Pre-digestive tasks and proposal shaping.(Independent Research Week and Week 27).
After a very personal time reflecting on the territories my work explores and being conscious of my desires regarding future investigation, I realized I wanted to work with the relation between the intrapersonal sphere affecting the interpersonal relations. By personal experiences I´ve always considered that intimate time with oneself is essential for emotional health. I was diagnosed depression a year ago, and most of the reasons for my sadness came from the stress caused by those who surrounded me.
During an amazing period of therapy I was allowed to realize that the creation of a personal sphere allowed me to have more control on my emotions. The cheesy saying of "You can live forever if you have your own world" became an anthem. I stopped caring on people´s expectations on me and felt relieved. Since then silent long walks have always helped me to put my mind in order.
On my first proposal ideas I was plently sure that I would propose how essential is nowadays to have time for self reflection, as we are surrounded of a world that bomb us with e-information all the time. By proposing this, I felt I would give a fair proposal for a better life.
However, Sebastiao Salgado´s series on "Sahel" (Unit 7 Research page), changed my point of view. This brazilian photographer documented the terrible humanitarian crisis in West Africa. A famine that killed millions, targeting specially children. Some critics, like Susan Sotang, critizice his work by commenting that his delicate caring of aesthetic don´t make the audience conscious of humanitarian crisis, but rather allow them to stay in a passive role of contemplation towards the beauty of misery.
However, the amount of photographers and artists that ventured towards Africa to make something about this crisis in minimal. I thought that my first thesis allowed people from stable economies to only care on themselves, which is really important anyway, but can lead to lack of empathy and comformism.
Some of the elements that shocked me the most of Salgado´s works is that these shocking photographs took years to publish, although it was essential to call the world attention to West Africa´s crisis. Salgado, seen first as a photographer, was not allowed to publish "ugly" pictures that nobody would ever buy. But when he became to consider himself an artist, and "Sahel" as an art project, he was finally able to spread his work. The high esteem people puts the art practice on gives the practitioners themselves a huge power and responsibility.
Art seen as a device to call the public´s attention to situations of crisis, of terrible events that should not be ignored, is possibly one of the most exploitable qualities of our profession. Having said that, for the artist to claim to the public toward staying in their "personal private spaces" seems to me like a call towards conformism.
I am moving my work towards the aspect of social justice and empathically concerned toward worldwide situations.
First main intentions taken out from PPP.
In certain countries is every time less needed to engage on social interaction for obtaining such basic needs, like food or transport. The modernization of processes, such as food ordering in internet, have allowed certain countries to become more efficient by avoiding certain human interactions.
Mankind was strongly dependent on social connections for survival in previous historical contexts. This is no longer the case in the westernized world, therefore, is collective engagement an inherently human need or an old evolutionary response?
Our perception of social interactions have also been shaped by technology. Material dialogues are not the only medium for communication, as it has become largely written and digitally immediate. Considering the overwhelming amount of e-information that surround us, how is the modern individual supposed to act? , by creating private spaces toward a better self-understanding? , or by keeping socially connected in order to seek for a world of fair conditions toward everybody?
During this project I will develop a series of reflections on how humans balance the relations towards themselves and to others .I will raise debates on how we understand private spaces and limits; how we interact within society and to what extent we seek towards our own benefit or other people´s wellness.
Link and Art and Anthropocene outcomes.
Because of proper time overlapping I was allowed to link my unit 7 with my Art and Anthropocene project.
My final focus point for Art and the Anthropocene was the idea of natural disaster; the fact that humans give it that name as if nature was to blame for, although in reality nature behaves in quite predictable ways, but humans are the ones who decide to ignore these "mechanisms". This sort of catastrophes normally involve a failure in architecture or infraestructure, which is always a human failure.
My strongest inspiration was the 2003 eartquake that destroyed Bam Citadel, Iran (Art and the Anthropocene Research and Sketchbook ).A single event fully eroded the city, as it was fully built in adobe and the infraestructure was old and fragile. Because the adobe immediately dissintegrated, and because all the structure was made of adobe, people were covered by tons of dust, which led to several deaths and little percentage of survivors.
For the Anthropocene project I made a series of small sculptures. My starting point was to collect wood sticks . My first attempt was to use these shapes to create a series of structures that could have some stability. By almost accident I kept them for a long while outside, and realized how rotten and covered in parasites they were getting. I was interested in the idea that, just because of a natural process, my possible structures would become so weak that will eventually break.
