This session went very similarly to the one yesterday afternoon. One interesting bit of feedback I did get was that the work made them think about how we might be remembered in the future in the same way that we remember the past. For example we remember Britain’s role in the slave trade as as abhorrent and inexcusable, yet at the time many thought it justifiable and pragmatic. Another example is how we think about medical treatment in the past as ridiculous (humours, bleeding patients, wandering wombs etc.) yet today people believe that drinking juice will remove ‘toxins’ from your body, or that proven medical treatments such as vaccines are dangerous. In the future people might find our casual use of antibiotics unbelievable given that it is very likely many strains of bacteria will become more resistant or totally resistant to all forms of antibiotics.
It’s interesting to consider that in the future people might look back at our insatiable quest for finite resources as horrific and unimaginable, which could frame and inform their own cultural values.
This one went much better than the session on Monday, I was a lot more confident in what I was saying and had spent some time thinking about what histories I could create for the objects. It was still a bit cursory though and I think the whole idea needs more development to give it authenticity and a feeling of depth. Speaking to Jen afterwards she recommended going into more detail about the objects and my findings, talking about why I came to the conclusions I did and also incorporating world building into the narrative; e.g. referencing a dig done three years ago in another part of the country.
Afternoon Performance:
This was definitely the best one yet, I felt so much more confident in what i was saying and who I was. I also tried to build on what Jen said about giving the objects more in-depth backgrounds, I think that I could still refine that aspect but that’s something to take forward into the rest of the term.
My voice is a little quiet but you can still hear what I’m saying (recommend headphones)
One thing I am realising as I’m repeating the sessions and embroidering the stories more each time, is that I really like the idea of finding things and interpreting them from the perspective of a future archaeologist. When I go down to the river estuary I want to take record some footage and maybe incorporate that into a field diary style narrative. Jen suggested making a ‘finds table’ like actual archaeologists would and using that to consider what actions would result (like cleaning/restoring objects). I could also play with the documentation of both the fictional work and the coursework.
There’s also the spiritual aspect of the work; I don’t think I should be trying to invent customs and beliefs at this point in the course because they’re so time consuming. Instead I think I should try and adapt existing traditions such as well-dressings and reimagine them in my proto-future. I feel like it would also be helpful to think more about folk art/culture, things made by ordinary people for their own use or the enjoyment of others, rather than conjuring a hugely complex belief system that would probably not be as easily taken up by the population – mainly because it’s just so hard to make that feel authentic. This would build on my focus on traditions last term, especially if I concentrate on the spiritual aspects of folk traditions rather than an all-encompassing spirituality.
As a side note, everyone’s been very positive about the sound collage and I think that’s definitely something to keep working with, especially if I can make video alongside and push digital decomposition in both formats – Jen suggested being an archaeologist in the near future and then review the footage from the far future for example.
I did my first performance today and about 6 or so people turned up. I’ve been thinking about the nature of the shelter as something that’s used whilst foraging/hunting and how that dictates the actions I make.
My idea so far was to gather (forage) objects that I’ve found around campus and to tell false histories about them, as if they’ve been dug out of the marsh by a future forager. This grew from thinking about sharing space and supplies with people like we did in ancient traditions of hospitality (all the stories of people punished for not welcoming strangers are because they broke those laws), alongside the importance of storytelling and oral traditions within cultures and when amongst strangers. I think this can develop over the next couple of days as I gather more objects and become more comfortable inhabiting the shelter and body of a person from the future.
Today’s performance ended up focusing on how to develop; I played out my idea of narrating stories about objects and then had a mini-group crit with the people to attended, which was very helpful. The main aspects to improve was: my conviction in what I’m saying, collecting more things and developing interesting and surprising narratives around them, mixing recognisable objects with unrecognisable objects, and incorporating the audience more by letting them share in the narrative more. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be feeling more confident in myself and will have made a more scripted plan of how to speak/move – I’m going to bring in receipts, stones etc. I think the main focus is to build a feeling of authenticity
Megan and I have made a small pop-up exhibition to experiment with how to display our work and to see how it fits together as we have really similar ideas. It’s been helpful to just create an installation outside of assessments so that I can play with inhabiting space. I’m doing four performances over the three days the exhibition is up to see how they develop. I also have access to a green sheet so I might try and set up a green screen type rig behind the shelter and get some photos/footage to incorporate into other work.
I collaged together sound from my recordings of the solstice at Stonehenge and of birdsong in New Zealand, alongside recordings from Yellowstone National Park that have been made available to the public (https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm)
I’m really happy with how this has turned out, after talking to Nathan in his office hours I’ve tweaked the ending and tried to compress it/play with altering its sound qualities. Digital decomposition is definitely something I should explore further
I researched Mary Mattingly this time last year, but I want to revisit her and look more in detail at her Flock Houses and work exploring alternative living in the future.
