This presentation will be about my current influences in the world of art and what inspires me and my own personal practice. I will be looking at whose work has been pivital and inspirational towards me creating my own project and the work that's influenced them. I shall explain the concepts driving my work forward and who's also explored these conceptural areas. I like to understand the concepts and theories behind things, how things have been done and why? I would like to focus a large part of my presentation on a few particular works by certain practitioners who i've taken an interest towards. I will also evaluate how art has evolved throughout the recent times and how we view art as a whole today.
At the moment i'm interested in the work of MTAA (M.River and T.Whid Art associates.) MTAA was founded in 1996. It's their '1 year performance video' that im particualarly interested in. The performance video is portraying a the process of a simple net diagram (1997).
I see MTAA's performance work as an ironic link to the work I have been making on my previous project. I've been trying to find uses for humans wastage however MTAA are moving in the other direction creating and exploring new ways to create art. They are using the modern technology available to create a new medium of work in today's age. "1 year performance video" caught my eye whilst researching but what also interests me is the idea that this evolved from. Hsieh's "one year performance" (1978-1979) also known as "The Cage Piece." MTAA replicate Hsieh's performance, adapting it to the internet age.
http://www.turbulence.org/Works/1year/performancevideo.php
Alike with my performance, Hsieh spent a period of time confined in a space, however he spent an entire year living within a cage. He documented himself throughout this time with photographs. My performance was alot shorter but both in-fact were psychological tests of the human's strength and state of mind. I think I achieved similar findings to Hsieh but Hsieh pushed the boundaries alot futher than I did.
The performance is a statement about how human activity and life experiences are being replaced by computer's. Similar to my "Between these four walls" it defines new media's ability to manipulate our perceptions of time, make us believe that what we see is always the truth and more so relevant with my work, how modern technology has a huge amount of interference with our private lives.
I came across these signs a while ago. They are created by hundreds of artists from all around the world. They are scattered all around the city of Lyon in France. I like the irony that some of them portray. They are almost the voices of people that otherwise cannot be heard. Similar to my sign they look real enough to make people notice them. I can imagine the reactions these signs have provoked, there's a good sense of humour about the project and I would have loved to have been involved. I drew inspiration from this huge project whilst practising my own work.
These signs give off all sorts of different signals, it would have been interesting to see peoples responses. I think art has definately become more public, you see art everywhere now and alot more people are involved with it. I think this project in Lyon is a great example of people joining forces to create something brillia
I find the use of text interesting, pictures and images speak a hundred words so people can make up their own beliefs of what it means, but when text is involved it really makes people think because you feel the need to know what it means. This is the reason I put text on my sign.
Mark Wallinger is an example of an artist who uses alot of external issues that he is passionate about to create his work. He's an artist im familiar with and I thought it would be good to show his work. His performance piece "Sleeper" represents the cold war and the separation between Germany around that time. He’s almost walking down the middle of the gallery which is emphasising separation and a divide between the country. I found this performance fascinating for many reasons. He actually did this work in the Neue National gallery (Berlin) which is hugely ironic as most of the cold war took place in Germany. He’s discuises himself as a bear. He stresses that the bear is neither scary nor approachable to kids or adults and that at certain times of the night when he walks round nobody takes any notice.
Personally I think that it’s to do with how in the cold war so many people were forgotten and how many people died. And the fact that nobody even cared to notice. The word FORGOTTEN is very important because it means no memory, which is why I think he chose the gallery to be empty. I believe it’s a huge metaphor towards the cold war, with irony but also Wallinger’s personal hurt. I understand the importance of the polital issues in his works; they are very important and influential to him.
My project has been very rewarding so far, i,ve learned many things I did not know and discovered some great artists who have inspired me along the way with my work. Also i've learnt more about myself and the way I work, performance art has been a challege for me but i've enjoyed it.
I began to using the sign down sandwell valley which is local to my house. I thought that it would be a good starting point where people would see my sign. It turned out that when I took my sign and displayed it there were virtually no people around I couldn't create my work. I came up with the obvious conclusion that it needed to be somewhere which was busier and where more people would interact with it. I thought of a few ideas in the public where I could put it, for instance shop windows, road signs and car parks. Some of the ideas I had to scrap because either they were illegal but more seriously dangerous, for example covering up important road instructions. The idea I deemed to be the best was to place my sign near a car park pay meter, somewhere unavoidable for its users. This was a lot more successful in terms of how many people actually seen my sign, it was unmissable. I recorded my findings with photographs as I would be recording people secretly and taking photo's is quicker and more convienient than video. I was aware that I would probably be approached if I was caught video recording people. I took my photographs from my car which was parked the ideal position.