At the starting of materializing the Art and Anthropocene, I made a series of exercises based on Sebastiao Salgado photographies , which can be consulted on my sketchbook. At first I wanted to work with literal photographic references of an event I stil haven´t found information to know what the picture was about or where was it taken. I tried to materialize them, turning the set of upside down plates into something more conceptual. My first attempts to do so resulted on pieces that looked too handmade and a bit childish. I was planning to link this outcome to the wood sticks recollection, but it seemed forced overall.
I decided to come back some steps and stay with my strongest ideas. I felt the need to manipulating my sticks. By talking to Susan I realized I was interested on the growing of fungus and the process of decomposition, but I also wanted to clarify that this project had a lot to do with human intervention and invasive manipulation. I starting manipulating the materials as I felt their previous characteristics. I respected the parts that look the most "wild". The rest I cleared it and painted it white.
My idea was to reference in some way the city of Bam. I made the map of Ban with wood and used those shapes to create plastic moulds, in which I later put the sticks and covered them with resin, allowing most of the stick to stay outside. By turning them upside down I made a curious irregular surface. Because of time restrain I could not keep the reference to the map, so I ordered my pieces in a sense that referenced more the idea of an earthquake or a catastrophe.
After different showcase proposals, that can be consulted in Sketchbook, I realized that the pieces worked together better without the map-like base of wood. By playing with the irregular shapes I was allowed to order them in a way that it gave a feeling of a place where a destruction has happened. I wanted my work to feel catastrophic, but still serenous and clear. In order to make a direct relation to my research I followed Alan´s consultancy on the importance of the title. I ended up naming my work "Citadel of Ban, 2003", that links not only the place but the exact event.
I recieved positive comments on the exhibition, but time restrain didn´t allowed me to recieve sufficient feedback from either my classmates or tutors. I want and can use this project directly to my Unit 7. I am aware that there is a concept connection as both projects talk about empathy, our almost political importance relation towards others.
Further experimentation on privacy and respect on people boundaries.
I am exploring the private space in terms of barriers of empathy at the moment. I want to create a dialogue on how much empathy people feel towards others, and how is it manifested either visually or on behaviors.
For my next step I am going to "misrespect" the space of others. I may make a huge newspaper, that actually look realistic, and open it on a public space. The amount of space the newspaper use and how the person reads it indicates to what extent is he/she taking in consideration the comfort of others.
By doing so in these specific areas, like the tube, I have to consider the ethics behind it; at the end I don´t want to harm anyone at all. On the other hand, by moving my experiment to other context it may lose the strenght of meaning.
First performative experiment on the tube.
I wrapped myself using a bandage on the tube seats, as well as standing up whille the train was empty. I was looking for reflecting on the use of space, and the selfish aspect of it. The experiment was simple and of little depth, but it allowed me to imagine the possibilities of space usage.
Performative experiment at London Overground. (More images shown on sketchbook).
Second performative experiments.
This time I fully covered myself on lycra. I pushed the concept further, as the process of creating a private space goes more literal. I covered myself involving the places I had in hand (chairs, sofas). I was concerned on the visual representation, as I was interested on actually showing my human silhouette and the silhouette of the objects.
I chose lycra as I was trying to create a relation with my previous experiments on Sebastiao Salgado's dining table. The idea was the covering. To leave the reference to the actual object, but putting a barrier between "it" and the witness.
The metaphor of covering can be both simple or complex depending on the material that is being covered and the context in which it is shown. When I spoke to my tutors for previous advice in this performance I mentioned that, due to the violent context back in my country, people reacted with fear to anything that was covered. Because of the war between the government and the drug cartels, mexican have seen several times in news the terroristic actions, in which cartels kill people and cover the sometimes dismembered bodies with plastic bags.
By covering questions such as "why is it being hidden?", "what is worth hiding?". By not knowing the nature of what is actually behind I consider that my performance may create uneasiness toward the viewer that sees me in such a common context.
Then again, the context. Within an art school in England it is not that upsetting to people. To a certain extent it passes unperceived . Within such an individualistic society people may think I am not making coursework, and they may even perceive it as a reasonable action towards the creation of privacy. People do pretty much the same with blankets as they attempt to fall asleep. Inside a lycra can even seem like a logical idea for staying cozy within such a public space.
The experience on the making was to a certain extent predictable and still surprising. I stayed covered on lycra around 10 minutes in each place. Nobody approached to me. Nobody asked me the purpose of it, not even security. I was able to see a couple of questionable gazes. People were not afraid.
I think that I could create a more shocking experience by changing the context. At the moment I am not sure on whether I do want to involve performance on my final exhibition. By the nature of my topic it is almost expectable to involve the participation of a person, however I am not sure on whether I would prefer the piece to be experimented by people or letting the public see me while I experience the installation.
