POSITIVE OUTCOMES
This piece is a re-worked and exhibited adaptation of the re-imagine the city residency piece, "CCCXIX-IV-XCV-XL". It has been changed to fit the space and time scales provided.
The exhibition was broken up into three elements. The sculpture, the performance, and the paintings.
This piece was exhibited in Wellspring Church as part of the Wirksworth Sculpture Trail. Originally, "The National Disinterest", was the piece to be displayed in this space, however, after seeing the space and conversing with venue host, Paul Heppleston, we decided to exhibit this redaction of "CCCXIX-IV-XCV-XL". This is because most of the places that the night shelters were held in were churches, this piece almost acts as a tribute to these selfless places.
Related links:
https://www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk
https://www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk/artist_type/trail-artists?fwp_artists_festival_years=2018
This sculture seeks to open the viewers’ eyes to issues that surround them in their day to day lives. In particular this piece tries to draw attention to the homeless issue in Derby, aiming to make more people aware of how serious a topic this is. Every detail has significance, from the number of bricks that create the barrier to the number of threads hanging throughout the piece. These details paint the picture of homelessness in Derby, telling us how many homeless people there are, to how many ‘positive outcomes’ come from our current support efforts.
319 homeless people stayed in a night shelter that ran over a period of 4months. Worryingly enough there is an average official head count of only 40homeless people. But 95 of the319people managed to find an alternative place to sleep. All these figures are represented in the Artwork. For this exhibition, these numbers have been scaled down, running on a 10:3 ratio, which is the ratio of rough sleepers to positive outcomes over the 4-month night shelters.
The sculpture itself almost feels unbalanced and uneven. The lack of symmetry shows imperfection, in the same way our world has imperfections, one of which being homelessness itself. It is also draped with a collection of the threads from the original sculpture, representing the mass of people affected by this topic.
The performance looks at the general public, focusing on how they don’t think as an individual their opinion or actions make a difference. I cut the threads to show a physical action and following reaction. I do this slowly, I cut each lone thread to show how as a single unit there is still an effect. The threads are cut at a rate of almost 1 every 10 minutes to emphasize the action.This is mainly in reaction to the growing numbers of people who choose to not vote.
I cut the threads at different lengths as another gesture towards our individuality. This could be interpreted in many different ways. Some many interpret it in regard to the action, maybe this is a representation of the different ages all able to vote and influence decisions made in our country. Maybe it’s in relation to the journey homeless people face, the length of the journey, how long will it take to become a “positive outcome”? This is open for the viewer to decide.
The end result, all the ties are severed, at the start of the performance, there was hope, cut threads balanced delicately on the threads that remained. Further in the performance, the threads started to beome heavy on the untouched remaining strands, they started to drag them down with them. Is this a metaphor for our own development? The movement that was once in the threads as the air gently pushed them is now gone. almost leaving a sad history of the once complete piece.
thread movement
public engagement 2
cutting thread
public engagement 1
The performance almost showed the relationship between me the artist, and the sculpture, the creation, this is a relationship that I wanted to be shared by the viewer. Some viewers did want to share this experience. Some members of the audience shared this experience by watching the performance and inspecting what had happened to the threads. Two viewers became a part of the piece themselves by performing as well.
After the 10 minutes since the last thread was cut, one of them stood up, and carefully inspected the piece, then choosing a thread of their own and cutting it where felt right for them. Another 10 minutes passed, another member of the public did the same. This gave them the chance to become a part of the art work, influencing the performance and how it developed.
Two paintings from the original exhibition were displayed alongside the sculpture.
The remaining paintings are now part of Artcores permanent collection.