Avert Your Eyes - Exhibition

DFSA Year 2 had the opportunity to exhibit our Maps and Networks projects in the Spinal Corridor of the University. This was really exciting, to be able to plan our own exhibition and how we wanted our work to be presented. 

Alice and I sat down and thought about how we would want our work to be exhibited. At first we thought about using the box in the middle of the quad space, as it would be a really immersive way of encouraging people to go into the space and become apart of what they are seeing. We planned to dress the box in all red, linking with the colour theme of our work.

However, this space was not available as someone else was exhibiting a different piece from another course in there, so we had to go back and rethink how we would make our work fit in the corridor.

We found a good corner space at the beginning of the corridor that also had a platform. Our idea was to turn the space into a 'bedroom', as if you are being immersed into a females bedroom, as we thought this would work well with the nature of our twin screen.

We did some brainstorming around what we would place in the space in order to make it an installation:

• red sheets
• cushions
• make up
• nail varnish
• tissues (wipe away red lipstick)
• tampons
• false nails
• mirror
• hair clips
• underwear
• pill packets
• items of clothing
• condoms / sexual health products

As we chose to place external items in the space, we would have to take relevant measures to make sure these would be safe, and nobody would be able to take them away. Therefore we stapled all the items down so they wouldn't fall off and cause a hazard but also so they couldn't be removed.

 Alice and I decided that we would have headphones for the audio of our twin screen. This would encourage people to actively interact with our piece, and also meant people wouldn't be able to hear it if they chose not to.

Overall we are really happy with the presentation of our work and managed to make it fit in the corridor space. I really loved being in control of exhibiting our own work and is something I would love to do again in the future.

Project Research - Erika Lust

Whilst watching a documentary series I was interesting on Netflix I came across an interesting erotic director called Erika Lust. 

The series is called Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On and as I was watching episode one, that's when I came across the director Erika Lust. Whilst being interviewed she spoke about how she thinks porn is mainly aimed at men, and how she wants to break that mould within the industry. Within her movies she mainly focuses on the role of the women, and likes to make erotic films that focus around the women getting pleasure, rather than just being there for the pleasure of men. 

Some interesting facts I found out about her:

• In December 2014, Lust hosted a TED-talk at TEDxVienna. In the talk, entitled "It's Time For Porn To Change", Lust urges people to question the modern state of porn, its messages and role as a sexual educator.
• The TED talk launched the start of her campaign #changeporn, an online campaign intended to challenge and change the porn norm.
• She graduated university in 1999 with a specialism in human rights and feminism
• Lust is currently producing short pornographic films based on crowd-sourced stories. Viewers can leave anonymous confessions on the project's website. Each month, Lust handpicks two stories and turn them into cinematic short films.

I found it really interesting to learn about her views on women in erotic films through this documentary, and I really like how she is trying to change the future of erotic films. I think this was good research for our project as it shows how women are standing up against just being involved in things for the pleasure of men, and certain industries are changing to empower women.

Installation Artist Research - Yayoi Kusama

The artist I have chosen to research is the fabulous Yayoi Kusama. I have always really admired her work and I find it super interesting, so I thought she would be a great installation artist to post on my blog. 

Since 1977 Kusama has lived voluntarily in a psychiatric institution, and much of her work has been marked with obsessiveness and a desire to escape from psychological trauma. In an attempt to share her experiences, she creates installations that immerse the viewer in her obsessive vision of endless dots and nets or infinitely mirrored space.

Thinking about our theme of Maps and Networks, I think Kusama's work is quite appropriate when thinking about our minds as a map of our personalities and our lives. Yayoi Kusama has created artwork to escape her thoughts and her minds, meaning her art can be quite relatable in this project. 

One of the pieces I really liked was her Obliteration Room installation, which started as a blank canvas but invited people to completely cover the room in colourful dots, bringing everyone together to help create the final art piece. It's interesting how the piece finally came together with the input of others, taking the control out of her hands entirely. 

I also looked at one of Kusama's most recent pieces, The Infinity Mirrors, which all display her seemingly endless artwork due to the use of mirrors. There are several different Infinity Mirror displays, the video below shows the use of LED lights to continue into eternity. Over the course of her career, Kusama has produced more than twenty distinct Infinity Mirror Rooms.

More examples of The Infinity Mirrors installations:

Artist Research - Sam Taylor Johnson

Sam Taylor-Johnson (formally known as Sam Taylor-Wood) makes photographs and films that examine, through highly charged scenarios, our shared social and psyschological conditions.

Taylor-Johnson’s work examines the split between being and appearance, often placing her human subjects – either singly or in groups – in situations where the line between interior and external sense of self is in conflict.

 When I looked at Sam Taylor Johnson's website, I realised that she's accomplished many different things, through many different mediums of art; film, photography, publications and exhibitions.

The first work I looked at were her self portrait images, titled Suspended. 

Suspended (2004)

Suspended (2004)

The series is quite stunning, really bringing a new idea to self portraiture and what it can mean to the artist personally. Taylor Johnson explained how her ideas behind the series were to capture the ideas behind being stuck between heaven and earth, between life and death, being free but not entirely. 

I also really liked her series titled Deep South. After being invited by Elton John to take a photograph for the cover of his album, Peachtree Road, Taylor Johnson found herself a gateway into the Deep South of America, taking some beautiful photographs.

Gate - Deep South (2004)

Sonny Moody Back - Deep South (2004)

Stars and Stripes - Deep South (2004)

This is probably the series I would identify as having a connection with the theme of Maps and Networks, purely for the simple fact that the task took the artist to a new location, networking with the locals and gaining a better understanding of the area. I think the pictures are really personal to the town, and you get a feel for what the area was like and how Taylor Johnson spent her time there. 

Some examples of her moving image work are the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) which was obviously widely spoken about upon it's release, and A Little Death (2002) which we looked at last year as part of our Experimental Media unit. 

In relation to our theme of Maps and Networks, I didn't really find much connection within this artist's work. Although I really admire some of her photography and moving image work, there wasn't particularly anything that stood out to me, or made me think about the theme. Although her work is really engaging it didn't seem to help me that much with regards to our theme.