I want to raise questions on the search and need of privacy, also understood as isolation or indifference to either people or the surroundings. I think that, after experiencing the sensation of being inside lycra for so long I feel that this dramatic need of privacy can become suffocating. There is a balance point in which the sense of privacy is both sufficient and comfortable (imaging it as a lycra cube that surround me) , and there is a further moment in which it can become paralysing.
I want to create that sensation of shifting almost by accident. I relate this outcome to the intention of the Art and Anthropocene , in which I worked with the sensation of catastrophe, and the fact that humans can commit harm by not even noticing. Natural disaster as the idea of a human imperfection that became a disaster. I imagine how someone becomes comfortable within a enclosed but still friendly space , and by unintentionally moving something by accident the environment can become threatening.
Kaori and Allan´s Feedback.
Two weeks remaining for the final evaluation, I spoke to my tutors on my sculpture proposals and I was given many questions to bear in mind. Kaori helped me to reflect on having such a complex massive system of movement, and to what extent would the final sculpture would succesfully reflect my original intention on the exploration of space. She was more interested on my second set of performances. By talking to her I realized that working with my body has been quite succesfull, and these proposals removed that essential part of my experimentation. I was also given the option to better work more on performance and leave the sculpure for a future, longer project.
After the feedback I realized that I have shown a strong idea development through performance and I found it very likely to be used together with the sculpture. Also, by being myself the performer, I could make the manual movement easier . So far my proposals are dead ideas now, I have less time to make the final piece and will need to simplify some element to actually finish the piece properly and on time.
First proposals on sculptural project.
After the performative experiments on personal space I started thinking more physically on how would I link my final outcome to look like. Since the beginning I was aware of my interest on exploring space and relation between objects. Thinking on my topic that proposes the search of a dichotomy public/private, empathy/isolation , I made some proposals on a kinetic sculpture , involving large wood sticks and elastic fabric. The final purpose was to shape a large space into a highly enclosed one. The intention was to work with tension and wrapping.
On my first attempts I considered to make the movement mechanical and possibly programmed. My intention was for the artwork to move and function without the need of someone operating it . I made some proposals with different types of movement, such as linear and pivotal. I also explored more possible pivotal points than just one.
By talking about it with my tutors and event with close friends, I came to realize that mechanical movement involved techiques I don´t have, and a lot of time to learn them. As I decided that it could be irrealistical , I made new proposals on manual movement, which involved a larger series of sticks that will eventually create this sense of tensions.
Susan´s feedback and new Idea development.
On the night between Alan´s feedback and Susan´s, I started experimenting and thinking on how could I keep a similar spatial idea to my previous proposal, but involving the performative side and keeping the space as functional and essential and possible.
I came back to the idea of empathy/ apathy, in terms of creating a dialogue in which these concepts become more physical. Again, the main purpose of stretching fabric was to create ephemeral changing spaces ; enclosed ones that could be opened again.
As the mechanical movement was technically impossible and the body movement resulted to be one of my strongest outcomes, I decided to involve the performance as myself moving the different sents of the sculpture along the way.
Since the beginning I had in mind to build either a chair or a seat. Then I remembered this children´s game in which four kinds stand with their torsos up, facing the ceiling and standing with their legs and arms at first; after each child has located their head on the legs of the other child, they are able to stand still without their arms, creating a squared support. I came up with the idea of a game, in which the performer could move the single pieces around the space, but could also build a table by properly intercallating these four parts.
The advantages of these four movable pieces would be the possibilities of spaces to be created, as well as the playfullness and the possibility to attract the public.
Reflections on homelessness.
After my talk with Susan I thought more on the main reasons in which people look for privacy in public spaces. I remember that I only used to have in mind situations in tube journeys ,or on libraries, but possibly homelessness is one of the most interesting and heartbreaking ways of space appropiation.
As Susan said, being homeless sucks. Streets are surrounded by morons at night, people who would normally annoy homeless people by no reason but just utter lack of basic values. For these unpriviledged people, the nights become the hours of most uncertainty and less peace, including the cold weather. Therefore people´s mental health highly deteriorate as they have no time to rest. The everyday becomes survival.
I unfortunately dont have pictures , but on Berlin I saw a homeless man´s tent just behind the high balcony of a wealthy house. I found it so resilient and heartbreaking the attempts of these people to have a bit more of a decent living.
Affected by these thoughts, I felt more sensitive to these events involving homeless people. By then I have remembered that my Witness Project for Part 2 was also largely inspired by homelesness. On the following days I kept track on the homeless people sleeping on the public gardens around my house. For mere respect I decided not to document my findings. I realized that the midday or afternoon are times in which some homeless people had long , seemingly recovering sleep time.