Waterfront Development, 2013
“As a public experiment, Triple Island is an approach to living in a future New York replete with an acceleration of environmental challenges. We want it to address the importance of decentralizing our basic resources by creating a regenerative living system that provides food, power, shelter, and water for its inhabitants from natural systems.” – on the Flock House project and Waterfront Development from the artist’s website: http://www.marymattingly.com/html/MATTINGLYTripleIsland.html
Mattingly’s work is incredibly relevant to my practice, her focus on how humans adapt and survive in changing environments is very important; the focus on decentralisation of resources and self-sustenance is something that I was exploring last term. I think this term I need to develop and think about how that changes our behaviour and our interactions with the world, if we’re in a floating house then how does that affect our perception of travel and distance? There are so many ways that our understanding of our surroundings changes when our ability to move within it changes.
I do worry that maybe my work and concept is too similar to Mattingly’s, I think one way to counter this is to really focus on how living in these environments and our interactions with them influences our folklore and art traditions. The evolution of spirituality in the face of environmental change is definitely the crux of my practice and I need to remember that and not get sidetracked by the science/research aspect of my projects. I think when I’m making artistic decisions I should try and ask myself how they relate to the spiritual/folkloric side of things and what their impact on the meaning of the work is.
The parallel between the claws of the birds of prey and the cranes is really cool to watch, the car becomes the mouse and I can imagine the crane as a huge owl surveying its hunting ground. The parade is also interesting because it shows the strange eccentricities (e.g. the furniture makers had little chairs on their hats) of the UK and juxtaposes that with military strength and worship; there’s definitely a strange element to our culture where we celebrate the quaint and odd whilst also portraying ourselves as this elite and powerful country with a massive imperial hangover. https://www.jeremydeller.org/EnglishMagic/EnglishMagic.php
Tar Barrel Rolling, Devon, 2004
Snowdrop the Mechanical Elephant by the Clare Family, Cumbria, 2004
I think that Deller’s work documenting these old and new traditions is so important, this is the kind of stuff that can be so easily forgotten or lost if people stop doing them. Also I think we forget how deeply creative we are and how much goes on in the UK. It’s important to remember that there is a continuous folk tradition in the UK, even if some places and things lapse from time to time. In terms of my practice that’s a key piece to hold in my mind, that I’m not making up traditions out of nowhere, but considering how they might have changed over time and space – which is definitely something that I forget sometimes. So remembering that these things are constant and evolving is going to be key to developing my work I think
“This project began with twin investigations of Morgellons (a syndrome, … whereby the sufferer finds fibres, crystals, and other alien objects under its skin); and melting icebergs. The project considers the disappearance and reappearance of crystals (both water crystals and those found by Morgellons suffers) as simultaneous and related embodied crises, as crises of boundary integrity. The work has developed to investigate melting polar ice caps both as traumatised bodies, and as a crisis that can only be rectified by traumatised bodies, since via Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), we already function as time machines (PTSD is always in the present that’s why you can’t hide from it. As if there is a hole between timelines, or, a glitch. Your body in the present disappears, or, is overlaid by your body of the past, the no-longer-yourbody of the event.” – from Linda Stupart’s website about her work After the Ice, Deluge 2017-18
Her work seems quite eco-feminist, the idea that the environment is intricately linked with the women who interact with it. To explore that in a more direct way by viewing both as bodies is really fascinating to me. Should I be considering the Anthropocene as something more embodied and autonomous? This term I think I need to develop the relationship between people, land, folklore/art and how all these things have changed and adapted together – maybe thinking of the land as a body would help.
I attended the Winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge this year, with about 5000 other people. We arrived at the site at 6am and then walked to the stones, as you walk there are loads of people with drums and horns walking with you so the atmosphere is amazing. Everyone gathers inside and around the stones as we wait for sunrise, there’s a lot of sage burning so that can make it hard to breathe. As the sun rises the leaders of the ceremony bless the new year and welcome the sun. People stick around for a couple hours after this celebrating with dancing, music and community gatherings (a lot of Druid families attend and all meet up, there was even a Druid wedding).
It’s a humbling experience and the stones are incredibly large, so much bigger in real life than you can imagine. There are a lot of interesting outfits such as robes, antlers, medieval dresses, staffs and a guy in a fluorescent chicken costume. The dancing was also really interesting to watch because it’s not really like anything I’ve seen outside of the solstice – it’s very trance like and focused on responding to the music, rather than performing for others (although a lot of things were very performative particularly with younger attendees – there were hundreds of selfie sticks). There was also a whirligig doing laps around the henge whilst playing accordion.
LFlynn Research Blog 