TUTORIAL DISCOVERIES: MATERIALITY OR REALITY

Upon reflection in a lengthy tutorial with Kathleen Rodgers, it became clear that my reasoning for using Mary as subject was not quite as clear as it could be. My partner briefly moved in with artist Shelly and topics of religion came up. She had just been visiting a university where she was met by preachers trying to convert her to their religion and her response was essentially 'if you haven't had had an apparition, then I have no reason to believe your God is any more 'real' than another'. Materiality naturally lends itself to the idea of what is actually there physically and after this discussion with Shelly it seemed instinctive to add another layer to the concept based on apparitions whose physicality is more than questionable. Coming from a convent school background, the apparitions of Mary at Lourdes are stories well drilled into me and my knowledge of Mary as a whole would make it easier to give a more informed response as opposed to figures from other religious texts.

It was also agreed that the piece needs to incite a sense of awe much like the way that relics are displayed and viewed. This will have most impact on the possibly hypothetical install. For this, Kathleen suggested Watts Gallery and Compton Chapel. And whilst we were on the note of the installation, we discussed how to include the 3D glasses that would enable viewers to see the full effect of the anaglyph. The conclusion was to be intentional about it and not just to have them as a thing on the side but rather another part to the piece. The glasses could represent enlightenment and by putting them on, the wearer sees 'the truth' of Mary's magnificence. Part of my school's rules were 'think like Mary, act like Mary, do like Mary' and this could be the final link. Making the glasses into an entire mask or headpiece would make it so only 'through the eyes of Mary' can you see the 'real' Mary 3D apparition in all its glory. This reminded me of a performance I saw at Tate in the summer, an interpretive dance was performed by one person slowly interacting with the sculptures in the room and walking around the space with a giant head of some sort of animal. The viewers of my work could become part of the performance as those not wearing a mask, watch them discovering the full beauty of the piece.

For the mask it is important that the lenses are securely fixed as this is their practical purpose but the mask will need to be adjustable to different head sizes and be capable of accommodating hair, or lack of. Fabric would make most sense and particularly tights because of how stretchy they are. Some thing would need to separate the tights from the eyes though, so that the coloured lenses could actually be looked through. A couple of years ago, the art director for an HMLTD gig, artist Tiger Nicholson, gave me a mask he'd made for the show. A large part of the set up was stuffed tights similar to Bourgeois' work exhibited at Tate at the time but the walls were also covered in white masks - some of which were splattered with red paint. The mask he had given me was a mixture between the two. The tights would have impeded my vision if worn alone, so a hard metal wire framed the face along with safety pins supposedly giving a stronger structure. Following on from this, I could utilise glasses, goggle or other ready made eyewear to attach the coloured lenses to as well as create a distance from the eyes. The tights mask would still benefit from contorting the face in other ways as it not only gives them a new face, the face of Mary, but also disfigures their own. The wearer will lose themselves in the pursuit of the truth. How exactly I would transform the tights into the face of The Virgin Mary, as of yet I am unsure but a veil and screen printing technique should be explored.

Tiger Nicholson (2019) Performance

Said Tights & Wire Mask

Louise Bourgeois (2001) Legs

Some questions & queries:

Materiality and it's inevitable demise: Still to answer question of how to age a digital print as water/chemicals would not affect it in the same way as an analogue print. Yet analogue print would be difficult to create an anaglyph from. Could use fabric as backup if paper doesn't work

Restoring what is lost by making up what’s not there: Covered by subject matter, a deities reality is questionable and based on apparitions. Secondly time dependant, the print could be heavily embellished. This could lead to printing on fabric rather than paper - image transfer would make it possible to print an anaglyph AND insinuate the effects of time on it's materiality. Although if embellished on blotter it would be inedible and this type of destruction/consumption of my work is potentially an avenue I want to explore following on from this project at a later date.

- Model & Costume: India? Cat Beazley? Chloe? George Parnell? Taz? Luke Andrews? Depending on who I end up using will depend on 'costume' could be a halo or veil, whatever is used on model will be used or replicated for mask.

Some analogue printing experiments on various papers and fabrics: