Joseph Dwyer

Assessment 2: Final Work

Assessment 2: Final Work

Boilersuit

My work challenges and refocuses notions of value and purpose, forcing viewers to be confronted by the conflicting elements they contain and from this develop a response – be it disgust, or a greater understanding. It is this which constitutes an act of rebellion, simultaneously contravening and adapting elements of expectation and convention (both in the world of art and design and in everyday life). Further, the sense of conflict, discomfort and even disgust generated is something which I believe is integral to creating contemporary rebellious works.

While I always intended to create a work which projected contemporary ideas of rebellion through the media of fabric and clothing, the actual process of doing so (and my original expectations) changed somewhat from the end of assessment one to the completion of this work. For me, assessment 1 explored rebellion at a very microcosmic level, contravening my own sewing/mending practice and the expectations or rules I had placed on myself. Building off of this, my initial research for this assessment looked at the history of rebellion in art and in dress, and at contemporary artists whose work blends both of these together – conveying socio-political messages (and often rebellious ones) through their work with textiles. While my ideas here were still somewhat vague, I did have a sense that I wanted to build off of the first assessment. However, inspired by ideas from our class tasks and following an initial photo shoot, the premise of my work shifted. While it still focussed on textiles and retained the aspect of pushing back against established expectations, I had found a specific focus (and one more separate from assessment 1, though still informed by it).

Consequently, my work focusses on value, and how the juxtaposition of ‘dirty rags’ with more conventionally beautiful artistic methods create confusing and often discomfiting responses for audiences. This idea of discomfort was primarily drawn from my observations of the reactions of people involved in my project, and the implications of this. Classmates who originally offered to model for me reneged on this when they heard my intention to use rags, and the model I finally found expressed disgust and even fear when confronted with these materials. These surprisingly vehement responses generated new ideas for me, and an awareness of the powerful effects that such a juxtaposition of ideas had the potential to generate.

Each individual ‘vignette’ in my final work present conflicting and antithetical elements. They both embrace and reject artistic tradition and conventional notions of beauty and value, and this juxtaposition of concepts has the ability to generate a surprisingly strong reaction. They are all (in some way) aesthetically pleasing, and reference artistic and creative conventions (such as colour theory, lighting, and composition), however they retain an underlying tone of discomfort, perhaps even disgust: “They are beautiful, but of ugly things.” Viewers feel as if they are “being manipulated subtly because of this”, and the conflict generated makes it difficult to judge the images or assign conventional value labels. However, if they can “feel (their) way through the fear of not knowing how (they’re) supposed to feel about these books”, they can emerge on the other side “with a better understanding of how (they) actually feel about them.” [1]

This conflict, and subsequent confusion and discomfort, is a key factor in creating contemporary rebellion in art. By refusing to comfort and placate audiences, such work rebels against the very institutions which are often key to its acceptance and survival (and that of the artist). Furthermore, being made uncomfortable is “a powerful way for us to learn what we care most about, where our boundaries really are”, by prompting viewers to question: “Why don’t I like this?” or “Why does this make me feel uncomfortable?” [2] While my work certainly isn’t perfect and only explores this reaction to a relatively small degree, with minimal risk to either artist or audience (be it economically, socially or emotionally), it is still an attempt to do so and as such confirms these notions.

 Footnotes:

[1] Miki Johnson, “Why Good Art Makes You Uncomfortable”, Medium, https://medium.com/@heymikij/why-good-art-makes-you-uncomfortable-a7f2c19e96b8 (accessed September 18, 2018).

[2] Johnson, “Why Good Art Makes You Uncomfortable.”

Bibliography:

Ally, Brooke, Christopher LG Hill, Nicolas Ceccaldi, and Rare Candy. "Boulevard 1st Day." Centre For Style. http://www.centreforstyle.org/boulevard1stday.html (Accessed September 12, 2018).

Arts2Arts. "Is Art Still Rebellious?" Arts2Arts Online Magazine. https://www.art2arts.co.uk/magazine/is-art-still-rebellious/ (Accessed September 13, 2018).

De Marly, Dianna. “The Nature and Purposes of Dress.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/dress-clothing/The-nature-and-purposes-of-dress (Accessed September 6, 2018)

Genocchio, Benjamin. "All Dressed Up at the Katonah Museum of Art." The New York Times, August 21, 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/nyregion/23artswe.html (Accessed September 14, 2018).

Johnson, Miki. “Why Good Art Makes You Uncomfortable”. Medium. https://medium.com/@heymikij/why-good-art-makes-you-uncomfortable-a7f2c19e96b8 (Accessed September 18, 2018).

Tucson Museum of Art. “Dress Matters: Clothing as Metaphor.” Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block. https://tucsonmuseumofart.org/exhibition/dress-matters-clothing-as-metaphor/ (Accessed September 14, 2018).

Some of these photo shoots focus on the rags worn/used in my original photo shoot with a model, such as the boiler suit and the purple shirt, while others instead focus on other rags I have been collecting and storing in my room as inspiration and in preparation for an opportunity such as this.  

While I think they have all turned out fairly well, I am a lot happier with some than others. My favourite shoots are of rags 2 and 3 - collectively, I think they have turned out the best. I quite like a few individual shots in the boiler suit shoot, however as a whole it is less effective (I think) than these two. On the other hand, I am least happy with the first rags and the purple shirt. 

