Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Why You Should Give Your Daughter a Potato: A Guide to Inter-vegetable Feminism

'Aspirational' fashion dolls are destroying your child's self esteem.

Give them a potato instead.

Potatoes have no gender, race, religion (that we know of), or sexuality. They are neither able bodied nor disabled. They have no political agenda, no concept of beauty or fashion. All that a potato is and can be depends on one person - YOU!

Aspirational fashion dolls are marketed toward children aged 3 and over, however most are post-pubescent, fully grown women. Women who already have their own sense of fashion, career women with double D breasts and a husband and a horse named Dancer. They are selling a fantasy, but they are selling this singular, unattainable fantasy to millions of young individuals.

If Barbie was a real woman her neck would be too weak to support her head, her internal organs would be seriously impaired, she would have chronic diarrhoea. Dolls do not have to be realistic but they do represent an ideal, is Barbie an appropriate ideal for your children? Besides, children are more potato shaped than child shaped, therefore a potato would be more appropriate.

Potatoes are blank canvases, if you are interested in fashion you can create outfits. If you enjoy adventure take your potato out into the wild. If you like to cook, you can make mash potato. They are easily available to children from all financial backgrounds and surprisingly sturdy.

In conclusion, ditch Barbie. Dig up a spud.

Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Egotism and Fruit

Sailor Potato

For the next part of the Relay project I was given Lily's project, she was inspired by a bean shaped sculpture that she interpreted as a potato. And thus, Sailor Potato was born.

I am going to make a collection of maquettes featuring Sailor Potato and her vegetable friends. I have never watched Sailor Moon but it was a prominent feature during my childhood.

Sunday, 19 October 2014

Ego

Wikipedia

To be an artist you have to be somewhat egotistic. You can claim to be above praise and criticism but even that is slightly narcissistic. 'I have so much confidence in my work your words mean nothing.'

My approach to this prompt has changed course. My first response on Friday evening whilst looking at Kathy's sketchbook was to listen to this 'Strange Fruit,' a haunting account of lynchings in the Deep South.

Later that evening I had a long conversation with my friend about egotism at a folk gig in Bankside. We spoke about Facebook, celebrity, and privacy. The two ideas convened in my head, there is a narcissism to racism after all.

The song is about the behaviour egotism breeds, or how egotism breeds egotism. Or possibly even how egotism can produce nice things. Or terrible things. It's a lot of feeling hidden behind a jaunty folk tune.

Caravaggio's Narcissus

Saturday, 18 October 2014

Weaving

Two Women Weaving Linen at a Horizontal Loom

Weaving has existed as a craft since before 7000 BCE. Traditionally it is a task undertaken by groups of women as a method of recording stories or episodes of history. It is associated with mythological figures such as Persephone, who's endeavours with the loom were recorded in Homer's Odyssey.

Persephone weaving the Funeral Shroud

Although an ancient craft, it has become popular recently. Below are some examples of modern wall hangings meant for decoration. They are very beautiful but lack the story telling element of traditional woven art.

Weavings by SonadoraInLove

Wall hanging by PinballFairy

I would like to combine the two and create a piece that depicts the narrative of Kathy's sketchbook as well as mimics it aesthetically. I lack a loom but have discovered a simple weaving technique I believe I can have some success with.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Drawings from Shoreditch

These drawings were made whilst out and about in Shoreditch.

And these drawings were made afterwards, we were asked to make images from memory:

https://vimeo.com/109053679

Saturday, 11 October 2014

Vulnerability

I watched a TED talk about vulnerability. I took two things from it:

1. Happy people are pleased to be vulnerable.

2. Unhappy people are ashamed to be vulnerable.

'Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart."'

We lost a family friend two weeks ago. He was not much older than me and his death was a shock - more than a shock, a fucking earthquake. I can not imagine anything more frustrating, more confusing, more devastating than to die so young with so much left to do. When my parents look at me now they see a 'what if' and a 'could have been.' We have realised the potential of our hurt.

About a month ago a woman who was not a family friend died as well. She was young, sick, and not perhaps as loved as the young man who died. She was not a model of morality. She was angry, prejudiced, and abused. I can't help but compare the two, the way the people living in the fall-out zones have reacted. Two post-mortems. One memorial. One bail posting.

It feels simplistic of me to convert these lessons to the creative endeavour, to argue that good art requires vulnerability. I question everything I do, right now I'm questioning this blog post. Am I sharing too much? Is this appropriate? Fuck it. I don't know whether I'm happier being vulnerable but I certainly won't be ashamed of it.