Laura Wake
My first choice of
poem for the exhibition explored the ideas of choice/fate and chance,
these were all themes that really resonated with me and sparked a lot
of ideas for artwork, however, after a lot of research about the
copyright to the poem I have decided not to use it. Unable to let
these initial ideas go I have found another poem that covers a lot of
the same topics (albeit in a very different manner) –
Invictus
William Ernest Henley
Out
of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
This was a poem
written whilst Henley was in hospital and deals with death, courage
and determination in hard times. Throughout the poem, however, there
is a still a strong reference to chance and fate (and with fate comes
the opposing matter of choice) “I am the master of my fate, I am
the captain of my soul”. “Invictus” has a celebratory outlook
on fate/chance/etc – the title itself meaning unconquerable! In the
artwork I produce I would like to take a much more uncertain and
questioning approach to these themes – of course we would all like
to think we are “masters” of our own fate.
As a starting point
I have a recorded tape of a psychic reading which I would like to fragment and incorporate somehow with a set of images to explore the blurred lines
between choice/chance/fate and also the anxiety that we all feel
about making the “right” decisions in life, how we will look back
in years to come. The images are likely to include the same figure
throughout and will be set in different outcomes/parallels – at the
moment I am planning to use the more obvious visual of location –
e.g. seascape/cityscape/landscape. Currently I am thinking these
will either be full photographs or I may overlay the images through
photoshop like a double exposure. I am planning on experimenting with
both ideas to see which is more successful.
I thought I'd comment with some thoughts as I know I would find it useful and encouraging myself to have comments. I think your ideas of figures in landscapes and layering are really interesting Laura. The layers idea seem to add a kind of ethereal quality or surreal fantasy element which makes it thought provoking. It puts me in mind of Rene Magritte's work and his incongruous figures in landscapes. It'll be great to see what youve been doing.
ReplyDelete