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Imagined Worlds: Surveillance Versus Safe Spaces

Within this project I wanted to explore what I consider my safe space away from the surveillance of the wider a world and specifically the city of London where I live.

The average Londoner is caught on CCTV cameras 300 times a day. There is an estimate of around 691,000 CCTV cameras in London alone and is considered the most heavily surveilled city in the world. However, that is only the outside world. The internet and specifically social media is a whole other type of surveillance. We are all watching each other and are being tracked in order to be provided specific advertisements catered to the individual.

In 2010 Tate Modern held an exhibition of a collection of images all taken without the subject’s consent. This highlights the sheer scale of invasion of privacy that some of us aren’t even aware. Our Society is voyeuristic by nature and that raised the question of how we escape from this?

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/may/28/tate-modern-surveillance-art                                    

https://www.cctv.co.uk/how-many-cctv-cameras-are-there-in-london/

My escape or safe place would have to be my room. I moved into my house when I was 2 years old and my favourite colour was pink. This is the colour scheme that I still have. This space I have curated for myself where I can feel safe and express myself however I want to.

My childhood bedroom brought me onto thinking about where my childhood mind would wonder to. My childhood love of fairies and mystical creatures was the inspiration for the aesthetic of the shoot. I wanted it to have this warm pink glow to mirror my childhood bedroom and the outfit paired with the make up is to convey a sense of delicacy. Although, the pictures express a sense of vulnerability I wanted these pictures to have a sense of strength lying under the surface. I am portraying something that is half my inner child and half a greater being than myself; the sense of magic and other is supposed to surround these photos.

The make up takes inspiration from both editorial and drag make up. I wanted to remove the eye brows and lay down a lot of blown out blush to create a more androgynous face as I do see fairy like creatures as being outside the bounds of many societal boundaries. The silk slip continues this soft nature of the character and as it is white absorbs the soft pink of the light. I wanted the colour to flow seamlessly throughout the photos to promote this dream like state.

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The two images on the left are stills from a film I made in this faire-like character and the two images on the right are inspired by Tim Walker’s ‘Wonderful Things’ and are edited with that in mind. 

Over saturating the colours and layering to create a dream like affect exhibited specifically in ‘Lil Dragon’. I enjoy Walker’s ability to create narrative with lighting and garments, costume to create that - which helped to inspire the shoot also. 

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Imagined Worlds: Surveillance Versus Safe Spaces Part 2

Initially, as part of the ‘Surveillance’ portion of this project I was going to use the first half of the pictures to make a collage within a room structure made out of cardboard. I had left this structure in the studio and due to the lockdown restrictions have not been able to go into the studio to retrieve it. I decided instead to do a second photoshoot to accompany the first as to feel like I have completed and set out what I wanted to do with this project.

This photoshoot is to express how a young girl has grown up as a product of the surveilled world of social media - in both the negative and positive. I have learnt to have a sense of agency over my body and sexuality and how I express that. On the flip side of that social media opens you up for criticism and your are unable to control the opinions or reactions people have of the things you post. The negative affects on mental health and the positive connection that social media provides is on both sides of the scale.

The makeup is inspired by drag also with blown out blush but a more defined eye look. The defined eyes and the structure of the boned corset express a maturity that the previous pictures may not; a sense of being sure in who I am as a young woman.

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Two images on the right are edited in inspiration of Tim Walker’s ‘Wonderful Things’ and the two images on the left are stills from a film I made to accompany Part 2 of this project. 

Mirroring both of these films, you can tell in this second instalment, more power and agency feeling the body language and movements. This second ‘character’ is sure of herself and her choices.

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View of the installation (three images on the left).

The Installation pieces were inspired by a Kew Garden visit. I picked up petals and that made me think of femininity and traditional ideas of female gender expression. This thought process progressed into gender expression, how it’s expressed in this contemporary society, and how it can’t be quantified because these boundaries of what is female and male have been blurred. The idea of nightlife and how dressing up and going out lets individuals express a different side to an every day look.

This line of thinking brought me onto the idea of creating a sculpture that looked like a melted disco ball to represent this angle of looking at gender expression. I experimented with pouring emulsion and liquid plaster to assess what worked best. Emulsion cracked once dry but plaster created a smoother pour and also allowed me to manipulate the thickness of the solution in order to get the desired affect.

I was planning to stick the mirror pieces on the big melted disco ball sculpture but decided, as I was creating these sculptures, that working with them plain created more of an impact. The faces were made with spray paint to inject emotion into the pieces and more of a depth compared to the solid white, I painted them, after the plaster finished drying. The disk in the middle was made out of left over plaster that dried in the bucket. I thought it would look good to paint it white and add the mirror pieces and the spray painted sad face to add some light into the pieces as a collection. It also looks like a deformed disco ball in itself - just flattened. Aesthetically, I thought it brought each of the sculptures together, different height levels, which bring your eye to those different heights in turn.

To me these sculptures made me think of gender in more abstract terms. In the past I have presented Female identity as a literal image, like in a painting of the female form, so creating these sculptures let me speak about a subject matter that I connect to but in a way I have never experimented with before. I really enjoyed the process of using the plaster, the act of pouring it, watching it drip over the structure and the fact it’s a very physical act of creating which I would like to use in the next project.

