atlasphoebus

[atlasphoebus]

MARK HOGANCAMP

Mark Hogancamp started his creative journey in his recovery from an attack by five men that left him almost dead, permanently brain damaged. The assault, motivated by Hogancamp revealing himself as a crossdresser, resulted in a total loss of prior memories and physical rehabilitation. After not being able to afford the therapy to cope with the trauma from the assault, Hogancamp redirected into his own world, named Marwencol. An expansive world entirely made by hand by Hogancamp, Marwencol is a World War II era Belgian miniature town featuring characters played by barbie dolls and action figures. Hogancamp photographs elaborate and cinematic scenes to capture his storylines, mostly following his self inserted character taking control and reliving his trauma by fulfilling scenarios involving the punishment and death of the five male attackers. I have used Hogancamp's work in the past as an artist reference for relation to the cinematography of his miniatures, but I am now realising our connections in relation to gender and methodologies. After receiving feedback from my Oral Presentation, "Such a framing also keeps the work tied to a hobbyist model-making mentality" in relation to my material use, I suddenly felt this was what I have been missing this whole time. I would like to expand further on this in my Research Summary, but there is a lot of value in the process of making of hobbyist practice, and describes my approach to materiality in that they serve a purpose to build a fantasy, like creating a theatre production or a stage set. And while there are certainly intentions with specific objects and materials, they still function to serve the wider purpose of bringing the fantasy to life. Much like the narrative overall being built by the archetype of the museological artifact, the material is the construction of the archetype.

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PAINTING THE BODY

Once the head was attached I was then able to paint the body. I began by using a beige toned acrylic based spray paint as a base paint coat. I love how this made him look like an android, and instantly brought some life into him as it covered all the colours and seams of clay and plastic and created an even surface. I used an airbrush and diluted acrylic paint to slowly build up the layers of shadow tones. I first worked through the yellow tones, then added some blue tones to draw out the pale flesh. I also painted a thin veneer of purple tone with a large wide flat brush over the entire body to blend the tones further and also pull away from the overall yellowness. I then went in with my small brush, hand painting the lips and eyes and inside the ears and nostrils, as well as hand painting the nipples. This was so I could get the finer details, as well as getting some blotchy, patchy effects where it needed it such as the nipples and lips. I didn't apply any highlights as the slight sheen of the paint already felt like enough. The paint job has gone really well and pulled the entire body together, bringing so much more life into it and becoming so beautiful.

[atlasphoebus]

BURIAL SITE: ÇATALHÖYÜK

Çatalhöyük is a buried Neolithic settlement in Turkey, originally uncovered by James Mellaart in 1958. Mellaart, after finding a few female figurines in a structure he deemed to be a temple and several other fairly loose discoveries, made the dubious claim that this was a matriarchal society. These female figurines, featuring sagging breasts and thicker bodies, could not be the work of a male lead culture in Mellaart's mind. The male gaze could not be responsible for producing female forms that weren't sexualised, therefore these figures must be the result of a bodies fertility, the only other use for a female's body. Mellaart's findings were published and sensationalised, the idea of a female driven ancient society so scandalous and exciting that the "lost city of goddess worshippers" still is circulated today. We now know, however, that these claims are unfounded. Not only is Mellaart known to be a forger to some degree, as well as Mellaart being banned from Turkey for involvement in a separate affair, but resent research has been conducted and proven more accurate interpretations of these figurines and wider culture. The figurines are more likely to each be made in the image of ancestors, of real people and therefore made to look like older women. They were likely made quickly, and held in the pocket or bag, and none being found on display in a way that would suggest that they are objects of worship. Mellaart's methods are a testament to the worst of heteronormative and patriarchal driven archaeological practice. Considering the beginnings of paleontology and dinosaur remains, of the stealing and trade of culturally significant objects, and many other problematic practices that forms the early practices of archaeology, it is not hard to see how this type of method can form and be popularised. In it becoming popularised, it then becomes the standard of practice where parts still remain to this day in the way that sites and individuals are interpreted through these restrictive narratives.

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BURIAL SITE: BIRKA SITE

The Iron Age viking burial site Bj581 in Burka, Sweden containing the body of what was previously thought to be a male warrior was uncovered in 1878. This burial site was full of grave goods such as weapons, two horses and a board game likely relating to military strategy, being only one of two graves out of 1,100 in Burka containing weaponry. As warriors were mostly believed to be male and therefore interpreted as male, the contents of this grave lead archaeologists to then believe that the individual must be male. However, after genetically testing their remains, the individual was found to be biologically female. The question of gender identity has been brought up to current researchers, whether this individual may have identified with their biological gender, or been on a gender spectrum. From their published journal, they stated "While we understand this line of thinking in the context of contemporary social debates, it should be remembered that this is a modern politicised, intellectual and Western term, and, as such, is problematic (some would say impossible) to apply to people of the more remote past." The slight irony of this logic is that there would never be this type of hesitation or hands off approach, and certainly wasn't originally, in the interpretation of burial sites. These types of blanket statements that remove the responsibility of definitive interpretation, while with the intention that it leaves the identity of the individual open ended, only continues the erasure of queer identities in human history.

