Thank you.

This is just a short message to say a HUGE thank you to all those who have participated in this project.

Without you, it wouldn't have been possible!

You are ALL truly inspirational and have provided liberating responses and contributions.

So, thank you!

Jaz

One final piece of artist research.

I have speaking to our very own Taz at uni, and discovered that her practice is involved in participatory art.

Here is an example of a project that she developed and implemented. It's called 'The Blue Blob Interactive Art Project':

"The Blue Blob project is an interactive art project created by Taz Lovejoy during her Fine Art Degree at University Northampton with the intention to inspire creativity and in an attempt to reach communities all over the country and break down the barriers surrounding art by engaging all in simple creative fun.

 

The project provides a free ball of blue plastercine packaged with instructions, asking anyone interested to try their hand at creating their own miniature blue sculpture. A key feature of this project is not only the form created with the plastercine but the location in which the sculpture has been photographed. The project is geared to exploring the colour blues interaction with different environments and with that in mind many that have already participated have developed interesting locations and reactions to the concept."

 

Taken from: http://www.theblueblob.com/

 

This project is similar to mine in the fact that it is asking people to participate by breaking down the common barriers that surround art, and engage in fun and enjoyable activity, but in a more personal context.
 

Here are some of the pictures of the sculptures that have been sent to Taz. (These have also been taken from the above website):

 

 

These images are rather pixelated because they have been taken on camera phones. This was the intention of the artist to make the process and the concept for accessible for participants, and indeed moving with the technological trends of the time, whereby camera phones are now widely available and can be used an immediate means of communication, and indeed art & expression.

 

A great discovery and another link to some more participatory art. Thank you Taz!   :-)

Some reflective and final thoughts.

I know that I have taken a great risk in doing what I have done for my art this year. But taking this risk has really allowed me to build my confidence in developing a way of working that has really allowed me to value learned experience as opposed to a final and static outcome.

Within my art, many people have participated already, and many have chosen not to which is also equally fine. The art of participation in itself is one that remains a personal preference and a choice.

My intention this year has been to facilitate art, and see myself as a facilitator rather than a 'maker'. I wanted to break participants away from understanding that the label that has been placed on 'art' means much more than the traditional aesthetic components that are commonly associated and percieved as art e.g. drawing and painting. I intended it to be more about the concept of self expression, engagement & participation.  

This element of self expression has become particularly evident in this project. For example, many participants have created responses which are of a large scale, and do not fit into the sandwich bags.

However, these responses have still been included and valued within this project as they have been photographed and placed into sandwich bags which are exhibited within my installation. For example, one participant created a huge mobile to represent her identity:

McNiff (1998, p.60) explains,

"Successful expression involves the ability to let materials and unplanned gestures to lead the way."

 

As Roux (2007, p.3) explains,

"Many art forms require participation to some extent. After all, experiencing art by observing, listening or watching is also a kind of participation."

My intention has been to facilitate art by the concept of participatory art being artist led, but the responses created within this approach to be recognised as those of the participants of the project.

In this context, the art has become the exchange of information between the artist (facilitator - me), participants, and the viewers.

I have envisaged the audience as a community which as a result produces and generates subjective encounters. Through these encounters, meaning is elaborated both individually & collectively, rather than in individual consumption in relation to one art object.

My work elevates the concept on which it is based. I wanted to challenge perceptions on art in relation to a theme (identity) that directly influences the way we participate and engage with the world around us.

 

Fisher (2004, p.8) states,

"Creativity, like evolution and education, is founded on experiementation, variations that sometimes succeed, sometimes fail.

Creativity, therefore, requires the courage to take risks - the risk to be different."

The Critical Issues Module which I have also undertaken this year has completely changed the way that I value, appreciate, create, and teach art. Theoretical perspectives & ideologies have been explored, discussed, and considered that surround arts education & the development of  these within my own pedagogy.

References:

Fisher, R. (2004) Unlocking Creativity. London: David Fulton Publishers.

McNiff, S. (1998) Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go. Massachuttets: Shambala Publishers.

Roux, X. (2007) Participation in Contemporary Art. New York: Redseeds Art.

Private view.

It's private view of the 3rd and 4th ITE students' art exhibitions tonight, and I'm really excited about this!

All of the presentations and assignnments have been done and handed in.

It's now the time to celebrate all of our hard work, and share our art exhibitions with friends, and family.

I hope that my installation recieves a good response tonight, and that people will be intrigued and open to participation. It will also be interesting to directly observe the response of the viewers of my installation, and the responses to the participants that have to date participated.

If you are reading this, and have participated in this project, I would like to invite to come and celebrate your work, and that of others as well as my peers!

If you haven't participated yet, but would like to, please also come! Everyone is welcome!

Private view will take place between 4-7pm tonight in the art studio and Chapel at Newman University College, Birmingham.

See you there!  :-)

My first unknown repsonse.

So I was at uni today, and went to check on my installation. As I was standing in front of it, I noticed that a response had been made and placed in one of the bags & sealed by the participant! RESULT!

I was so pleased that this had happened, as somebody had taken the time to create a response and participate in the project. Thank you participant! You made my day.

Hopefully this notion will continue as more people view my work, especially during the student private view.

Here's the response that was created:

The repsonse contains a sachet of tablets which have been manipulated to incoroporate a different element of the persons identity. For example one of the tablets represents dyslexia, another represents the persons family. Could the medication symbolise and represent the participants underlying health condition that they have combined with the various facets that make up their identity?

It's really thought provoking and inspiring! Good stuff! Thank you again participant!

My installation.

So I have put my installation up, and I'm really pleased wth it!

I need to say thank you to Sarah for helping me with putting it up, and advising me of if things were level and in line and straight! So thank you!      :-)

I am really happy with the number of different responses that have been displayed on the boards. They really reflect a range of perceptions, in addition current affairs and issues.

For example the participant that has created this repsonse has built upon the issue that I raised a while back on this blog, about the ban of traditional Islamic clothing. The participation has identified around the central image 'Celebration or Restriction?' 'Inclusion or Exclusion?' This goes to show that this is an issue that is directly impacting this participant and her identity, and the possible compromise of it.

The filing cabinet works well within the installation. I have deliberately left the drawers open so that viewers would be drawn into looking to see what it contained.

I have also printed the labels off for the invididual responses that have been exhibited on the boards. They have turned out really well, and the font that I have used (Courier) adds to the concept of categorisation and classification.

Here's one example. So the a = female. NN = Not Newman. F = family member. Orange = symbolises a colour that reflects our religion and culture.

On the outside two boards of my installation, I have attached several empty sandwich bags. In doing this, my intention was to encourage viewers to participate in this project by creating a response and preserving & documenting their participation in addition to their responses to the word 'Identity'.

These bags have also been given a label which identifies them as 'unknown' which is identified as _. I have done this as I will not necessarily know who has contributed and participated, whilst it still being a way to document, share, and celebrate their participation.

My filing cabinet

Whilst helping my mum with some of her paperwork, I remembered that she owned a filing cabinet. Upon remembering this, I thought about how I could incorporate this into my installation.

The filing cabinet has two draws and is not very big, so it would be perfect.

I thought about how I would include the responses of the participants whose work would not necessaily be exhibitied on the boards.

Using the classification system that I have devised, I created folders for each corresponding category, and filed each persons response accordingly in relation to their identities and the individual relationship that I share with them. 

Within these folders I have placed all of the responses that I have to date. These include a number of responses from the packs that I have distributed, Facebook comments, images which express and celebrate my participants identities, and the Facebook profile picture of each person that has joined my group.