Destroying Plaster Sculpture - Live performance art stills (three images on the right)

I decided to do a live performance of myself destroying my sculptures. I thought it would be interesting to display. These sculptures in themselves represent the fluidity of gender expression, but, that in itself is a hard concept to quantify. By destroying that representation it gives the message that gender is malleable and it is for the individual to mould that for themselves.

The slip dress is delicate and floaty, a traditional representation of femininity, and the aggressive nature of the destruction of the sculptures; presents the masculine. By encompassing both of these characteristics using them as a tool to demonstrate the spectrum of gender expression.

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Domes-Dicks Cause of Death: Patriarchy

Installation piece made from found objects on the streets of Camden.

To represent how even domestic spaces aren’t always the most trusted/safe places - hence the name of this installation. Deals with themes of patriarchal society, how hierarchy of power was and still is held by men at the top. It’s also a commentary on how a women’s life and outlook on life can be tainted by the men she meets.

I enjoyed creating a narrative with the found objects, relating it to a bigger picture than just an accumulation of objects. The composition in any other way wouldn’t necessarily mean the same thing. Adding the short film as well  emphasised this. By doing this, I discovered, an interest in installation metaphorical meanings and how trying out different things and experimenting can give the overall look more impact.

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Stills from a stop motion video that was an extension of the above installation; Domes-Dicks. Cause of Death: Patriarchy.

To be played with the following link as audio on top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB5TOsS5EyI&feature=youtu.be

The film was projected next to the installation and gave the viewer a more in depth look of the objects in the installation, subtly pointing out the connection between all the objects. 

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Continuing work inspired by Robert Rauschenberg’s ‘Combines’, blending between 2D art and Sculpture. I wanted it to feel graphic, almost cartoonish, using bright colours.

Integrating the female figure into the pieces (far right on the top row and middle on bottom row) and painting them in that green colour makes them look like cartoon aliens. Almost like the female form created in a 90s movie science lab or something.

The lip sculpture with the acid tab emotes this crude, slapstick humour. I just wanted these pieces to look fun, bold and a versatile addition to the drawings. I can move the composition of the lips creating this potato head-esque aspect to the sculptures. It’s interactive.

I also recognise how my mouth sculpture have resemblance to The Rolling Stone’s logo. In addition, I have taken loose inspiration from Emma Hart’s sculpture work. The simple lines, shape and silhouette with that cartoonish feel is something that I tried to replicate with the feel of my clay pieces.

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Clown face inspired by Lockdown Oil Pastel Drawings (above).

Inspired by @shewillgrowoutofit[’s] (on Instagram) Polymer Clay jewellery. I Wanted to continue this theme of almost caricature like oil pastel drawings and taking inspiration from that. Made out of clay and then painted over with acrylic paint, and hand made pompoms for hair.

Clowns in itself create an unsettling feeling and this can be explained by the concept of ‘The Uncanny Valley’. This concept focuses on how our brains perceive threats, clowns look almost human like and can seem innocent but our natural fight/flight response creates this unsettling feeling that something is not quite right.

This little clown head has this odd creepy feeling juxtaposed with its small size which has made this little character really enjoyable to make.

On the left is a digital collage inspired by Robert Rauschenberg’s ‘Combines’ and the Anti-Art Movement.

I wanted to create some work that is inspired by Rauschenberg’s “Combines’ whilst working inside the limitations of what I have access to at home. In the work that is strictly 2D, Rauschenberg, uses collage, layers of paint and other materials such as fabric to create this work. Right now I do not have access to even a printer that prints in colour so I decided to work virtually and include recent work. This includes a still from my Imagined world’s video (in the background), my clown faces in the foreground and another photo of myself.

The patterns on top were supposed to seem quite child-like, I wanted this piece to have that feel that it is a collage that you would make to hang in your room; something graphic and bold. I wanted it to feel like a children’s TV program on acid. Once I had completed it, it reminded me of Ant-Art work that centred around what appears to be the defacement of art. Like Anti-art I wanted this to reject the prior definitions of what is considered art and make something that is fun.

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Paper hat inspired by a DragonFly

With this hat I tried to create a delicate silhouette much like how Dragonfly’s are delicate. By using the brief and the research photos I logically went through a development and experimentations of different coiling of the paper and trying out different placements on the head, which, helped me achieve a look I liked.

I enjoy the way the veil piece adds this element of shadow and the coiled pieces of paper on top also cast interesting shadow shapes which add this element of texture to the piece on top of the white paper.

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Clay pieces inspired by Female form and the textile work I did.

The work on the right is a female bust, I wanted to make this graphic. The female reproductive organs, ribcage and even the nipple detailing are to express the objectivity women face. In general though I think it’s quite a fun piece, slightly crude and comical, and when it’s fired I imagine it to glazed in quite bold, bright colours possible yellows, pinks and blues?  

The two pieces on the left are a simple vessel manipulated to give the illusion of the feminine from. The angle of both of the pieces is to give off the impression of body language, a relationship between the two which is left ambiguous and for the viewer to interpret.

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Mark Making texture. Acrylic paint, oil pastels masking tape and watercolour. Using string, clothes peg and plastic knife and fork to create texture with the acrylic paint. Experimenting with layering with different mediums to create texture. 

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500 word essay using the prompt:

‘Provide 500 words about your favourite brand; you should explain how you feel the brand communicates with their audience and why you think it is effective.’

Link to the shoes I am talking about:

https://avavav.com/collections/shoes

Link to Beate Karlsson’s Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/beate.karlsson/?hl=en

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Essay on Marina Abramović.