Thursday, August 16, 2012

Exploration 6: Maquette Making.





Hard to know where to start with this one. It's a beginning - but of what I don't know. There's a wardrobe with a coffin type feel to it (nice), the clothes metaphor - which I'm insisting is a metaphor because I don't want to come out of this looking shallow - and a bit of a figurative quality using those legs for the wardrobe. Or rather some Ostranenie as Paul corrected me defined it. I like the Ostranenie idea because I think a lot of what I'm trying to say is about the inner world of the self in opposition to it's outer world. And how we consider our inner world - and who we are - as taking place within us which is ironically the flesh, blood, bones - the physical rather than the metaphysical. Getting confused? These ideas keep tangling up in my head. I had a great chat with Paul about anatomy and all his work on this topic and how the problematic physicality of the body - how it gets ill, ages and decays back into the earth - is what in fact brings us most into contact with who we are or our humanity. Which is kind of ironic. But true I think. For example I recently heard from a psychologist friend about a 95 year old man who had come to her for help, the first time in his life he had ever sought psychological help. My reaction was, wow, imagine, he's probably had some trauma in his young life and it has taken him this long to find the courage to deal with it and how inspiring that it is never too late to heal and evolve. Amazing......Unfortunately it was nothing that inspiring. The 95 year old man was seeking help because he was starting to lose some mobility (!!!) and the thought of surrendering some independence was giving him anxiety attacks. I know that the idea of a 95 year old still in great health and rarely having had a day sick should be celebrated but I found this man's story (surprisingly) sad. When our body lets us down it brings up a lot of feelings - anxiety for one - and to not have to work through some anxiety and reap the growth and awareness that brings until 95 just seems sad. And contrary to the human experience. 
Well, enough now for the analysing. Time to move on with photoshop and x-rays and see what comes of that...


1 comment:

  1. Wow!!! Love it with the chest/heart inside Jo, very powerful. On a larger scale this could be very confronting work indeed. On the current scale the association with dollhouse furniture affects my response....though many of them (the wardrobes) together would be interesting. I am keen to see what happens next.

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