The piece I created for ‘Critical Positions’ was a chance for me to access critical thought and interrogation of the self, channeled through my chosen format of improv conversation / video. The majority of the project relied on me almost backtracking the past few months of work and feedback whilst on the RCA course, to find threads of conversation regarding my current artistic interests which I believe inform my current practice:
- Places of considered ‘monument’ or ritual spaces
- The role of the Audience when confronted with art
- Portfolio regarding ‘memory’ and ‘legacy’
- Human natures, to understand, to climb, to feel
- Physical engagement
- Obsessions, persona’s, the ‘self’ in new realms
- Always attempting the push for abstract rationale
- Work balancing out both personal and academic interests
- What does it mean to provoke abstract, academic thought? - Curiosity in the historic
- Modern ‘ancient’ net frameworks.
These noted discoveries placed me in a position where I felt it would be necessary to enquire this brief with a task of interviewing myself, as normally my work is aimed towards some sort of audience or framework such as an institution. As I don’t have a physical audience because of quarantine, and I am not in any institution either, I had to find a way of generating this myself.
Using an old interview which I answered in May 2019, I was able to pitch the same questions to myself again in May 2020. This enabled me to compare and work-off my previous ideas of practice, art, AI and more. The role of the viewer was depicted through the reflection of a mirror, showing myself and a GoPro mounted video camera to record the conversation.
The project once initiated acts as a sort of manifesto towards my interests and areas of expertise, which will only grow and change over time. I believe that capturing myself talking about current events and interests acts as a legacy tool which I can definitely revisit in the future as a potential on-going project.