Chapter 4
Analysis
of my art practice
I began exploring the relationship between 'self'
and 'the other' in my third year work in 2009.
For example Pigeon Housing 2009 (Fig 23) explored how we
oversimplify the intricate make-up of an individual through stereotypes and
labels. I continued to explore the
relationships between individuals through a participative project in Breath
2009 (Fig 24). In this work I asked the
viewer to record a memory onto the balloons surface by blowing it up and
writing a memory on the surface. The
balloon was then deflated and the process repeated. This meant that each balloon contained the
breath of multiple participants. I have
continued exploring the effects of audience participation in my BTech work, as
well as how interaction with others moulds our identity.
Fig 23 Shelanna Macdonald, Pigeon Housing, 2009. Wooden box, Steel tags.
Fig 24 Shelanna Macdonald, Breath, 2009. Wooden box, Plastic and
balloons.
A layered landscape of plastic soldiers and
handmade paper, titled Substitution 2009 (Fig 25) expressed a loss of
identity and ‘self’ through conflict. Conversation
2009 (Fig 26) also used the plastic soldiers as a metaphor for conflict caused
by differences in opinion.
Fig 25 Shelanna Macdonald, Substitution
(Detail), 2009. Plastic
Soldiers, handmade paper.
Fig 26 Shelanna Macdonald, Conversation,
2009.
Plastic soldiers on steel bases suspended on threaded rods.
In
Numerical Suspension 2009 (Fig 28), which consists of an abacus of clay
pigeons suspended on threaded rods, I investigated the freedom of flight and
movement juxtaposed by the constraints of numbering, impalement and
brokenness. I perceive pigeons as a
society within themselves and I am intrigued by how they seem content, both
alone and in groups, constantly returning to their place of birth. In addition the format of the sculpture
referenced sentences or music notes, extending beyond the geometric confines of
the frame like conversations. The
effects of treating people as numbers or components of a system is explored
further in my BTech work.
Fig 27 Shelanna Macdonald, Numerical Suspension, 2009. Clay birds suspended on
threaded rods.
My work
interrogates the point at which the individual intercepts a larger community
within an urban context. My journey of
locating 'self' is symbolised by the transition of the paper bird within
various spaces. Migration (2011) (Fig 28), an oil on canvas triptych documents how
we travel through known and unknown spaces in our pursuit to establish personal
migrations. The feeling of migration is
reinforced by aerial viewpoints of Durban Girls High School (where I am an
educator), the Durban University of Technology (where I am a student) and the
Taj Mahal (which I have experienced on a visit to India).
Fig 28 Shelanna Macdonald, Migration, 2011.
Oil on Canvas. Triptych.
Each canvas 60 x 90cm
The
anonymous nature of the individual within the masses is represented by an
installation of a cloud of identically folded paper birds in Flock of Dreams (2011) (Fig 29). I began creating this
installation by asking a group of learners at Durban Girls High School to
record their dreams on the paper birds, as part of a process of recording human
experience through artistic interventions.
My working process is similar to Salcedo, whose concepts often develop out of
interviews with people who have experienced trauma. Studying Salcedo's work, helped me understand
how objects can express traces of human presence, and this furthered my
interest in transcribing snippets of conversations onto art objects.
Some of the dreams recorded were very
materialistic and narrow minded.
However, some of the dreams were emotionally compelling. I was also surprised by their response and
how much they enjoyed being part of my project.
The simplicity of the paper birds aroused their curiosity about future
prospects. I discovered how visual
dialogue between the viewer and artist can change people's perceptions of
life. I would like to develop this project
by asking a more varied group to record dreams as this would reflect society
more accurately. The cloud reflects how the mapping of personalised
hopes distinguishes the individual from the masses in establishing a unique
life path.
Gary Park
stated that the undercurrent of aggression in Abakanowicz's work referenced her
“unease with the dark side of collective behaviour.” Conversely, I have been able to fulfil my own
aspirations through the positive support and encouragement of many individuals
within the “crowd”. I was also intrigued
by how Installation Art was able to create a sensory experience of mass
encouragement. Folding the paper birds
was an appropriate beginning for this environment, as the Japanese culture has
a myth that making 1000 cranes will make your wish come true.
Fig 29 Shelanna Macdonald, Flock of Dreams, 2011. Paper Birds, Fishing line and foamcor.
Dimensions variable.
According
to psychologist Bertram Cohen (2002) individuals maintain connections with
various groups by constructing their identity around the attributes of the
group. This identity is based on the
group's superiority and chosen properties in comparison to other groups’
identities; this distinction often results in intergroup conflict. Resolution is only made possible when both
groups recognize their shared humanity and undergo a process of
self-transformation, however damaging it may be to their prized distinction and
carefully crafted identities. The
folding of the paper birds represents the constructing of our identity. The conflict that arises between the
individual and the collective is emphasised by the inclusion of a group of
larger black birds together with a variety of origami patterns. Thus Flock of Dreams reveals the power of
individuals as part of a group; the individual's influence on her surroundings
is reinforced through her integration into a broader collective.