The reason why I have chosen to include the latter is because many people have joined my group (and participated by doing this), but they may not have necessarily written anything on the group. This is still participation. Whilst printing off all the profile pictures of my group members I have learnt that it has grown slowly but surely across the internet community, and indeed from continent to continent. This is truly brilliant, as people have participated that I know in no way whatsoever, and I have no mutual friends with them. This just goes to show that people are willing to participate in a project where they feel that they can make a positive contribution, and celebrate their right to the freedom of expression.

Roux (2007, p.2) states,

"During the 20th Century and beyond, the focus of art has shifted and a new paradigm has emerged placing inter-human relations at the centre of contemporary art creation, thus creating a fertile ground for participative art to blossom."  

All of the participants responses will reside in the top drawer of the filing cabinet. This draw has been given the label of: 15.3.2010 -  . This is because the project really began on this date when my first pack was distributed. An end date has not been placed on the label as the project continues to progress, develop, and evolve:

The bottom drawer I have dedicated for participation. Within my installation, I will be having a table, with a selection of materials for partitipants to use to create a response to the word 'Identity' if they choose to do so. This will be encouraged through my personal statement, and some guidance which will be placed on the table. In this drawer, I have also created several folder in which I would like to encourage participants to 'file' their response to preserve and document their participation. I felt that it was important to give the participants a choice as to where they would like to file their response based on a personal preference.

So participants could choose to file their response based on colours, feelings, emotions, or within no specific category at all. It would be completely subjective and down to the individual.

As Simon Waterfall states in The National Curriculum (1999, p.116):

"Art and design is the freedom of the individual, the freedom of expression..."

I also plan on leaving some of my packs on the table. This is if people would like to take their time with their response and bring it back when they have completed it. In addition to this, I have also prepared cards to go on my table which state the web address for both this blog and my Facebook group, so they can also participate online if this suits their needs more purposefully. It will also hopefully encourage people to see the development of this project over time.

But it's important to remember that any person who engages with my installation will be a participant. It's all starting to come together now! :-)

References:

Roux, X. (2007) Participation in Contemporary Art. New York: Redseeds Art.

DfEE (1999) The National Curriculum Handbook for Primary Teachers. London: DfEE/QCA.

Classification & Taxonomy

So I have been thinking about how I can continue to exhibit the work of the participants.

Something else that I would like to include in my installation relates to an aspect of my own identity. I regard myself as being organised and systematic in the way in which I work. This trait has shaped the way in which I work, and the person that I have come to be.

I want to incorporate a sense of classification into my installation, possibly the way in which I percieve, organise, and classify the identities of the participants who have actually created responses for this project. 

I have always been inspired by the way in which things around us are organised and classified. Whether this be in folders, cupboards, filing cabinets, or art in art galleries.

By reflecting on my visit to the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, in the main part of the museum, there were many stuffed animals that had been preserved and classified in relation to their hierarchy of all living things.

This has led me to the concept of The Taxonomic Classification of Living Things. I have researched into this, and it is a method which is used by biologists to group and categorise organisms by biological type. It's a system which uses a letters and symbols to represent the categorisation of these organisms.

I have decided to adapt this principle within my installation and personalise it to me, and the participants of the project.

I have classified all those who I have participated thus far in my project in the following way:

Kingdom - Animal = I. (The value of using "I" = Identity, 1, person.

Phylum - Humans = A.

Class - Mammals = 1.

Order - Gender = a, b, c. (Female, Male, Both (if both female and males have contributed to the same response).

Family = N (Newman) or NN (Not Newman). - Process become more personal here.

Genus - Subject Connection = Ed (education), AD (Art & Design) etc.

Species - conceptual in terms of how I percieve others in relation to myself = "STAFF", "STUDENT", or a block of colour to show my relationship with the participant in a way that reflects a personal experience.  

Using the above system, I am going to give each of the responses that I exhibit on my boards individual labels to represent this classification of the participants responses in relation to how I regard their identities to myself. 

