Desire has often been conceived in terms of a lack: we desire what we lack, and we move endlessly (and impossibly) towards the object of desire. Against this notion, Gilles Deleuze conceives desire as a constructive force: desire produces its own objects. Taking up this idea of desire as a constructive, creative, productive activity, consider art and design practices as ways of exploring the possibilities of desire.
(Photographic documentation of performance)
Desire is a part of human nature imbedded in each and every one of us; whether it has been conceived in terms of a lack or whether it is conceived as a constructive force. Whether it is a desire for material possession, youth, eternal life, good health, or even to be better looking; it is a force that drives all humans to have aspirations and goals in their life whether they be good or bad.
I started off with Assessment one wanting to explore the extent to which people go to in order to achieve their consumerist desires. My research started with artist’s such as Barbara Kruger with her I shop therefore I am 1987 and Mark Wagner with his Blood in the water 2011. I was inspired by the way both artist presented their ideas on consumerist desires and how it has become an increasingly important commodity in modern day society. I then took a specific consumerist desire; Christian Louboutin shoes to act as an example of the extent people go to in order to achieve status through their possessions; even if it means faking it.
For Assessment two I wanted to take my idea a step further and ask the question; to what extent do our desires ultimately have importance in the larger aspect of life and death?
I then looked at artworks such as Sylvie Fleury’s Agent Provocateur 1995 from her collection Rapture consists of multiple designer shopping bags collected together on the floor to remind its audience that fashion is transient and disposable. Her work questions the significance designer brands such as Chanel and Versace have over contemporary art, and the ways in which consumerist ideals have affected the way contemporary society lives.
This then led me to research Eleanor Antin’s The Golden Death 2001 from her exhibit The Last Days of Pompeii. Through this work Antin takes a historical event and re-contextualizes it to be relevant to modern day society. Her work inspired me ultimately through the extremely strong message. It made me question the importance humanity places on desire and what it ultimately benefits us. This work inspired me to try and develop my own answer in regards to the importance and benefits desire brings to humanity.
This research then led me to create an object that involved something that was unattainable but looked deceitfully achievable. The first idea that came to mind was to create a box with different sets of keys – only to find that none of them were actually the fitting piece. My second idea was quite similar to my original idea; it consisted of a glass case that contained a pill – a pill that could hypothetically be the solution to all human desire. But by it being in the form of a pill there is also an uncertainty as to what ingredients and side effects it consists of, and by it being in a contained space it is visible but also unattainable.
These ideas showed the unattainability and visibility of desire but they didn’t show the aftermath. This then drove me to take it another step further; to create a performance piece that shows the ultimate outcomes of attaining what you think you desire.
I thought to use a canvas bag, inspired by Sylvie Fleury because it is the kind of material that is quite holey; liquids easily spill through it and they are also quite common and generic shopping style bags. Her work really inspired me to work with the idea of the consumerist shopping bag and how it becomes insignificant and devalued once the items have been taken out of it.
I then thought to create a liquid that was coloured red to represent human desire in the form of blood. This then reinforces the idea that desire is a part of human DNA. The liquid is then poured into the canvas bag to represent the capturing and achievement of desire, but because of the canvas material the liquid continues to pour through the bag onto the floor and all that is left is a red, bloody stain. In the end, isn’t human life just a bloodstain in a bag?
Barbara Kruger’s I Shop Therefore I Am 1987
Mark Wagner’s Blood in the water 2011
Sole Mate; Christian Louboutin and the psychology of shoes. By Lauren Collins; http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/03/28/sole-mate
Sylvie Fleury’s Agent Provocateur 1995
Eleanor Antin’s The Golden Death 2001
gracieabrams
areudirty
2087
kianamaiart
amandla
vaporwave