Beuys (in Dennison, 2001:32) argued
that “all areas of human activity-the social, the political, the spiritual-
fall within the parameters of artistic activity, claiming that the moulding
processes of art act as a metaphor for the moulding of society.” This notion is reinforced in In(significant) 2010-2011 (Fig 30), a series of
photographs documenting the production and delivery of 2600 hearts to the
learners at Durban Girls High School.
Many of the learners have lost respect for themselves through traumatic
events. The school is very big and run
in a very disciplined and systematic way. As a result, one sometimes feels like
an unknown name within the mass. I hoped
that the time and effort that went into creating the hearts would remind the
learners how valuable they were. This
work was also cathartic for me, as it enabled me to express how much being part
of a crowd had impacted on me, as I am currently teaching at the school and was
a past pupil of the school. Thus this
small gesture was an apology for the times I personally had treated others as
numbers, and lost sight of how important the other is, in establishing my own
journey as an individual.
Fig 30 Shelanna
Macdonald, In(significant) (Detail),
2010-2011.
Grounded 2010-2011 (Fig 31) is a series of acrylic boxes
that juxtaposes the need to escape the crowd, with the need to be intimately
known by others. For this piece I asked
various friends and school girls to write their secret hiding places on
envelopes. The layered paper creates a
series of interlocking spaces that echo the niches we withdraw to. The use of
packaging labels reinforces the loss of individuality through the mechanical
recording of personal information in state systems. A second box contains a series of parcel tags
that record various peoples' burdens and highlights the troubles that weigh
people down. Some burdens seem trivial
when compared with others and one's own problems are lightened through the
process of sharing with/caring for others.
The notion of caring for other people's burdens is echoed in the
collection of glass bottles, which refer to the Jewish practice of sending a
bottle of tears to grieving families as a symbol of empathy. The weight of time and decay on our physical
bodies is expressed in a fourth box of clay imprints of learners' palms that
have subsequently been ground into dust.
Fig 31 Shelanna Macdonald, Grounded (details),
2010-2011. Packaging labels, Envelopes, Wax Bottles, Glass bottles, Extruder
Acrylic boxes. 20cm x 80cm.
I am
ambivalent about the power I carry as an individual, as my work documents both
the vulnerability and success of an individual diaspora. Encroachment (2011) (Fig 32) explores how displacement and migration is
not just a physical movement, but also an emotional transition. The work comments on the relationship between
nature and the mechanical through a series of white cut outs of swallows, flying
fish and aeroplanes, which have been pinned onto a sheet of white
Coruplast. The work projects an ominous
feeling as some of the shapes are amorphous and others have been cut into. The pins
reference museum exhibits and the lose of mobility. Artist Rachel Whiteread (in Dennison,
2001:133) described how objects’ shadows are the “residue of anonymous
use”. The shadows in this work allude to
the haunting nature of emotions and trauma.
The minimalist feel of the work was inspired by how Salcedo's and Abakanowicz's
work highlights the angst of absence and loss as a result of trauma.
Fig 32 Shelanna Macdonald, Encroachment, 2011. Plastic cut outs, pins, Coruplast.
My work
investigates the ethereal nature of space such as the online environment of
social networks. White Noise 2011 (Fig 33) explores how our
attempt to communicate in the modern world becomes lost within the trivial
nature of modern living. A friend once
commented that in our current society “everyone has a voice, but not everyone
has something to say...”. This thought is reinforced by the text from a Donald
Duck cartoon which said “Nothin’ to it” (Donald
Duck, n.d). At times one is overwhelmed by the struggle
of articulating one’s voice, as well as making one’s voice heard without losing
the power of dialogue.
Fig 33 Shelanna Macdonald, White Noise (Nothin' to it), 2011 ABS cutouts.
Completing
my BTech has developed my understanding of creating art that is technically
skilled, without losing the impact of expressing conceptual concerns. I
struggled in the beginning as I had just starting teaching art and my post was
demanding in the beginning. I was also unsure of what I wanted to say through
art; this doubt, coupled with limited time and energy, resulted in the
presentation of direction-less, incomplete works. I was uncertain as to how I could visually
express how my identity is positively influenced by my interaction with
others. Developing Flock of Dreams (2011) (Fig 29)
was a defining work as it was
technically and conceptually more resolved.
I continued working with notions of flight and white on white
reflections, which led to Encroachment
(2011) (Fig 32) and White Noise (Nothin' to it) (2011)
(Fig 33). I was enjoying the process of making work, however I was still
unclear of the conceptual links between the pieces. I discovered that one has
to avoid being seduced by the visual expression of the artwork, by constantly
reconsidering the conceptual underpinning. However, Encroachment also helped clarify my concept as I began pondering
the meaning of aerial viewpoints and flight, and how the distortion of the
shapes related to the paper birds. Studying Installation Art history influenced
my perception of how physical, emotional, social and environmental spaces mould
my identity. The struggle to understand my experience of the world, and purpose
in creating art, was clarified through finding the links between my theoretical
discourse, and the visual clues present in my work. In Migration (2011) (Fig 28) I was
able to express my development of the self by combining the image of the bird
with aerial photos of various spaces that have impacted on me and facilitated
my production of art.
Significantly
I have chosen to explore my individuality and relationship between self and the
other through art-making. The experience of viewing art is in itself an
expression of the individual interacting with a larger community.
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