I am planning to have 15 responses on each of the boards that I have. From a design perspective, 3's and 5's work well. I don't want my boards to be too overcrowded and too busy. A balance is needed between them. As I have decided to exhibit the participants work in sandwich bags, I would like to keep the amount of responses on each board the same to support this notion of continuity.  

I am also aware that I am not going to be able to exhibit all of the responses that have been accumalated on the five boards that I will have. So I need to think about how I can incorporate all of the responses that I have recieved to date within the installation.   

And some more acatateness!

Following the success of the layered images (in my previous post), I have now considered the responses of my participants who have contributed in the form of text on the 'wall' of my Facebook group.

My original plan was to print off their responses on paper alongside their profile picture, and the time & date that they participated within this project.

However, after trying this, I wasn't fully satisfied. So I then considered what difference it would make if I printed these onto acetate instead.

This made such a great difference. As acetate is transparent, this means that these printed responses could also be placed within sandwich bags. The white paint on my boards will allow the viewer to read these responses fairly easily.

I also feel that by using acetate, the responses of my participants have been further embedded. E.g. the ink has absorbed into the acetate, and is now irreversible.

Their participation has been documented and preserved both within the acetate, in addition to the sandwich bags. So this is both individual and collective participation.

Layered images and commentries.

So following my previous post on multi-layered images to express our identities, I have managed to purchase some acetate. In order to create 'layered' responses which participants have contributed, I have combined both their images and their commentries into one response.

I think that these pieces work really well. The contrast between the two layers in each of the responses highlights the participants philosophy/understanding of their identity, whilst also providing a visual snapshot in the form of a picture to further represent and support this.

Here are some of the participants responses that I have combined:

Contributed by: Lorraine Loveland-Armour

Contributed by: Rhiannon Walker

Contributed by: Shirley Meades

In these responses, I have ensured that I have included the participants Facebook profile picture, and the time & date that they contributed their responses. This contributes to the preserving and documentation of their participation & their responses.

I have also placed these responses within sandwich bags. Again, these really work well. Against a white background, and the images themselves, the text becomes more distinctive and adds a sense of depth to the participaants responses.  

Sandwich bags.

From looking at the photographs that I have taken that contain the various responses of my participants in the sandwich bags (a couple of posts back), I am really happy with how this idea works and presents itself.

This response explores the concept of identity being multi-layered - This goes back to this point that was identified by my participants on the Facebook group.

For the purpose of this experiment, I have placed a white sheet of paper behind the sandwich bags.             I intend on painting my exhibition baords white to give a clean outlook to the work that is being exhibited.

I think that displaying the participants work in individual sandwich bags works really well. I like the way that each piece would stand alone, but also be a part of a wider concept. 

In doing this, I would also hope that I am celebrating the positive contributions that my participants have made, especially those who may have originally been reluctant or anxious to participate, but have decided to do so.

Freire (1990) states,

"The silenced are not just incidental to the curiosity of the researcher but are the masters of inquiry into the underlying causes of the events in their world. In this context research becomes a means of moving them beyond silence into a quest to proclaim the world."

References:

Friere, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The Seabury Press.

Preserving and documenting participation.

As I am creating an installation for my exhibition, I have been considering how I would display, share, and celebrate the work of my participants.

Then it came to me... sandwich bags!

I want to create an archive of the responses that have been created by my participants, in addition to documenting their participation in doing this. In order to do this, I would like to use sandwhich bags.

Many of the responses that I have currently recieved back from my pack of materials were contained within the sandwich bags that the original task was provided in. As participants have contributed to this task, it is the case that they have contributed more of their identities than they may have originally anticipated.

For example, their fingerprints, their breath, any loose hairs that may have fallen out etc. I would like to preserve these elements in addition to the responses that have been created. I feel that displaying the participants responses in individual bags would really enhance and support the idea of individuality, and that no one identity is the same as another at any one moment in time.   

I am also thinking of placing all of the Facebook responses that I have recieved in sandwich bags to keep this idea consistent, and the same. In this way, my intention is to allow the response of each person to stand alone and be unique.

