Hada cross-crit with Pil & Galia Kollectiv's group in which my work was selected for crit. I showed Skin Flick, 3 Wounds, along with A3 prints of my collages, some animated .gifs & a couple of finished Flash animations. Opinion in the group was divided as to which media was the most effective in getting across my ideas, with a majority coming down in favour of the collages & animations as being the more powerful.
This confirms what I have already been thinking, and is the reason why I have devoted my time to making the collages & animations rather than painting. Following Marshal McLuhan's theory of "the media is the message", using digital and time-based media is a far more appropriate way of conveying the ideas I am trying to mediate in my work. I'm focussing in on consumption & identity, and how that relates to the human body in today's globalised and digital world, therefore using the medium of today's world, which is digital & time-based, to communicate ideas about today's world will through its form alone, be a more effective piece of work.
In my practice one of the things which I refer back to constantly, which informs and affects the work I make is the slick, but ultimately wholly empty, promises of the ad-men, beckoning us all to buy more, consume more, and ultimately to be product. In trying to rip the veil away from their deception & expose its hollow interior, I know that by turning their communication tools back upon them I will reach far more people than I ever would by painting.
"Alea jacta est", as Caesar said. I will put away my brushes and paint for now, and focus solely on digital and time based pieces for the degree show. However it leaves a sad hole in my heart, as I love to paint. I love the texture of paint, its greasy malleable feel. I love the physicality of paint. My challenge for the future, after my graduation, is to find a way that my practice can incorporate both digital time-based pieces and painting.
No comments:
Post a Comment