30.6.20 Living sculptures, performance or participation?
Movement:
When Body cocoon 2 is worn, it becomes much more dynamic and interesting, I think. It becomes a Living sculpture. I think that the movement really shows the sculpture at its best. Knitting has obvious links with clothing, and subsequently, the body, and here it's the body within that makes the sculpture come alive.
Performance or participation?
Normally my Living sculptures are participatory; I invite my audience to wear them, but at the moment that's obviously not possible, so only I have worn this sculpture so far. (I have asked my partner Dave to wear it, but for some reason he'd rather take photos!) Have a look at the research and development behind my Living sculptures and a number of my participants in action in 2018 at 'disquiet' exhibition at Walcot Chapel and 'Make Space' at Bristol Museum, in 2019 at 'B-Wing' and just before lock down in March 2020 at 'For Art's Sake'. I am a reluctant performer, but I like inviting other people to perform! I wonder when I'll be able to invite people to try on my sculptures again? I've asked a friend who is a dancer and choreographer, whether she'd be prepared to do a photoshoot and/ or video with my work in lock down, and she's said yes, so I need to organise that. Contamination is an issue but if she leaves the work in quarantine for 72 hours after I deliver it, it should no longer be a problem.
Private or public?
Wearing this sculpture, which hides me completely, is actually fine, in private, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be doing it with an audience. Maybe it would be fine, maybe it would be excruciating? Maybe I should find out? At the moment, the only place to find an audience would be to wear it out in very public spaces. I have done this once before, in 2012, when I wore another of my wearable sculptures around the local shopping centre in Bristol. Have a look at Plastic surgery, 2012 on the Performance page my main website.
When Body cocoon 2 is worn, it becomes much more dynamic and interesting, I think. It becomes a Living sculpture. I think that the movement really shows the sculpture at its best. Knitting has obvious links with clothing, and subsequently, the body, and here it's the body within that makes the sculpture come alive.
Performance or participation?
Normally my Living sculptures are participatory; I invite my audience to wear them, but at the moment that's obviously not possible, so only I have worn this sculpture so far. (I have asked my partner Dave to wear it, but for some reason he'd rather take photos!) Have a look at the research and development behind my Living sculptures and a number of my participants in action in 2018 at 'disquiet' exhibition at Walcot Chapel and 'Make Space' at Bristol Museum, in 2019 at 'B-Wing' and just before lock down in March 2020 at 'For Art's Sake'. I am a reluctant performer, but I like inviting other people to perform! I wonder when I'll be able to invite people to try on my sculptures again? I've asked a friend who is a dancer and choreographer, whether she'd be prepared to do a photoshoot and/ or video with my work in lock down, and she's said yes, so I need to organise that. Contamination is an issue but if she leaves the work in quarantine for 72 hours after I deliver it, it should no longer be a problem.
Private or public?
Wearing this sculpture, which hides me completely, is actually fine, in private, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be doing it with an audience. Maybe it would be fine, maybe it would be excruciating? Maybe I should find out? At the moment, the only place to find an audience would be to wear it out in very public spaces. I have done this once before, in 2012, when I wore another of my wearable sculptures around the local shopping centre in Bristol. Have a look at Plastic surgery, 2012 on the Performance page my main website.
Plastic surgery, 2012, performance in Cabot Circus, Bristol, 3rd May
Images: Jonny Baker
Images: Jonny Baker
Plastic surgery: This sculpture, Plastic surgery, was made out of a selection of brightly coloured plastic bags from clothes shops, so I wore it to go shopping. It is interesting to think how times have changed in the 8 intervening years; now it's very rare to come away from shopping with a plastic carrier bag! This sculpture, and the subsequent performance, made visible the very real issues about body image and size. As I reflected afterwards, I was surprised how little response I got. Jonny did manage to get a few photos of smiling onlookers though. Maybe it's because Bristolians are used to strange things happening around them? Maybe it's because I didn't purposely attract attention or interact with my viewers? Maybe I would need to do that?