The word 'identity' means extremely different things to us all and this has been echoed through the diverse range of responses that have been created.

The idea of using sandwich bags has stemmed from being inspired by watching numerous episodes of CSI, where individual pieces of evidence are preserved and sealed within individual bags, and documented. Once the evidence bags have been sealed, everybody else is physically denied access inside. However due to the translucent property of the bags, the evidence can still be seen and accessed to a certain point.

If I consider the nature of sandwich bags, and placing my participants responses within them, this would achieve a similar impact. Many responses that my participants have generated are 2D, whereas on other responses, participants have created 3D responses e.g. using both sides of the materials.

I think that this would add a sense of fascination to the pieces that my participants have created, whilst also restricting how much of another persons identity can actually be accessed and interpreted.     

My exhibition.

For my exhibition, I have decided that I would like to create an installation. So this is where the exhibition space is used as an aesthetic component, and where the viewer enters the space in order to engage with the art.

In considering potential locations for my exhibiton, I would have considered both the chapel and the art studio. Nevertheless, I have decided that I would like to create my installation in the art studio. This is for a number of reasons.

Throughout exhibition week, there will hopefully be many people filtering through the studio from across uni. The studio also contains the work of my fellow students. Therefore, as viewers enter the studio, I would hope that they explore the studio, and engage with the different exhibitions throughout the studio, including mine.

The studio also has the number of boards available which I would like to use to create my exhibition. Having these available in this location means that there would be minimal disruption in having to adjust these boards, and that other students would still be able to use the other sides of the boards for their exhibition if required. 

My intention is to create a space, which invites the viewer to directly engage with the art, and recognise the participation of my participants, whilst also encouraging them to actively participate in my art.

I am planning on doing this by showing a range of responses that I have had from my participants throughout the project on the baords, whilst also providing opportunities for the viewers of the installation to contribute to the project by creating a space where potential viewers can also participate - possibly a table with a selection of materials available to use.   

Facebook group update

Over the past few days, my Facebook group has recieved a phenomenal response!

In addition to asking participants for their responses on what the word identity means to them, I have also asked participants if we can represent our identities using images/photographs, and if they had any photographs/images that they would like to contribute this.

In addition to recieving several photographs via the group, participants have also emailed them to me, and provided commentries as to why they have contributed these photographs, and how they actually represent their identites. 

All of the photographic responses that I have recieved are extremely informative, in addition to being liberating, and thought provoking. They have allowed me to come to an understanding and appreciate the diverse perceptions that we hold of our identities, and the way that they have manifested themselves within our everyday lifes, and why we hold these values and principles.  

What has also been great is that members of the group have themselves identified that because the concept of identity is so vast and extensive, it would be difficult to represent our whole identities with one image alone. I agree with these findings and I'm pleased that I didn't have to initiate this thought, even though it did cross my mind when I originally encourgaed participants to contribute any photographs/images. This shows that the process of facilitation has contributed to its identification, and analysis.

Therefore, my participants have suggested that these images would in fact be mutli-layered to represent these different aspects of their identities. The concept of multiple layers is something that I have been inspired by. I would like to incorporate this concept into my final exhibition somehow. 

Here are two of the images and commentries that I have recieved from participants that I would like to share with you as a 'taster':

Contributed by Cazz Prior:

"My identity is 'Cazz' from Newman. I have lived in halls for the last 4 years, and i'm known as 'Cazz' throughout secondary school, college, and my time at uni.

Untill I got facebook (at the end of my 2nd year at uni) no one knew my real name. My true identity?


My identity will soon change again when I start working... i'll be called Carolyn or Miss Prior, I'll be a teacher, and not living in Newman halls anymore."  
 
 

Contributed by Mandy Thomas:

"Me at my happiest and how my very closest people know me."

