Patricia Piccinini- reflections

Piccinini’s work mainly revolves around a Hybrid focus. It specifically targets the act of genetic modification, and the subsequent ethical arguments. Do the many ’guinea pigs’ in laboratories around the world feel the pain? Should they, being technically part human have similar rights? As the continuity of research and science does not seem able to cease, Piccinini claws at our emotions searching for a sympathetic response at these confronting images of mutilated creatures. The idea of the “other and lesser being” definitely is portrayed throughout her work, with the question; “who truly has the right to be superior?” echoed in hushed tones. The works encourage us to endeavor into our species past where race and even gender had been marked inferior, what makes an animal’s cause any less important? The creatures are represented with gentle and relaxed body language, which predicates emotions of hopelessness and innocence. The children represented with the creatures aid these emotions as they give each piece a raw perception with compassion and refuse to the illogical. This causes us to think; What is truly the reality? Is it their hopelessness or our ignorance?

Tom Chambers-Question 1, Intial Interpretations

Call of the wild

The initial interpretation I had first achieved with Call of the wild was a simple sense of a human’s alienation to the wild. The idea of the blindfold hindering the elaborately dressed human confuses the wearer as she struggles to feel a connection to the raw earth with her processed and technological lifestyle. The dogs surround her with the sense of teamwork and symbiosis toward each over, yet she cannot take part as her reality has been too deeply developed to suit a more ‘lone wolf’ lifestyle.

Spring's Landfall

With Spring’s Landfall, I immediately related the picture to an exploration of reality. To me, the image at first glance was a transition from childhood fantasy to adult hard core reality. The girl in the boat represents the traveler or the soul as she moves from the fantasy, trying to string along some of her openness to the barren, closed mind of an adult. In addition this juxtaposition represents a fish out of water response, in which a teenager experiences after when he/she has this adventure, tries to recreate their identity to be compatible to their new environment.

Surrender

Surrender reminded me of our sub-consciousness and the way we see around us, the way we determine the reality. The handkerchief is represented as a filter; with the light behind the girl representing the subject’s preconceived ideas, which determine what areas of the world we choose to see. The shadow on the cloth is almost a physical representation of the subconscious, only covering what it need to, while the rest of the world (which is represented as the light around the shadow) is waiting to be considered. This is similar to the psychological ‘filter’ of an adult, who only sees what he or she wants to see, with the influence of the media and developed preconceived ideas. In contrast, children tend to see the bigger picture, like a cloud’s silver lining.

Bill Viola-reflection

Bill Viola gives meanings to his works within a social and psychological context. When observing his pieces, you are simply exposed to the labyrinth of the human consciousness. Viola cleverly explores the world we live in with the observance of human behaviour as well as of interpretation of religion, opening our eyes to the elaborate environment we have gradually developed. How is it that over the years we as a species have grown further distant from each over, separated by our own personal islands like at a bus stop? Yet when we are faced with trauma, we suddenly have the need to assist and care, only then does the ‘look after the herd’ instinct catch in? His various presentations range from the double edged sword of the elements in terms of water fire and earth to simple captivations of time and place which delicately awe us, despite having so much to do with everyday life. He uses realistic emotion to do this, like the wring of the hands in grief, each movement has a simple and then deeper purpose. In the end, he focuses on the whole of life itself, unravelling the simple sediments, to search into deeper meaning. With the main focus of ‘what is real?’ he laments that our usual lives are engrossed in a simple “no surprises” comatose. Everything yet to be discovered has been discovered, so we need to find a direction, a new perspective. He gently implies that the only obstacles we have not yet conquered is life itself and in peeling back the meaning, with the raw idea we can finally redeem ourselves and move forward.