‘A Social Landscape’
‘A Social Landscape’, was commissioned in 2017 for the House, festival in Brighton.
The theme for that year was ‘Excess’.
When making ‘A Social Landscape’, I was thinking very much about the role and
influence of culture in our society, (represented by the TV sets) it’s many layers and
manifestations and ultimately, how this plays out in our lives, through us and into our
environments. Does it bring richness, vitality and life? Or barrenness, apathy and
despair?
For me, making this piece brought up many questions around, who creates culture
and for what purpose? How does culture benefit or detract from the quality of human
experience? Is culture a liar?And ultimately, how do we as individuals, consciously
choose how we engage and contribute to culture in a way that brings value to
ourselves and others?
I felt it necessary when looking at these questions to put them in to context with the
finiteness of our lives. We don’t know what came before birth or what comes after
death, but maybe we can have a say in the life LIVED in the middle?
As with many of my works, this piece features characters such as:
The Bird, representing, a higher perspective, the informed overview and Buddha
nature
The Balaclava, representing, shadow, both personal and collective, that which wants
to remain hidden from view.
The T.V, culture, mainly the mainstream over culture of a given time.
Stripes, these represent the ongoing process of life and death, consciousness and
unconsciousness, wakefulness and sleep.