This artwork looks at the themes of ignorance, whitewashing, ostracisation and pushing issues and people to one-side.
The work focuses on different individuals all of who have and do come from different backgrounds but have experienced the problems of being overlooked, outcast, unheard and ostracised because of who they are, their identity, be that because of sexuality, gender, race, colour, religion, mental and or physical abilities, class, social standing, political views etc.
The work incorporates audio testimonies of people who have experienced these issues, speaking about how it came about, the problems they faced, how it effected them and how it made them feel, how they have had to deal with these issues based on people's ignorance and lack of understanding or willingness to learn or listen, and how they still have to face these issues on a daily basis, fighting to just be who they are and who they want to be.
The audio aspect of the work signifies the part of having to listen and put effort and considered energy into partly understanding the stories of these people. In the first iteration of this work five interviews of five different subjects are played through speakers all at once, one interview to one speaker, this creates a cacophony of sound making it hard to pinpoint and listen to each interview, but with effort a single story can be heard.
This is not the end for the audio as every five minutes the interviews jump to another speaker, forcing the viewer/listener to follow the interview on to the next speaker to continue with the understanding of that particular individual.
This is all to highlight how to really understand someone and their story, we have to put in the effort through time, energy and concentration, its not just a simple moment of listening to words, but it is the consideration and pensive reflection of these stories that give us at least a small insight into the story teller's world.
The second part of the artwork is the physical representation of these people, five large portraits which are presented to the viewer equally spread out in a large room, with two pairs that face each other from across the room and a single photograph that seems to stare back at the viewer placing them into the situation of the sixth representation.
Within this same room in the centre sits a large air-cannon, unlabelled for viewer involvement but ready for participation, the cannon represents the easy aspect of how people commonly deal with the themes of this work. The majority of people tend to push the subject's issues away, pass them over or cover up these issues, choosing the easy option of ignoring the facts and turning a blind eye, even going as far as to ostracise a person for the ease of not acknowledging the issue or educating themselves or trying to understand the situation.
This is normally down to ignorance, bias, stereotypes, arrogance and the fact that to understand the subjects can take time and effort.
The cannon is open for any viewer to fire at the photo it is positioned to face that day. If it is the start of the exhibition then the viewers do not see the effects of the prior shots taken, the covering up of the portrait and its subsequent damage. As the exhibit continues and subsequent shots are fired leading to the progression of the portraits being covered and damaged, opens up involvement for viewer participation. Having seen the previous days effects, throughout the gallery and on the portraits, the viewers are more inclined to enquire about the use of the cannon, but not its meaning. The viewer is free to use the cannon, with only their self contemplation and enquiry of the circumstance to indicate what they are doing and being a part of.
It is commonly after the effect and the firing that the viewer enquires to find out their actions and reflect on the effects of what has transpired, causing a sense of regret and an inner and outer conflict of explanation of why they fired the cannon, normally this is down to the unknowing and the lack of awareness, by not engaging and listening to the audio, of others situations and the cause and effect their actions have.
The portraits themselves become new artworks with every shot, representing the constant barrage of physical and emotional shots fired at the subjects in their lives, but also becoming something beautiful within their own right, almost a reference to the idea that we are the sum of all our parts, that it is our past that makes us who we are, that the trials and turmoils that we go though along with the positives make us who we are today.
With the idea of learning and hearing others situations and stories, these people who have been 'othered' by society are able to be heard and seen, and viewers can look to relate and see that others potentially like them have survived the situations of hated and oppression.
The work focuses on different individuals all of who have and do come from different backgrounds but have experienced the problems of being overlooked, outcast, unheard and ostracised because of who they are, their identity, be that because of sexuality, gender, race, colour, religion, mental and or physical abilities, class, social standing, political views etc.
The work incorporates audio testimonies of people who have experienced these issues, speaking about how it came about, the problems they faced, how it effected them and how it made them feel, how they have had to deal with these issues based on people's ignorance and lack of understanding or willingness to learn or listen, and how they still have to face these issues on a daily basis, fighting to just be who they are and who they want to be.
The audio aspect of the work signifies the part of having to listen and put effort and considered energy into partly understanding the stories of these people. In the first iteration of this work five interviews of five different subjects are played through speakers all at once, one interview to one speaker, this creates a cacophony of sound making it hard to pinpoint and listen to each interview, but with effort a single story can be heard.
This is not the end for the audio as every five minutes the interviews jump to another speaker, forcing the viewer/listener to follow the interview on to the next speaker to continue with the understanding of that particular individual.
This is all to highlight how to really understand someone and their story, we have to put in the effort through time, energy and concentration, its not just a simple moment of listening to words, but it is the consideration and pensive reflection of these stories that give us at least a small insight into the story teller's world.
The second part of the artwork is the physical representation of these people, five large portraits which are presented to the viewer equally spread out in a large room, with two pairs that face each other from across the room and a single photograph that seems to stare back at the viewer placing them into the situation of the sixth representation.
Within this same room in the centre sits a large air-cannon, unlabelled for viewer involvement but ready for participation, the cannon represents the easy aspect of how people commonly deal with the themes of this work. The majority of people tend to push the subject's issues away, pass them over or cover up these issues, choosing the easy option of ignoring the facts and turning a blind eye, even going as far as to ostracise a person for the ease of not acknowledging the issue or educating themselves or trying to understand the situation.
This is normally down to ignorance, bias, stereotypes, arrogance and the fact that to understand the subjects can take time and effort.
The cannon is open for any viewer to fire at the photo it is positioned to face that day. If it is the start of the exhibition then the viewers do not see the effects of the prior shots taken, the covering up of the portrait and its subsequent damage. As the exhibit continues and subsequent shots are fired leading to the progression of the portraits being covered and damaged, opens up involvement for viewer participation. Having seen the previous days effects, throughout the gallery and on the portraits, the viewers are more inclined to enquire about the use of the cannon, but not its meaning. The viewer is free to use the cannon, with only their self contemplation and enquiry of the circumstance to indicate what they are doing and being a part of.
It is commonly after the effect and the firing that the viewer enquires to find out their actions and reflect on the effects of what has transpired, causing a sense of regret and an inner and outer conflict of explanation of why they fired the cannon, normally this is down to the unknowing and the lack of awareness, by not engaging and listening to the audio, of others situations and the cause and effect their actions have.
The portraits themselves become new artworks with every shot, representing the constant barrage of physical and emotional shots fired at the subjects in their lives, but also becoming something beautiful within their own right, almost a reference to the idea that we are the sum of all our parts, that it is our past that makes us who we are, that the trials and turmoils that we go though along with the positives make us who we are today.
With the idea of learning and hearing others situations and stories, these people who have been 'othered' by society are able to be heard and seen, and viewers can look to relate and see that others potentially like them have survived the situations of hated and oppression.