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...