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Wednesday 29 February 2012

'In secret kept, in silence sealed...'




So I am well into my second term now, and the current project is going well. We had to bring objects and words to the table and explore their narratives so to begin with I chose an Edwardian portable writing desk, a Victorian jewellery box, some old, used keys, and a quote from Charlotte Bronte :


'The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed’

I began to consider aspects of concealment and secrets being concealed within ourselves as well as within the objects. I started looking at cocoons and looking at their protective state, and linking the two ideas by exploring the idea of these cocoons protecting the secrets we hold.

However part of the project was to also source a brief that we could work to as a hypothetical commission or competition. My sourced brief was called ‘Lost Properties’ (http://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/lost-properties/) calling for submissions where we create a piece or body of work that highlights to the public a quality that we revere as well as something that is interactive.

Because of this the cocoons weren’t really successful, and I had to reassess where I was going.

Choosing to focus solely on the portable writing desk, I began to research into the lost art of letter writing a true quality that has been lost in a digital era and is something that I would like to encourage again.

I still wanted to incorporate the initial idea of secrets though, and believe I found a way to do that.

My idea so far:

To create an interactive area, preferably a writing desk set up, where people are invited to come and write a letter. I have chosen the starting sentence: ‘I wish I had told you…’ I felt this was fitting to revealing a secret and writing the letter could act as a way of purging their emotions.

The letters will then be displayed for a short period of time before I will use them to create a final piece, be it an art book or a series of postcards.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

'When you're gone, nighttime speaks...'


I already mentioned the Sketchbook Project 2012 that I took part in, and I also uploaded some of my own photographs but my book has been digitized! So if you want to look at the whole thing, have a gander!
http://www.arthousecoop.com/users/jenniferkirkham