Performance, AR7007
14.8.21 This is a private, impromptu performance with one of my stitched PVC body bags. I find the distortions and reflections of the plastic fascinating, the way it reveals and conseals parts of me. It makes my body fragmented, which fits well with other aspects of my research. After my research into knitting with monofilament, I wonder how this material would change if it was left outside? Something else to investigate....
The dimensions of the bag itself is based on the dimensions and volume of my body and is strongly influenced by all my recent work with Body cocoons for MF7002, Self: Body cocoon , the development of that in Parts of me, 2020 for MF7003, and as performance with my more recent Body cocoons for MF7003, my Body cocoons and metal Body cages for MF7004. and also my knitted monofilament Cocoons.
I feel as if there is more to explore here, but this was a moment (well, an hour or so) during the making process. This Body bag is now stitched around one of my knitted pieces as part of my final exhibition. For that process, and the final products, see Stitch AR7007
The dimensions of the bag itself is based on the dimensions and volume of my body and is strongly influenced by all my recent work with Body cocoons for MF7002, Self: Body cocoon , the development of that in Parts of me, 2020 for MF7003, and as performance with my more recent Body cocoons for MF7003, my Body cocoons and metal Body cages for MF7004. and also my knitted monofilament Cocoons.
I feel as if there is more to explore here, but this was a moment (well, an hour or so) during the making process. This Body bag is now stitched around one of my knitted pieces as part of my final exhibition. For that process, and the final products, see Stitch AR7007
12.9.21 I feel that strong performative elements have been developing in my practice throughout the MA. Most of my performances have been private, with an audience of one (my long suffering partner and videographer, Dave) or even without an audience. I have started videoing myself, or using time lapse or stop animation to animate my work. I am certainly a reluctant live performer but I still knit in public whenever and wherever I can. I have been out and about less during the pandemic, so my knitting has been much more private, but I have documented some of my knitting in public as I knit therefore I am.
I think that my desire to wear and interact with my work with my body actually stems from a desire to animate it, to give it life. My research into Shelley's Frankenstein is highly pertinent here. It also helps me to see/become part of the work. I think again of how Nathaniel Stern describes embodiment as ‘moving-thinking-feeling’ (Stern, 2013, p2). Through the MA I have discovered that, like him,
'(c)entral to my work are the feedback loops between sensation, experience, movement, and understanding. What do we sense, and how does that make sense? Where do we move, and when are we moved? What do we value, and how does that change our values? Materiality and embodiment, affect and perception, transformation and time. I want to foster greater dialogue around these complex and relational ecologies' (Stern, no date).
The mark of my hand has long been critical, but I now have a much greater understanding of the role of my body in my practice. I’ve been researching ways to embody these complex ideas through the mark/s of my body, as the physicality of casting and metalwork has involved the whole of me. I’ve been drawing with metal, using the form and force of my body; casting my feet and hands has involved hours of intensive emotional and physical labour; I’ve used the dimensions and volume of my body as a template. I see it as the labour of performative making.
I think that my desire to wear and interact with my work with my body actually stems from a desire to animate it, to give it life. My research into Shelley's Frankenstein is highly pertinent here. It also helps me to see/become part of the work. I think again of how Nathaniel Stern describes embodiment as ‘moving-thinking-feeling’ (Stern, 2013, p2). Through the MA I have discovered that, like him,
'(c)entral to my work are the feedback loops between sensation, experience, movement, and understanding. What do we sense, and how does that make sense? Where do we move, and when are we moved? What do we value, and how does that change our values? Materiality and embodiment, affect and perception, transformation and time. I want to foster greater dialogue around these complex and relational ecologies' (Stern, no date).
The mark of my hand has long been critical, but I now have a much greater understanding of the role of my body in my practice. I’ve been researching ways to embody these complex ideas through the mark/s of my body, as the physicality of casting and metalwork has involved the whole of me. I’ve been drawing with metal, using the form and force of my body; casting my feet and hands has involved hours of intensive emotional and physical labour; I’ve used the dimensions and volume of my body as a template. I see it as the labour of performative making.