The day becomes the less hostile moment of their schedule. Some of them used blankets to cover themselves, some others just layed on the grass. In those days I came with a possible title, inspired by this reflections, something like "A place to sleep in the park", or "Sleep at daylight", or "Daylight sleep in the park".
For my performative piece I will attempt to establish a respectful relation of the situation of homelessness and the search of privacity and rest in public places. I consider that performance will be, for this project, the most efficacious method of communicating my concepts to the audience. I am starting to plot a plan for my performance.
Thoughts on the making of the piece. Week 28 and 29.
-My first step was to think on a game that played with the idea of empathy. I was thinking on playfulness, on a game. As I was no longer able to think on mechanical movement, I considered more independent L shape pieces of wood that, together, could create shapes together.
I remembered this game as a child in which four people would stand with their chest facing the ceiling, holding their bodies with their hands and feet. After the people´s heads are being hold by other people´s knees, they can stop holding with their hands. They make balance by working together.
I made some simple , small models with paper of these L shapes that, together , could create a stable table.
Then I started considering simplifying the shape and size of the previous proposals on the sculptures. After percieving that my project was getting even more materilized I started seeing all the difficulties that will come on the formal making.
I went to Archway worshops with my plans I was told very basic failures , such as my sculpture being pretty much like a bench; as I was planning to pull the columns by joining it with fabrics , the technician told me that it was pretty clear that the sculpure would fall straightaway. Then I started considering on holding the sculpture to the wall for it not to fall. Now I had another problem: I would have to change my previous plans on space; before I asked my tutors to assign me a place away from walls and now I definitely needed a wall, hopefully a corner.
I started making the L shapes for the table. I unfortunately had lost a lot of time by that point as I had failed proposals, plus I was on Easter Break and workshops were closed for several days. Therefore I got the wood for the table on an independent store,and then I built them by myself. I realized how much time more I spent on making these parts outside the workshops, and I had little idea on wood working, but I had to make any improvement.
The second element involved would be lycra or elastic fabric. This was an essential element as it was directly linked to my previous performative experiments. Martin Soto Climent and Ernesto Nieto was my main reference on the possibilities of elastic fabric. I personally consider that my classmates in Foundation have used fabric several times, as it is relatively easy to manipulate and highly expressive.
Performance Schedule Proposal. Week 30
I have my intention clear, to communicate the idea of privacy, space ownership and the involvement of the witnessing audience on the process of searching for "a place to sleep".
As mentioned before, I am interested on a sensation of opening/enclosing. I feel that I would have my movements slightly planned. Now that I have my table built and I have been playing with the location of the fabrics around the place , I could start playing with how would I manage to move the pieces around the space.
This part of my process was a long primary research in which I experimented with moving the pieces in all ways possible; to realize how pieces interact with each other and for me to feel comfortable while moving around the space. It has been a process of solving things by trials and trials. I realize that it can be complicated to move the pieces around, as they are heavy. Also, if the movement has no order or control, it is very likely for the fabrics to get stucked and terribly knotted to each other. I want the fabric to use space and be elastic enought to be playful. If it gets confusingly stuck the concept its not going to work.
By decisions of safety and aesthetic I decided to get rid of one L shape, leaving only 3, so that it could relate more to the triangle square of the skeleton . I also covered all the pieces with fabric, for the work to feel more cohersive.
Beforehand I had been thinking on my outfit to have a relation and usefulness to the concept. I decided that I also wanted to play with the shapes of my possible garment.
On the coming days I have been experimenting with different types of fabrics. It was important to me that the fabric:
- was elastic enough to allow movement
- was slim and light so that it could show the body shape more easily
- looked a bit unperfect, and wrinkled.
I came back to my research for looking at elements I searched before and that could relate to my concept. I was again fascinated by Sebastiao Salgado´s portraits of Sahel people. I saw their garments again, light toga like dresses that allowed people to cover from the harsh sun, which was a helpful visual reference.
P E R F O R M A N C E S C H E D U L E
10,11,12 AND 13 OF MAY
- I will arrive to the sculpture area wearing my performance garment. I will make no eye contact or establish any conversation with the public.
- I will either open or enclose the space by moving the pieces one by one.
- At a certain point I will hide myself on the fabrics, fully covered. I will stay covered for 3 or 5 minutes. Then I will leave the place by not moving the pieces again.
- On 20 minutes or so I will come back, and will move the piece again . If the place was very enclosed I will open it more. If the place was very open I will enclose it. Regardless of the place ended up enclosed or open, I will lay on the floor fully covered with my dress everytime I will perform
- This constant movement will make the sculpture take variable shapes during the days of the exhibition, and I will strong caring on all the orderings of the piece to work aesthetically, always considering the shapes to be stable enough to avoid accidents of wood falling.