I've been thinking, and I have considered how I could combine the participants images in addition to their commentries into one response, which considers the multi-layered approach. I have thought about printing the participants images, and then printing their commentries onto acetate, and attaching these together. This would certainly create layers to the participants responses.

The use of the acetate would allow the viewer to see through to their picture, whilst also providing further information to support the participants identification of their identity. This is something to ponder and continue to consider...  

More responses to the word 'Identity'.

Here are some more of the responses that I have recieved.

It's great to see that such a diverse range of responses have been created by the participants which celebrate the uniqueness of their perceptions, and the materials that have been used. Different issues surrounding identity have been addressed and represented within varying contexts.

I also really like the way that the great majority of the responses have been returned to me within the sandwich bags that the participants were originally provided with, which contained the materials and the guidance on the task. Could I somehow incorporate this element into my final exhibition?

Hello again :-)

I have had the following entries saved in my drafts folder for aaages, waiting to be edited and published.

So here they are!

My packs in the staffroom

Having left my packs in the staffroom at uni for a few days, I had recieved three or four responses back from this experiment.

So all in all, it wasn't a great success. But thank you to those who did participate! :-)  So now I need to use this outcome and learn from it to inform the next stage of my journey.

Thinking about why this experiment wasn't a great success as it could have been could come down to the fact that the staffroom isn't used very much. It is only used by certain members of staff to check the post. So the location in itself was not maybe as prominent as I first thought it could be.

I wonder what would happen if I encouraged students to get involved and participate? Would this evoke a different response? Maybe I could look into the possibility of using a prominent location at uni e.g. outside the sanctuary or in The Hub and encourage participation in this way? Maybe if I had a table/stand? Something to definately think about...

Facebook...an update.

Having checked my Facebook group fairly regularly over the past few days, it has had great success, and encouraged people to participate by offering their views, thoughts, and ideas in relation to what the word 'identity' means to them. What is even better, the group has spread slowly but surely, and friends of friends of friends have joined the group and contributed! So a massive thank you to all who have :-)

This is great, and I am pleased the medium of Facebook has generated discussion, as well as encouraging and facilitating participation.

I shall post some key comments/findings up over the next few days...

Current Affairs...In the news.

In the news recently, there has been coverage of the ban of the burka in Belgium. The burka covers the entire face and body, leaving just a mesh screen to see through.

Image reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8658017.stm

This current affair is relevant to my art as it focuses on the 'reveal' of the identities of a particular group of people.

The ban of the burka has transpired as a result of concerns by the Belgain government that it obscures the identity of the wearer in public places. It is the first ban of its type in Europe. 

The Belgian government has banned the veil as a result of fears over security, and to allow the police to identify people.

Nevertheless, Part II, Article 2 of The United Nations International Covenant On Cival And Political Rights (1994) states,

"Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html#Article1.1 

This ban has made me consider a couple of questions in relation to the notion of identity:

Women wearing the burka and other traditional Islamic clothing is a symbol of religion and faith, and those who wear it do so as an expression of their identities and beliefs. So why should women be made to be not to wear it? Is this not going against the freedom of human rights and self expression?

Also, those who wear it, do so to conceal their bodies when in the company of males (a traditional Islamic value and custom) . So by banning the wearing of the burka, coould this mean that women could be trapped and in their own homes, and within society as a result of the 'revealing' of their visual identities? 

The burka and other traditional clothing that conceals particular parts of a person may be considered as a part of their identity. So by removing this clothing, and taking this away, is this in fact taking away or removing parts from a persons identity, and the individual characteristics that contribute to who we are?

Personally, I'm not sure what I make of this decision. The wearing if the burka and other traditional clothing is a tradition amongst the Islamic tradition that has been existent for hundreds upon hundreds of years. So why has this become so much of an issue now? Is it a result of the cultural and social contexts that surrond us? But at the same time, I do appreciate the reasons as to why this ban may have come into place. It remains controversial and questionable.

It would be interesting to gain the perspective of people who this would directly affect. Something to definately pursue in relation to identity...