What have I looked at?
An example of proximity and defamiliarization is found with another example of Wim Delvoye’s works called ‘Sybille II. The term proximity means nearest and also means approximate and is used as an artistic term for making microscopic images or fragments taken from the original context. The example of Sybille II is a close up movie that shows fragment surfaces of human skin with bursting blackheads and spots. Even though this piece of work is a close up and comes under the abject, it is still an example of the defamiliar.
How does proximity and defamiliarization relate to my own work?
I look into this example of Wim’s work because defamiliarization presents to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance perception of the familiar.
In my own English and Chinese illness sculpture, it is defamiliar in a way that the Chinese toilet is almost alien to English people and the fact that my illness experience is presented in a mere fragment from its original scene just like Wim’s close ups. the toilet is the only object to be lifted out of the original Chinese scene to represent myself in a defamiliar way in which the cracked bricks become my body going wrong instead of using my actual self.
So even though my work is not as abject as Wim Delvoye’s movie, my work is still defamiliar in a way that it presents a fragment of my original experience just like Delvoye’s close-ups in his movie.
What theorists have I looked into?
Afterwardsness is the concept that an earlier event in someone’s life can later acquire a meaning. The memories of someone’s mind are repressed which has only become a trauma after the event took place.
Sigmund Freud’s theory is highlighted by theorist Jean Laplanche’ theory.
“Freud’s concept of afterwardsness contains both great richness and great ambiguity between retrospective and progressive directions. I want to account for this problem of the directional to and from by arguing that, right at the start, there is something that goes in the direction from past to the future and in the direction of adult to baby, which I call the implantation of the enigmatic message”.
With afterwardsness, Freud used this idea to think about the way out histories are constantly being revised in the light of current experiences. Our histories are necessarily our experiences of our histories and this may, and does, change in profound ways over the course of our lives.
Why look into Sigmund Freud?
In my current situation, I still suffer the fragments from the illness that I suffered from in China and reflecting back on what happened then has enabled me to think critically about my Chinese and English illness work.
Who have I looked into?
Another Artist who uses the everyday objects to address experiences is Louise Bourgeois who is renowned for extracting fragments of her traumatic past into her works. In particular with the Cells Installations – Eyes and Mirrors, they hold crucial evidence of her personal life experience even when it is displayed in such an abstract way. When it is displayed in an abstract way, it would seem that this points out to a less direct response for the audience forcing them to question the work further to make sense of what it is about.
Bourgeois highlights that pain or trauma can take different forms physically and mentally known as formalism. As pain can take many forms, it is also possible to make artwork in different forms or narrative as well that can hide well within random looking objects presented in an abstract way. In this abstract form, the objects give off some kind of clue or inkling into what has been experienced but does not hold the whole story.
How does Louise Bourgeois relate to my own work?
As her pains and traumas correspond well within her works it is also possible for my own traumatic memories of my Chinese and English illness to take on forms with objects too. As she uses the everyday, I like to also use the everyday objects to create narratives or clues to make the audience question the work further just like Bourgeois’ works.
Who have I looked into?
The Dada movement started in Zurich in Germany and the artists, intellectuals and writers were furious with the modern society. So they decided to show their protest through artistic medium and decided to create non-art since art in the society then had no meaning. The so-called non-artists turned to creating art that had soft obscenities, scattered humor, visible puns and everyday objects. The most outrageous painting was created by Marcel Duchamp and he painted a mustache on a copy of Mona Lisa and scribbled obscenities under it.
He also created his sculpture called fountain which was actually a urinal without the plumbing and it had a fake signature. the public were repulsed by the Dada movement. Since Marcel Duchamp liked using the everyday objects as artworks it also becomes a Dada.
Why does Marcel Duchamp relate to my work?
Reflecting back to my first current works with the pairs of English and Chinese food and drink objects, they are also a readymade because of the way they are presented as originals. These everyday objects harks back to dadaism where Duchamp made good use of objects to creating his artworks.
Who have I looked into?
Hans Peter Feldmann is a visual artist who moves in the universe of the everyday. he takes from the universe the materials, objects and images along with themes.
He states that all his work is based on personal experiences and it is a way of transforming experiences, obsessions and intuitions into language, an attitude that which is common to many artists. The materials he uses is the everyday stuff that habitually surrounds him. The magazine photos, family snaps, postcards, books, objects etc. With his material and his themes, Feldmann wants to place himself on the margans of art history in order to represent the everyday.
The images and objects presented inhabit the daily life along with the narratives which are constructed with all of these materials. His work involves many different social contexts that resemble to Emin’s and Gonzalez-Torres works of the everyday objects.
How does Hans Peter Feldmann relate to my own work?
The themes in my own work closely resemble to the everyday objects that holds narratives from my own personal experiences such as my English and Chinese foods and drinks readymades. He also relates to my other artwork of the Chinese and english illness sculpture where you have the Chinese squatting toilet and the english bricks which also consists of the everyday object.
