has been away from the use of such imagery towards other strategies of humanitarian communication such as Positivism, and the use of comedy as a vehicle to promote awareness of development campaigns.  Organisations such as Build Africa directs all work away from aid relief and towards long-term development through community empowerment, which in turn has a definite impact on the nature of the strategies employed when promoting media publicity and awareness;  particularly an absence of a Western influence on screen and the emphasis on community involvement. Moreover, comedy is now used as a means of combating donor fatigue  and revealing the controversy behind other such campaign strategies. A prime example being Comic Relief's African Appeal sketch in 2007 lead by Ricky Gervais, which encouraged 'us' to elicit self reflection on 'our' involvement in 'othering' distant suffering (Chouliaraki, 2013). However, these methods of communication are not without their flaws; in both distances, the 'other' remains a subject of generosity of the West, which ensures that the discourse of power remains prevalent through tokenism. Will an antidote to donor fatigue be found? Will there be a reversion back to the use of colonial suffering?

Word Count: 763

Bibliography 

Chouliaraki, L. (2013). The Ironic Spectator: Solidarity in the Age of Post Humanitarianism. Cambridge Press.

Hall, S. (1992). The Formations of Modernity. Polity Press.

Mahadeo, M., & Mckinney, J. (2007). Media representations of Africa: Still the Same Old Story? Centre of Global Education .

 Manzo, K. (2008). Imaging Humanitarianism: NGO Identity and the Iconography of Childhood. Antipode.

Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. Penguin Press.

http://www.build-africa.org/ - Build Africa

Salt. Stills

Salt. Film

Alongside my text on canvases, I produced a series of short abstract films exploring separation, and the paradox between chaos and order. I chose to use my mother as my subject, for to me she represents a strong woman yet separated within herself. I filmed her attempting to separate salt; a substance which is near impossible to place into an order. I intend to leave the footage raw without any editing, and to erase any sound the camera picked up.

The feedback I received from my fellow fine artists on my films were very positive. For some, the film evoked a sensory response, and it was interesting to see the salt making no commitment to the canvas upon which it was being divided upon. Overall, I am very pleased with the films, and will pursue the next step in installing both the film and the canvases into my exhibition space.

Embodying Disjunction

As a part of my final major project, I wanted to exhibit my work as an installation, also encompassing the exhibition space as a part of my concept. Thus, I was lucky enough to have been built this large space in which to show my work, with a width large enough to have a film projected at the back, and large enough to allow viewers to step inside. At present, the box does not have a roof, and I am toying with the idea of either building a white boarded roof, or using a light material. At the moment, I wish to use brackets to secure my canvases at angles on either side of the inner boards, to connote a sense of disjunction and separation.

Swimming in the Dark

These are a few close up shots of my first finished canvas. Using the window cleaner, I managed to get the heavy moulding paint to lie smoothly onto the wooden box canvas. I decided not to layer the text, and instead let it read, for the text in itself is obscured by memory blanks and a disjointed recall. For this particular canvas, I did not plan how I was going to impress the text, instead I subconsciously let the direction flow across the canvas. I plan to paint even the back of the canvas white, and install this canvas along with a second one, inside my exhibition space with my film. I feel that in both pieces of work, I am exploring disjunction and separation in different forms, and thus hopefully the two will compliment each other as an installation.

Experimenting with heavy moulding paint #2

When working with the heavy moulding paint, I realised that I had to make sure that the surface of the paint was completely smooth, so that the attention of the viewer would be drawn not to any marks or contours in the paint, but to the text.  Unfortunately, my first attempt at applying the paint to the wooden canvas did not achieve the desired effect I was hoping for, and instead of a flat surface, the paint dried to the contours of the pallete knife I had applied with. As much as the I felt that the contours did add an interesting feature to the piece, overall I was determined to achieve a smoother look. And so, I began experimenting with different tools upon which to apply the mixture; the most successful being a window cleaner in the shape of a squeegee. In addition, I was not sure whether I wanted to layer the text, or to leave it in its own right, still fairly obscured by the white pigment.

