Proformer

What went before

Wax casting and Cyanotype Instillation

‘A visible mark, such as a footprint, made or left by the passage of a person, animal, or thing.’

For those memories left behind without a trace, for those memories that fade away and for those memories you never told me.

This piece represents those lost memories and the memories of Dennis I will never forget, though will eventually fade. The glass bottles represent those barriers, the barriers that we choose to create and those events that were not documented; Dennis’s life.

The wax covering the bottles was poured when I received the news that Dennis had passed away during the project, news that I found extremely difficult to deal with. The wax represents a further barrier between Dennis and I. The bottles have been filled with cyanotype images and memories that Dennis wrote. I hope I have depicted his vision accurately.

Annette Messager, a French instillation artist inspired my piece, the simplicity of her piece contradicts the complicated way that it has been presented. Her work is delicate, though she works on a large scale. I feel this has been represented in our piece.

Review of Project

Using these mediums, my initial idea was to focus on how Dennis felt about the past, he seems to have had a good life, but I could not help but question whether there was something he wasn’t telling me as all the trace of his life is virtually nonexistent. Was there something he was hiding? would he just rather leave the past in the past? This is where my initial idea of using glass bottles come from, memories which are trapped inside this bottle, which he is now unable to access due to personal choice. The memories are abstract and have been forgotten about, just the way Dennis wants it to be. I want to do a instillation which shows these memories personified. I have chosen to use glass bottles as Dennis has always liked a good drink and a smoke. I propose to hang the bottles as an instillation, this bottles will be covered in wax and will have lost memories trapped inside.

This is extremely relevant to the project title of traces, as I am focusing on the mark that Dennis has left behind from his life and the trace he would rather just forget about. The way in which I will include animation in my work will me through animating a memory Dennis told me about one of the dogs he had called Lennie. The animation will be really short and will consist of Dennis sitting on an arm chair with Lennie at his feet looking up at Dennis, asking him to take him for a walk which his eyes. This will be on repeat, though I haven’t yet decided whether this will be separate to the instillation or not. I will be using Instillation, Cyanotype and casting in my final piece.