Propeller Island

Sean Kirwin at the Bunhouse...

Atlantic Wall

“North of Norway all the way to the south of france, the Todt Organization constructed countless bunkers, symbols of the fragility of the Nazi State. This cryptic architecture became the marker for the evolution of Hitlerterian space. These concrete shelters ceaselessly proliferated and got thicker, an almost botanical sign of a constantly more rigorous climate. In the end these bunkers obtained the role of prestige monuments, witnessing not so much the power of the Third Reich as its obsession with disappearance.”

Paul Virilio

Bunkers

“...fortifications aim not only to conserve power but also to conserve all combat techniques.” (virilio) To build a fortification is to resign oneself to defeat. The construction of Hitlers WW2 Atlantikwall was a futile effort to cling to what was already lost, the Riech was in decline and under threat from all sides, this enormous wall of defences was built to convince and reasure the Nazis of the strength of their own regiem. A successful regiem does not need to reasurence. In the 1860s the British Empire was undisputibily the most powerfull in the world, it had no need to reasure its population of its greatness for everyone knew it. Towards the end of the century however as its decline begun, the monumnets proliferated and became more and more elaborate as we tried to convince our selves that we were still as great as we ever were. To decorate is to reasure yourself of your wealth or power, as soon as you need reasuring you have most likely lost the possition you origionally held. Baroque in its nature is a type of fortification, its tries to convince and reasure, its use in churches is an attempt to convince the worshipers of the richness and power of god. All this comes from self doubt and inadiquacy.

Bun House Proposal

In our Bun House show I intend to explore adventure, battle and conquest, I am imagining this taking the form of duels and fights with the end goal of earning a trophy, in the form of defeating a competitor. Using duelling as an artificial way to create an extreme experience, like a pilgrimage (causing suffering to yourself to bring your self closer to god), I will display the duellers fighting under controlled circumstances (squiggy boxing gloves to protect noses and maybe head guards) and will challenge guests to experience the extreme emotions experienced during fighting in complete safety. 

Elective Evaluation

Choosing this elective last term has really I think changed my outlook on art and how I make-work. I feel that my work has finally evolved into something I can be truly absorbed in; it has helped me to break away from the restrictions of painting and making objects. Doing performance you are not just creating an object for the sake of creating an object but doing something that seems much more connected with the real world in some way. An object will age with time, so a painting I made a year ago, for example, can always be re-examined.  If you remember it fondly from when it was painted chances are you will suddenly see all the flaws you missed in the triumphal high after finishing it. Much like visiting New York for me, somewhere you’ve always seen in films from a very early age, when you visit for a first time the reality is always going to be a disappointment. I feel I would much rather remember the fantasy or if that’s not possible maybe for witnesses to remember it in such a way. I feel this quote from Brian Griffiths is very relevant to how I feel about my work at the moment:

“I started as a painter and was so disappointed at the time people spent looking at them that I made large-scale objects that would have to be navigated around. It was a desperate statement: ‘try and ignore this’ ” (Griffiths 2008)

In a box of Quality Street I often pick the brightest and most attractively wrapped chocolate, I want my work to be noticed and remembered, and to present what I am interested in to others and I feel the best way to do this is to have a attractive “wrapper”. I feel performance is the perfect medium for me to create a spectacle, which will have a longer lasting resonance with the viewer than say a static object. This is an aspect that I am interested in that I am only just beginning to explore…