Experimentation with Heavy Moulding Paint

After experimenting with embossing wallpaper with metal letter punches and MDF, I researched exactly what medium Idris Khan used in his piece, 'Untitled, White on white' from the Conflicting Lines Exhibition. I then began experimenting with a mixture of heavy moulding paint and white acrylic after it was half dried onto a canvas, and used metal letter punches to make textual impressions. The text I was using was a version of my memories that I had typed out over and over again, and thus my thinking behind this was that the viewer could touch a memory; evoking a strange paradox between stable and unstable.

I found the process of stamping the metal letter punches into the drying mixture much more time effective than the wall paper. Initially, I experimented on MDF, and then went on to use wooden box canvases.

Experimentation with Impressions

In terms of experimenting with making textual impressions onto a surface, I began by hammering metal letter punches onto a strip of wallpaper with a layer of MDF underneath. The results were pleasing, as I achieved a deep impressions onto the wallpaper as well as clean impressions onto the MDF. Unfortunately this process was highly time consuming, and thus I was compelled to find another method of achieving similar results to keep within a realistic time frame.

Visit to... Idris Khan's Conflicting Lines, Victoria Miro April 2015

Without a doubt, my visit to this exhibition was the most influential in helping me to shape my final major project. Idris Khan is renowned for his works across medium including sculpture, painting and photography, all encompassing his layering technique to 'arrive at the essence of the image'. The exhibition. 'Conflicting Lines' held at the Victoria Miro Gallery featured large scale composite photographs made from a series of oil stick paintings. Khan went through the process of overlaying the lines of the writing repeatedly until the text became obscured; a technique which I had previously experimented with. Walking through the gallery, a single piece of work particularly drew me in, 'Untitled, White on white'; a large painting on aluminium, with layers of text radiating from a centre point. The fact that both the writing and the oil based relief ink were a blinding shade of white left the text utterly obscured, and upon touching the canvas, I realised that one could feel the subtle impressions of the text stamped into the relief ink.

                                    

Upon seeing this piece of work, I knew that I wanted to pick up my work with text and take it a step further. In effect, I would be producing two pieces for my final major project; a film and an installation, both of which would have to poetically compliment the other.

Visit to... The Cortesi Gallery May 2015

As a part of my research, I visited the most recent exhibition in the Cortesi Gallery, Mayfair. The work featured was of a very abstract nature, and appeared to be an exploration of illusion and texture. The piece above, entitled 'Untitled, Orange' by Agostino Bonalumi was one of my favourite exhibits in the gallery. The piece, constructed of vinyl tempera on shaped canvas, radiated with both a sense of revelation and mystery; the shape beneath the canvas remaining both in a state of suggestion and in disguise. I especially found the choice of vibrant vinyl to be most interesting.

Separation

After radically changing the direction of my work, I decided to explore my previous ideas of division and detachment through the word 'separation'. It was at this stage in the final major project that I decided to experiment with poetic ways of conveying separation and internal displacement, initially by dividing objects that were tricky to separate. After much thought, I decided to carefully select a subject to film while trying to break apart salt or water; two of the most difficult substances to order. This also ties into my previous idea of the chaos in order, which correlates with my overriding theme of separation and internal divisions. The subject would additionally have to represent separation or division in some shape or form, and thus I was compelled to search for an appropriate individual who was very personal to me. In addition, I may add an audio track to the footage, however I do not want to give the audience a distraction from the film and the installation in which the film will be shown.

Photographic Experimentation

These series of photographs are a reflection of my experimentation with conveying a sense of detachment and disillusion about the subject. Using a pillow case, black leather belts acting as restraint, I put the subject inside an oversize white box and adjusted the lighting to create deep shadows to express a sense of emptiness about the space around the subject. While on the one hand, I am pleased with the aesthetic outcome of the photographs, on the other hand I am displeased with the clichéd feel. Throughout my progress on this course, I have learnt that I am naturally drawn to conveying the literal, as opposed to delving into the world of the abstract; an artistic discipline which I love and admire. Thus, I feel as though I would like to pursue a more poetic way of exploring internal divisions and detachment through film and possibly even an installation. In addition, I want to experiment with not using a subject, but rather focus on either a small aspect of a human subject, but only in relation to another material. I feel that this departure would be less clichéd, and would limit the audience's emotional response a lot less than if they were presented with a subject.

This change in direction has also shown that me that I am able to recognise my own way working, and how I can challenge myself to work outside of my comfort zone; a lesson which was much needed.