Working title
Outer space/inner worlds : borders, invasions, warfare tactics.
Aims (1 or 2) + objectives (6)
Research the way our subconscious reinvents reality and our surroundings. the various dynamics between the outer world and the individual’s inner worlds.
– the subjective perception of things around us. using photography and video, media ironically considered documentary and objective
– the surrealists said cinema was like dream made physical. explore the possibilities of video to make dreams/inner worlds (mine or from imagined characters) “real” and share them with others. Especially immersive video installations can create more “real” feelings than just video on a screen. explore than as way to engage in a deeper level of communication with the audience.
– how private space is a physical projection of the occupier’s inner world (both liberating and oppressing projections)
– the house and more generally private space and its importance for the intellectual freedom of individuals
– as a consequence, tactics of controlling individuals’minds by manipulating the private space available to them. madness/sanity border questioned from an “external” viewpoint: i.e. undesirable but “sane” people locked up to get rid of them (political illness)
– coping tactics developed by individuals in response to that. madness/sanity border question from a more internal viewpoint: i.e. alienation slowly becoming madness, where exactly is the border ? “mental escape” (fugues) to avoid unpleasant things.
Context
Historical
My main inspiration is Surrealism and its aim to reconcile the accepted reality with the individual’s imagination, in order to reach a superior reality(“surreality”), encompassing more levels of perception. In particular: dreamscapes (Dorothea Tanning, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst), wandering and “metaphysics of space”, simulation of madness.
Visionary artist both recognised (William Blake) and “outsiders”.
Dada and its critic of the absurdity of modern life.
German expressionist cinema, and its interest in madness
Urban exploration and psychogeography within situationnism and beyond.
Cinema that blurs the line between a character’s imagined vision and “real events” (Ingmar Bergman’s “Hour of the Wolf”, “Persona”, “Though a glass darkly” , Polanski’s “Repulsion”, Resnais’ “Last year in Marienbad” etc …)
Contemporary
Contemporary art aiming to reclaim public space, such as Simon Poulter’s projections on the Houses of Parliaments and the White Cube gallery.
Modern psychogeographers such as Iain Sinclair.
Filmmakers: David Lynch, Ihor Podolchak.
Video Artist Markus Schinwald.
Urban exploration subculture.
Critical theory
I want to make Art that is open to be enjoyed on different levels, and does not require knowledge of other Art or specificic cultural references to be appreciated. The key to that is the surrealist concern that Art refers to “Life” not just previously made art, so that a person without cultural reference can enjoy the piece relating to their life experience. Obviously, because previously made art is a very important part of an artist’s own life, the piece will be influenced by various art references. This is OK as long as it is just an innocent reflection of the artist’s love for previous art, not a way of “testing” the cultural knowledge of the audience.
Parallel theory
Freud (in particular research on dream images and the concept of the Uncanny).
Michel Foucault, especially his concept of “institution disciplinaire” (“disciplinary institution”). Antipsychiatry movement.
Interdisplinary Psychology/Architecture research into perception of space by individuals, especially Anthony Vidler’s research about anxiety, phobias and the Uncanny in the built environment.
Generative Theory
Automatism: use of found unstaged compositions and dream visions without attempting to interpret them and without modifying them artificially in order to make them fit a predefined concept.
Dérive: exploration of a place guided by strategic reactions to the characteristics of this place.
Methodology
? collect photographs and footage from derelict places, and more generally strange places (Freud’s the uncanny)
1) for some pieces, these collected images (after processing and editing) are the artwork in itself
2) for other pieces, they cause an idea association in me and I need to create “artificial images” (from scratch) to make a physical representation, and edit them in
3) for other pieces I have an inner vision (i.e. dream) and I’m aiming to make it real. so I either go out and find real things that fit it, ot if they don’t exist, I create images from scratch
maybe it is 1) the outside invading the inside 3) the inside invading the outside 2) the time/place where they clash, where the border is. I’m not sure about this yet
Outcome
Photographs
Videos
Immersive video installations.
Work plan