While these are already just a selection of the photos I took, I will still cut this number down considerably, and only choose a few pictures from each shoot to use in my final work. Considering I am less happy with some shoots, I may even choose to exclude them entirely, depending on how many I choose from others which I like more. 

A collection of the rags used in my intitial photo shoot with model. 

Over the weekend I conducted a photo shoot, in which different selections of the rags I have collected and made were modeled on a human body. I would also like to take some photographs of the same rags, but in a different context, perhaps in piles or boxes, on the ground, to see how that changes their meaning and the way we view them. 

This is a selection of the photographs I took, and I would like to cut this number down further for the final assessment, however I have yet to decide which ones to use, especially in the final ‘outfit’. I am also considering whether or not to edit any of the images. At the moment I am leaning towards just leaving them as they are. I quite like the very simple, pared back look they have - it stops them looking too much like a modeled photoshoot (that is the same reason my model didn’t wear any makeup or do anything fancy with her hair, though I know some of the shots are quite posed), and also adds to the somewhat grungy aesthetic of the rags. It does make the photos seem somewhat washed out, but again I quite like this effect, as it reflects the rags themselves, which are washed out versions of their original selves.

The Centre for Style:

Assorted works from ‘Dress Rehearsal’, 2016

Photos from the 1st day of ‘Boulevard’, by Rare Candy 

Josh Minkas poem:

I found this poem posted on the website alongside some of the artworks, and really liked it...

The light through the window 

and porous vinyl sticker the way someone buys those pickles in bags or what I thought was soda ash  sprayed like a paint ball  across three lanes and the jersey wall There are things to look at beyond agitation beyond the appearance of the trees  or a mirrored pond I just haven’t seen them out here My subject is  the light on my face and the shadows the reflections in waters through a slatted gate partial and abstracted get it? but also the way that makes me feel My mind is the weight of foamed milk so I wrote  it down an emergency poppet  I’ll make on the fly in the perfect likeness of this tiny melancholic  ignorance “Go where I send you” like this, ending, In the end the zodiac answers all  our questions  finally – Josh Minkus, 2015

Relational Art:

This might be an area of art to look at closer - it seems to relate to the ideas I am looking at in my work: “Relational art or relational aesthetics is a mode or tendency in fine art practice originally observed and highlighted by French art critic Nicolas Bourriaud. Bourriaud defined the approach as "a set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space." The artist can be more accurately viewed as the "catalyst" in relational art, rather than being at the centre.”

Dress Codes: Clothing as a Metaphor exhibition:

Contains the work of 36 contemporary artists who use clothing as material, inspiration, or mefium. 

A pile of second-hand women’s clothing, ‘Where Do You Begin’ (2003) by Derick Melander

Cyanotype by Adam Fuss

Valerie Hammond, ‘The Birds Had Flown I, II, III’

“Dress Matters: Clothing as Metaphor examines clothing in art as symbols of power and identity. At once functional and aesthetic, garments are worn to protect the body from the elements, enhance the beauty of the wearer, establish rank in society, and signal to others our differences or similarities. Garments also point to interpersonal issues and conditions as well as larger societal and cultural concerns. Works in this exhibition reveal how artists use concepts and images of clothing to relay compelling messages about gender, age, ethnicity, history, profession and the world around us in general. Dress Matters: Clothing as Metaphor is accompanied by a 64-page catalogue, produced for the exhibition and published by the museum.”

Bibliography:

http://www.centreforstyle.org/dress-rehearsal.html

http://www.centreforstyle.org/boulevard1stday.html

https://www.textileartist.org/

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/nyregion/23artswe.html

http://www.katonahmuseum.org/gedownload!/dress%20codes%20press%20release.pdf?item_id=899001&version_id=899002

Experiment 2: knitting with rags

Firstly, I tore up a large variety of rags into long strips (or as long as possible, depending on the size/shape of the original material)

I then knotted these lengths together to form something akin to string or yarn. (I also rolled them into a ball, for both ease of use/transport and because this is the way yarn is conventionally stored)

I then cast them onto the largest pair of needles I owned, and started knitting. I tried to fit as many stitches onto one row as possible, which ended up making it quite cramped and somewhat more difficult to knit, however I think it will be worth it in the end as I will have a larger piece to work with.

Experiment 1: constructed/fake “rags”

above: paint sludge left over from cleaning oils off of my paint brushes with turps/solvent - I used this as a way to create the appearance of dirt/wear on my “rags” by soaking sections of it in this liquid. I also rubbed dirt into the surface (sourced from my garden)

I like the outcomes of this experiment, however think I could definitely explore it further. I would like to look at different ways of documenting and/or presenting this (or similar) items, and see how that changes their appearance and how we perceive them

Extras/leftovers - possible areas for further experiments?:

I had quite a lot of scrap materials leftover from my knitting, and certain pieces of these partially deconstructed garments/objects have taken on an almost sculptural quality of their own (as pointed out to me during a discussion in class, week 6). Could I use this/similar items as part of my work? e.g. using purposefully deconstructed/degraded clothing, or even clothing patterns themselves (which share that similar idea of shape/form). This is an area to consider.