Fine Art Degree - Final Project
The theoretical backdrop to this project stems from the theories of Jean Baudrillard and his assertion that modern media and consumer society deprives us of individuality. Everything and everyone can be bought and sold and identity is reduced to a commodity. Increasingly, status, material wealth and physical appearance have come to signify our worth in western civilisation. Emphasis is put on towing the line, being ‘normal’, following suit and being the same. Often we unwittingly mould ourselves in to what we think we should be at the expense of individuality and diversity. The fulfilment of cultural expectations finds us lacking independent thought and compromising individuality. Our fragile identities slip through our fingers like sand. Coupled with this is my interest in disregarded scientific methods, used to analyse and categorize people, often used as a means to attack or undermine physical and racial differences, and exploited for political narcissism. Modern scientific techniques used to improve, heal and explore the body may be forbidden in future, as we continue to delve deeper in to understanding physical possibilities, treading the thin line between deformation and perfection, and provoking ethical questions about the destiny of the human body.
The experimentation and repetitive production of my own likeness in a variety of materials, each with differing degrees of permanence, seeks to reflect my own irrelevance, lack of self-determination and loss of sanctity. The choice of materials, such as soap and chocolate, has been informed by Janine Antoni’s exhibition ‘Lick and Lather’, in which she references changes to the formal values of classical and generic human form, female and British identity by emphasising their demise. Likewise, Marc Quinn’s use of impermanent materials in his mainly figurative work has informed my practice, particularly ‘Self’, a ‘death mask’ made out of his own blood.
My research has presented me with reinterpretations of the human form and the results can be simultaneously both fascinating and disturbing. I have attempted to recreate a similar atmosphere in my own work, by using personal aspects of myself which express and represent me as an individual – my image and private diary. A dispassionate replication using digital techniques, common manufacturing methods and by drawing from second-hand images.
It was my interest in sand that initiated this body of work, and its tendency to only temporarily hold an image or be moulded in to shape, before it dries out or the sea reclaims it. Sandcastles can be an analogy for mortality. We build ourselves up in to what we think we should be for our brief existence before we deteriorate in to dust. Like the sea, death is the ‘great leveller’ and a reminder that we should strive to be true to ourselves rather than pale imitations of each other.
What has been most revealing during the production of this body of work is that the reproduction of my own image is not consistent but provident. Each cast, each photocopy is different, distancing itself incrementally from its original form. The means of production, the techniques employed and the equipment on which I have relied all embody an unavoidable and progressive inaccuracy.
The experimentation and repetitive production of my own likeness in a variety of materials, each with differing degrees of permanence, seeks to reflect my own irrelevance, lack of self-determination and loss of sanctity. The choice of materials, such as soap and chocolate, has been informed by Janine Antoni’s exhibition ‘Lick and Lather’, in which she references changes to the formal values of classical and generic human form, female and British identity by emphasising their demise. Likewise, Marc Quinn’s use of impermanent materials in his mainly figurative work has informed my practice, particularly ‘Self’, a ‘death mask’ made out of his own blood.
My research has presented me with reinterpretations of the human form and the results can be simultaneously both fascinating and disturbing. I have attempted to recreate a similar atmosphere in my own work, by using personal aspects of myself which express and represent me as an individual – my image and private diary. A dispassionate replication using digital techniques, common manufacturing methods and by drawing from second-hand images.
It was my interest in sand that initiated this body of work, and its tendency to only temporarily hold an image or be moulded in to shape, before it dries out or the sea reclaims it. Sandcastles can be an analogy for mortality. We build ourselves up in to what we think we should be for our brief existence before we deteriorate in to dust. Like the sea, death is the ‘great leveller’ and a reminder that we should strive to be true to ourselves rather than pale imitations of each other.
What has been most revealing during the production of this body of work is that the reproduction of my own image is not consistent but provident. Each cast, each photocopy is different, distancing itself incrementally from its original form. The means of production, the techniques employed and the equipment on which I have relied all embody an unavoidable and progressive inaccuracy.
Doppelgänger.
Skull.
Lepidoptery II.
Doppelgänger.
Bronze, Candle Wax, Chocolate, Soap, Sand, Jelly (converted to mold over the course of the exhibition) and Ice (melted within two hours from intitial display).
Chocolate (detail).
Soap (detail).
Bronze (detail).