30.6.20 Body cocoons: private or public?
Cocoon: Maybe it needs to be worn and photographed in private? Unlike my normal more public knitting, this was made exclusively at home, either alone or with Dave, over the first 38 days of lock down. It feels much more private and intimate because of that. Knitting brings me comfort and calm. This was literally my comfort blanket in those first roller coaster days of lock down. I notice that I've barely posted about it on social media, which is unusual for me. I still haven't even posted images or the animation of the finished sculpture. Why? Am I not pleased with it? Is it somehow outside my comfort zone? Is it discomforting to make public something that has accompanied me though these difficult days? So much of my work is precisely about that; about making public things that are normally private, so surely this fits very well? Yet somehow, I haven't done it, yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.
More private vs more public: This does remind me, obviously, about the extreme polarisation of my audiences that I observed in my work during the last module. My Wishing trees reached very wide and diverse audiences, in public spaces, but also online; my Body cocoons have only been seen in their finished state by me, my partner, my tutors at assessment and, fleetingly, by my part-time peers on the MA. Maybe you, dear reader, and others, have stumbled upon this website as well? I have reflected further about Body cocoon 1 here. Since my assessment I have also completed Body cocoon 2 and have started to reflect on it here... but I haven't yet made it more public by posting images on social media. Maybe my Cocoons need to be more private, for now, at least? It is strange though, as now is the time that people will relate to them strongly, I think, while we're still in lock down limbo in the UK. I need to think more about all this....
More private vs more public: This does remind me, obviously, about the extreme polarisation of my audiences that I observed in my work during the last module. My Wishing trees reached very wide and diverse audiences, in public spaces, but also online; my Body cocoons have only been seen in their finished state by me, my partner, my tutors at assessment and, fleetingly, by my part-time peers on the MA. Maybe you, dear reader, and others, have stumbled upon this website as well? I have reflected further about Body cocoon 1 here. Since my assessment I have also completed Body cocoon 2 and have started to reflect on it here... but I haven't yet made it more public by posting images on social media. Maybe my Cocoons need to be more private, for now, at least? It is strange though, as now is the time that people will relate to them strongly, I think, while we're still in lock down limbo in the UK. I need to think more about all this....
