Research- Bobby Davidson

Stumbled across some work by an artist/photographer called Bobby Davidson. The project is entitled 'Untitled Proof' and uses postcards which is why it caught my eye. It's not exactly clear what the purpose of the project is and I can't find much explanation but I like the interaction and the mystery of the postcards being hidden by the person's hand/s.

My interpretation of the project is proof that these places or even these people existed and were visited, but I'm probably totally wrong.

Some more wishes..

A few more of them on the postcards and photographed.

Asking Kids for Wishes

Doing some more research for the project and I came across this one called 'Wish' by Matthew Beckett. He's made a video where lots of children express their wishes. I've embedded it below and it's always interesting to make videos based on children talking as they are often far more open and honest than adults. They'll say exactly what it is they wish for and I also like his approach to it which makes it interesting in a visual way as well as the different voices and locations.

Wish from Mathew Beckett on Vimeo.

Wish sites

I decided to see if there wish granting websites to see what kind of thing they offered and was it done in a serious manner or in a similar way to my project with people just saying what they want. I stumbled across this rather interestingly designed website.

They claim to be able to grant you a wish but I was looking for the catch and it seems to require you emailing a link to 8 people thus spamming and chainmail comes into it. It's interesting to see people actually using this site or at least claiming to be.

I wondered if anyone i knew or anyone who's submitted to my own project would try here or believe it. Personally it looks like an obvious scam to promote their site and should your wish come true it'll be entirely coincidental, but obviously not everyone will believe that.

'Wishes'

While I continue to collect the wishes and photograph them, I thought it'd be interesting actually look at the various conotations of the word 'wish' and what other people believe.

Looking at a definition this is the most common one I found:-

"A wish is a hope or desire for something. Fictionally, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used."

This definition actually got me thinking about ways to present my installation. Could I play up to the folklore ideology and inbuild it into my installation to add another dimension? It got me wondering whether people believe that by writing down or expressing their wish they have more chance of it coming true. For example, if somebody who has put down a wish where they regret something and want it to change are they hoping that the person it's relevant to will read it and it will help? It's an element of the project I've not considered before.

In fiction, wishes are granted by spirits or genies and often use an object, for example in Aladdin it's an oil lamp and you have to have your genie or the item for the wish to come true, simply wishing for it alone is not enough. It makes me wonder how much people believe in this element of the wishes or if they think karma and how you are as a person affects whether you get what you want. As children we are told to make a wish if we find an eyelash or when we lose a tooth and put it under our pillow, I'm interested in exploring this idea for research if nothing else, though all of these aspects are things I can consider including in my installation.

Doing some online research I found this interesting point about how wishes are applied to real life:- "Some cultures have customs in which people are encouraged to "make a wish", such as blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, seeing a shooting star at night, tossing a coin into a wishing well or fountain or breaking the wishbone of a cooked turkey. Many believe such wishes can only come true if you keep them a secret from other people. Others, on the other hand, believe that wishes come true only if you tell them to someone else."

Research- Michael Corridore

I came across this photographer who is challenging and questioning the role of photography in presenting identity. Whereas it is often seen as an artistic gateway to showing everything about a person or at least one apsect of their identity, he is questioning this and enhancing it.

He also used himself and other artists to create the project "The truth is not in the mirror" and the artists themselves were involved in making the images and the narratives to accompany them in text form beneath.

It's an interesting and slightly different approach to identity and more suggestive that photography creates one rather than reveals one, or at the least, restricts a view of it. How we read identity and how we perceive it for ourselves and others isn't fixed it changes as much as time passes and these images explore that. I would like to look at it further but I thought it'd be interesting to compare to my own project which is why it's here.

Research - Gilbert and George Postcards

Cult art duo Gilbert and George are helpful to look at from a presentation point of view. They've worked with postcards before, liking them a lot, their work with them dating as far back as 1972. They have a book which has their collection in before but they've recently done a new exhibition involving postcards.

For their new exhibition, the duo went out and looked for cards and postcards that sex workers left in phone booths or other popular drop points. They then used them to make this collection. The postcards are showing at the White Cube gallery in London and are interesting due to their use of repition and some of the material they found.

The critic Michael Bracewell writes in an introduction: "The artists reveal how that which appears tawdry, commercial, sentimental or base, no less than that which seems elevated, exquisite or enlightened, contributes to the pattern and voice of the modern world."

The reason I'm interested in looking at this is how they chose to present their postcards. This is more relevant for the previous postcard work rather than the newer one, but relevant nonetheless. They grouped them together by subject matter, often repeating them and then framing them. It put the postcards into relevant categories and I was wondering if this was something I could consider.

Something noticeable from the wishes that have been submitted to me is how many of them follow the same themes - personal wishes, monetary wishes, romance/love/relationship wishes and so on. If I were to categorise them and put them into their own collections I would if this would enhance the presentation of my installation.

It may also make it more interesting for the interactive part. Because I want the viewers at the installation to contribute by writing their own postcard and pinning it with the rest, it might be interesting to see if they pick up on the grouping and where they would pin their own wish based on this. Would it match my categorising or would some people be entirely oblivious to it being grouped at all and put them anywhere? It might aid the way people vary and identity and add that exploring element to the installation itself.

Struggling with research

One thing I'm struggling with for this project is finding relevant research and pieces to help inspire me and make me want to continue. I'm doing very well on this front in the other module and it's good for me to be constantly be looking at people's work. I find it stimulates my own creativity and helps keep me motivated or inspired.

I'm trying to look at various journals and photography blogs to find inspiration and anyone who has made work slightly relevant for this project but it's not the easiest. Identity has been covered a million times but finding anything that is inspirational and I feel can aid me and my research; there aren't so many of those.

I did stumble across one Italian photographer, Jacopo Benassi. He is very much a documentary photographer, capturing his and his friends lives on a daily basis. He produced a book entitled "The ecology of image" and I've been looking at it. While it isn't exactly like my own project, it is interesting to see identity spilled so openly and honestly into a book. He and his friends aren't really holding much back and I find that approach very refreshing.

Some more wishes, photos

Been getting some more put onto postcards so that I photograph them. My next job is to start experimenting with how they'll eventually be presented and made into a video. I'm going to try arranging them on a wall to see how best it can be and how best to represent my project.

More Wishes

Just the next few I've taken. I always want to put in a screen shot of how people are interacting with project as people can like the posts, reblog them for others to see and comment on them too.