Art and design often explore relationships between humans and non-humans, the environment and ecology. How can contemporary art and design propose new possibilities for imagining the ‘human’ and the environment?
The act of seeing is a constructive process, where our individual experiences and memories shape our perceptions of the world around us. As such, there is no such thing as objective truth; as each person interacts with their surroundings they will interpret what they observe in slightly different ways, giving rise to millions of subjective responses. I wanted to explore this notion in my work through the use of light projection, creating shadows which evoke imagery that can be interpreted by the viewer. I originally built the sculpture (by attaching natural materials to a wooden board with wire and glue) to project a very specific image onto the wall behind – that of a human being. However, after experimenting with changing the light source, lots of intriguing new shadows began to emerge and so I decided to present the work as a series of different shadows/images. Some of the images formed are very figurative and, like the animals in my poster, allow for collective interpretations by audiences. On the other hand, some of the shadows are more abstract and rely on the imagination of the viewer to transform them. Whilst my poster was more didactic in that it told viewers what they were supposed to be seeing, in this work I wanted to explore more what people may see individually, without instruction. In this way, the work serves as a conduit for thinking about how we see the world around us – the different ways in which we perceive the forms within the shadows says something about how we understand and relate to our world as individuals.
Furthermore, the undefined nature of the projected images reflects the fluid and dynamic relationship between humans, non-humans and the environment. Influenced by Patricia Piccinini’s sculptures, in which she seemingly evokes ‘the human’ and ‘the non-human’ all at once, I also wanted to question the nature of humanity. In a physical sense, my sculpture exists as an assemblage of natural objects found and collected in the environment. However, the images that are formed within its’ shadows evoke human, animalistic, and other-worldly interpretations. Thus, the boundaries between these different elements are blurred and a sense of interconnectedness arises between the human, the non-human, and the environment. This is something we often overlook, simply thinking of these different aspects as being separate from one another, but in actual fact they are intensely connected. For example, what do we consider it means to be human – to grow and change? To feel or have empathy? How can we completely extricate animals or the natural world from these definitions when the environment is constantly changing and animals experience emotions in the same way. Ultimately, definitions of ‘the human’ and ‘the environment’ are not as clear-cut as they may first appear, and there is a certain fluidity in the relationship between them.
Upon first starting this project, I knew that I wanted to expand on the notion of perception which I first introduced in my poster. I began experimenting with observational drawings as a mode of conveying my own personal perception of life and the everyday, however I found myself drawn to using natural materials again and the medium of sculpture. Much like my poster, my first experimentation with light projection used ‘ready-made’ objects such as branches which I found and collected. However, I wanted to extend from this and, drawing influence from artists such as Christiane Lohr, Cornelia Parker and Christian Boltanski, I began constructing a sculpture out of a collection of natural objects, projecting light onto them to form an image within the shadows. By chance, I noticed some other interesting shadows that began to emerge when I moved the light source around and this caused me to reflect on my work and what I wanted to present. I realised that, like in my early drawing experiment, I wanted to focus more on the differences in individual perception rather than prescribing a specified image that people should see. Hence, I came up with my final work – a series of representational and abstract shadows which reflect on the nature of human perception and the relationship between all living and non-living things.
Christian Boltanski. (1990) Theatre D’Ombres [metal figurines]
Cornelia Parker. (1991) Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View. [wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, paper, textile and wire]
May Hinch, Lola Binge, Leonie Binge, Donald Cubby, Paul Mackie, Matthew Priestley, Jonathan Jones. (2013) Illuminate. [paper, timber and four-channel video projection and four-channel channel audio]
Patricia Piccinini. (2012) Ghost. [silicone, fibreglass, human hair] Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Written Sources:
Ghose, S. (2004). Blown away. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/sep/18/art1 [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].
The Conversation. (2018). With affection and humour, Patricia Piccinini probes the boundaries of human and other. [online] Available at: http://theconversation.com/with-affection-and-humour-patricia-piccinini-probes-the-boundaries-of-human-and-other-94026 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
Visionandartproject.org. (2018). "Looking vs. Seeing" | The Vision and Art Project. [online] Available at: http://www.visionandartproject.org/authors-forum/looking-vs-seeing [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].
