2. Statement
Self/Other, public/private, inside/outside, order/disorder, form/formlessness, pleasure/displeasure - Self and Other, examines these binaries and the spaces between them. Boundaries provide certainty; considering them as thresholds acknowledges them as flexible which leads to disquiet. This prompts not only danger, but also power (Douglas).
Eleven weeks’ isolation is an intriguing way to re-establish my studio practice; where is my studio and who is my audience? I’d intended to experiment with new materials and processes, but instead I’ve researched familiar techniques further, leading to unexpected outcomes. It’s made me think differently which has led to new ways and places to make and show my work.
Self and other syncretises two seemingly disparate aspects of my practice, making and facilitating. My knitting has become more private, and my participatory art more public. I normally knit in public, but, knitted exclusively at home, Body cocoon becomes my Self, a wearable sculpture, yet also a series of photos of the same, unworn, in my domestic spaces; embodied, yet abject. Situating Wishing trees not only in public spaces but also online has engaged a much wider and more diverse audience; the Other becomes the passer-by, the stranger. Between Self and Other, in these strange times, is a very real contamination anxiety, a discomforting threshold (Kristeva).
Siting art in spaces other than a gallery adds meaning (Kwon); documenting Body cocoon in the domestic sphere where it was knitted brings gender and feminist thought to the fore (Butler, Parker); ‘planting’ the Wishing trees in the public sphere (Habermas) adds a political element (Ranciere). The polarised responses to the Wishing trees illustrates clearly the balance between relational aesthetics (Bourriaud) and relational antagonism (Bishop).
Process and time have been critical in both works too. Although the outcomes are very different the processes are similar. Each is labour-intensive, each records the passage of time (Bergson). Cumulative repetitive physical actions - knitting, ripping, writing, walking, tying, connecting, documenting - mark time and link the work to my body, but also to my conscious and unconscious mind, as automaticity (Czsiksentmihalyi, Wagner and Wheatley).
My studio is where I am - my home, my garden, public spaces and social media; I either have no audience or a much wider and more diverse one. In the spaces between fluid boundaries, I’ve been ‘knitting together’ Self and Other using people, places, actions and concepts, even when there’s no knitting involved. I am the connector.
For more information, see 24.5.20 Reflections on Self and Other
Eleven weeks’ isolation is an intriguing way to re-establish my studio practice; where is my studio and who is my audience? I’d intended to experiment with new materials and processes, but instead I’ve researched familiar techniques further, leading to unexpected outcomes. It’s made me think differently which has led to new ways and places to make and show my work.
Self and other syncretises two seemingly disparate aspects of my practice, making and facilitating. My knitting has become more private, and my participatory art more public. I normally knit in public, but, knitted exclusively at home, Body cocoon becomes my Self, a wearable sculpture, yet also a series of photos of the same, unworn, in my domestic spaces; embodied, yet abject. Situating Wishing trees not only in public spaces but also online has engaged a much wider and more diverse audience; the Other becomes the passer-by, the stranger. Between Self and Other, in these strange times, is a very real contamination anxiety, a discomforting threshold (Kristeva).
Siting art in spaces other than a gallery adds meaning (Kwon); documenting Body cocoon in the domestic sphere where it was knitted brings gender and feminist thought to the fore (Butler, Parker); ‘planting’ the Wishing trees in the public sphere (Habermas) adds a political element (Ranciere). The polarised responses to the Wishing trees illustrates clearly the balance between relational aesthetics (Bourriaud) and relational antagonism (Bishop).
Process and time have been critical in both works too. Although the outcomes are very different the processes are similar. Each is labour-intensive, each records the passage of time (Bergson). Cumulative repetitive physical actions - knitting, ripping, writing, walking, tying, connecting, documenting - mark time and link the work to my body, but also to my conscious and unconscious mind, as automaticity (Czsiksentmihalyi, Wagner and Wheatley).
My studio is where I am - my home, my garden, public spaces and social media; I either have no audience or a much wider and more diverse one. In the spaces between fluid boundaries, I’ve been ‘knitting together’ Self and Other using people, places, actions and concepts, even when there’s no knitting involved. I am the connector.
For more information, see 24.5.20 Reflections on Self and Other