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ciara philips - canadian artist. marcel duchamp - french artist. i've always been familiar with the fountain, but as i've been experimenting with my work, i remembered the flipping of the fountain and how dadaism allowed artists to make such choices and see how the meaning would shift, etc. my decision to flip the tv screen in perfil came from this work. cildo meireles - brazilian sculptor and installation artist. babel overwhelms me every time i walk into the tate collection. it's big, noisy, much of what it feels like when you move places and try to adapt to a new language, lifestyle. yinka shonibare - british artist. the british library is a celebration of migration through naming books with the names of migrants. it's so touching to see even through a photograph. john akomfrah - british filmmaker. in his work the unfinished conversation, he talks about formation of identity whilst looking at the life of stuart hall. john often says that history is important to filmmaking - understanding the past is essential to thinking about and forming the future. ai weiwei - chinese artist known for his works about identity, social change and celebration of culture. his sunflower seeds work is familiar to me but i realised how my use of a food item (ketchup) to metaphorically represent a process of cultural formation, is similar to his use of sunflower seeds. liu bolin - chinese artist known for his art of concealment. i was drawn to the idea of the in-betweeness of his work through camouflage. will explore this idea further with light and projections. stan douglas (canadian filmmaker/installation artist) - i came across doppelgänger and was fascinated by the display of the film in two separate screens. they occasionally synchronise but for most of the film, it shows different perspectives of a scene or entire different scenes. even if it's the same scene being shown, they are differentiated by the use of colours. juan muñoz (catalán artist) - in his installation double bind, juan creates a sort of theatrical installation where he compartmentalises different 'scenes' in the physical space. each scene is meant to give the audience a different perspective and serves as an emphasis of the alienation of the audience. this in turn helped the audience to attach different meanings to the work, which provides enrichment to the same. i like this approach, and without knowing adopted the same for my work. hito steyerl (german filmmaker) - in this exhibition hito displayed her film in a series of different shapes screens with beautiful flower imagery. vibrant colours, zoomed in shots. just flowers and the representation they have with power and beauty. i particularly love the aesthetic that these screens together with the work portraits. andrei tarkovsky (russian filmmaker) - i came across andrei's work through john akomfrah. watching andrei's films is such a "breath of fresh air". these scenes in particular spoke to me as the character reaches for the light switch as you do when you are familiar to a space - not looking for it but intuitively reaching for the switch - only to find that this is not a familiar space and that he needs to get used to this new environment. he's "awakened" by not finding the switch instantly and has to look for it on the other side. this is an interesting scene which says so much about belonging, feeling safe and familiar with yourself, something or someone. jonathan moss - dot to dash. https://vimeo.com/38093649 usually his work is not really relevant to mine in terms of themes and editing style, however, his dot to dash video captured my attention. it shows a sequence of 'bitty' moving images with a dot developing into a line which takes different forms as it moves. with one of the display trials, i came across some pictures which showed lines of light formed by the contrast between the light emitted from the screens and the dark room (picture to the right). i wasn't sure how to use this find for the development of the film but watching moss' video has inspired me to: - use the same idea of shapes within the video with dancing moves - utilise shadows and light to create shapes in a dark screen - use the idea of light starting small and growing as the story develops ulla von brandenburg's use of fabric to create 'new worlds' really fascinates me. In a more abstract way, fabrics can be used. she says: "the separation between the interior and the exterior, or between different worlds, becomes blurred. And that blur makes us wonder where we are." that links perfectly to my themes of displacement and cultural identity. The hybridisation of worlds. text by meleko mokgosi. i love the the way in which he writes with so much passion and conviction. the topic of appropriation also comes into my work. here, in a more historical context, i like when he says "and only they understood the true aesthetic value of the objects they had stolen/taken by force". relating this to brazilian colonialism, it's evident that we were not the only 'raped' colonised nation. serena lee's work usually touches on language as a code and 'passport' to the world. in a slight different perspective, i like how this work makes me think about how language influences power and opportunities, not only in the everyday, but also in the art world. 'entrevidas (between lives)' by anna maria maiolino.
i love how she uses eggs and blindness to cause awe and anxiety to the audience. in this work she talks about how being displaced and 'fitting in' makes you feel like you're constantly walking on egg shells.
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I tend to start my work with my experiences in the world or with a context. It is usually reflecting on something I've read, written, thought or seen. There are three pieces of work by three different artists that really resonate with me, for three different purposes: Anthropophagy Manifesto by Oswald de Andrade, is my contextual visual essay. Anthropophagy is the eating of human flesh, but in a less literal meaning of the word, Oswald used it philosophically to represent how we as humans (here he's talking specifically to Brazilians), have the tendency to copy others characteristics, and 'rob' or 'eat' those traits into our own selves, consequently resulting in less authenticity and under appreciation of one's own achievements. The manifesto was written as an attempt to 'liberate' the Brazilian creatives from the chains of European influence in their works - in other words - to find their own identity. Although my work talks about anthropophagy in the same philosophical nuance, I am taking it into the context of cultural displacement and how differences can coexist within one person. Who eats who? and what is the result in identity? John Akomfrah's works are my displaying and practice visual essays. I love the way he displays his works - always big and using three screens. His films are always captivating and aesthetically beautiful even when touching on hard subjects such as memory, post-colonialism, temporality and aesthetics, and often explores the experiences of migrant diasporas globally. Samson Young's work inspires me by the process he uses to capture sound. He works with normal objects to mimic known sounds, such as, war and bird sounds. He recreates 'sound worlds' that captivate and engulf you. He is also very experimental in how he records sound, going outdoors, and using anything from nature to busy streets and people.
It is now the beginning of the journey. New academic year and the excitement of graduating and starting a career. This year I have got the motivation to not be mediocre and to push myself to be as productive as I can be. Making art during lockdown was a struggle and I realised that I do not own time; there are forces greater than I that rule above my life. My power is to choose what to do with the time I am given. Thinking that we have enough time and we are the creator of it is a lie. We are mere managers of it. With that epiphany, I started the year with a slight different approach. I am now more organised, more engaged, better able to be present and help in different projects, excited about 'losing control' of my thoughts and embrace the opportunities that come - either in life or in making. Since last year, I still feel a great desire and passion to discover and understand how moving from Brazil to England has affected me - how I see myself or how others see me; how I behave and think; how much of my struggles is a result of it; how can I find my identity in this mix. I know those feelings and thoughts are not exclusive to me and to those that have not experienced this, my way of showing different perspectives might help them understand immigrants better and result in more unity (hopefully). Compassion is something built on understanding and this is how I hope my work will correlate with the immigrant, colonised, the local and the coloniser. This 'notes' session of my website will serve as a log of the progress of my processes, my research and findings, my thoughts and ideas. As a commitment to self, to always remember to be free with my thoughts, making and ambition. Anna Maria Maiolino, In-Out Antropofagia (In-Out Anthropophagy), 1973–74, Super-8 film transferred to DVD, black-and-white, sound, 8 minutes 14 seconds.
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Authorsu moraes Archives
June 2023
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