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QUEER PHENOMENOLOGY

Phenomenology, a word pertaining to the subjective experience of individuals, the way that they engage with their external surroundings and objects, is a topic of philosophy heavily shaped and dominated by heterosexual cisgendered white males. These so called "subjective" experiences and the literature written surrounding the phenomenological experience are centred around these heteronormative binaries. In Sara Ahmed's writings about queer phenomenology, this interpretation of phenomenology and the lived experience, how we engage with surroundings and how phenomenology affects how surroundings are constructed, these binaries are removed and therefore "queered". Queer in this context refers to the dismissal of heteronormativity, that the removal of heteronormative binaries leads to a wider perception of the world that is more realistic and less defined by learnt systematic behaviour. It is also not only about interpreting with a more open mind, but about considering as human, where there are sexualities, disabilities, gender identities, races, so many perspectives that are overlooked and lost due to the patriarchal conditioning that occurs.

[atlasphoebus]

GOTHIC RETURNS: FUSELI TO FOMISON

The second part of mine and Juno's journey was to the exhibition at the Auckland City Art Gallery. Presenting a collection of works focused on Gothic aesthetics and witchcraft, I was so happy to see a series of lithographic prints from Francisco Goya. These prints were all part of the larger body of work I spoke about in my previous post on him, the hysteria of witchcraft and work of the Spanish Inquisition, and the degradation of society due to these practices and corrupt politics. I also was very enamoured by Ronny van Hout's Psycho (1999). My practice was born out of my love for miniatures, but I have always felt like it is a practice and materiality that doesn't fit into the common idea of what is considered Fine Arts. But there is so much value beyond the immediate idea of what model making and miniatures is, that it can be intellectual. I have always struggled to engage with and talk about my methodology due to this self conscious feeling and not being understood, that it hasn't necessarily been recognised and has often been interfered with externally in favour of practices that follow more common or traditional guidelines. I think it was really important to be able to see a work like this in such an exhibition, alongside someone like Goya, to put into perspective the way that these imposed parameters and tunnel visions can derail valid forms of making and content. That I should be confident despite the difference of where my work comes from.

[atlasphoebus]

ILLUMINATED MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS

Juno and I decided to make a trip to see the illuminated manuscripts on display at the Auckland City Library. While I absolutely adored the manuscripts and their beautiful details, what I did take away from it in regards to my own work was the lighting for the display. The room was very softly lit by individual spotlights around the room, creating an ambience and sacredness appropriate to the importance of the texts. This type of atmosphere is what I would love to recreate, the feeling that you are stepping into something special or protected, that there is a soft importance drawn from the dim light pointing at the object of attention. A singular spotlight would be great for this, just enough to allude to the centre and diffusing on the rest of the work so it is less visible, the darkness in the room creeping at the edges.

[atlasphoebus]

HEAD ATTACHMENT

There were several different trials and errors when attaching the head to the torso. First I tried a simple joining with NSP clay, but this wasn't strong enough and cracked straight away. I then bought some special glue for joining polystyrene material to other materials, as polystyrene can be eaten by other glues and will produce toxic vapour, but this glue wasn't strong enough and the head fell off. My final attempt was routing two holes on the middle top and bottom of the neck of the mannequin, and threading wire through the hole, through the polystyrene neck base, and out the other side. This worked enough for me to then use NSP clay over the seam of the neck and blend it together. It is now ready for painting.

[atlasphoebus]

LIMINALITY IN DEATH

Liminality in death has several branches of meaning. There is the liminality of the afterlife, and liminality of the death object. Liminality in the afterlife I have spoken about in previous posts, but it relates to the transition of the spirit in cultural and religious practices from death to the afterlife. The spirit often will go through some type of process, journey, or series of tasks in order to reach their afterlife and that phase is the liminal space in which the spirit operates in. Liminality in relation to the death object is the way that death objects contain physical matter from the deceased individual, yet they continue to exist as their own entity. Like the speaking reliquary or hair woven mourning jewellery which both contain human remains, the object is neither dead nor alive. It operates within a undefined territory, between two points of mortality, as well as being and not being the deceased individual. These points of liminality in death also begin to affect the space in regards to burial sites. In Ancient Egyptian tombs where the tomb is a house for the spirit to shift back and forth from in their journey, with protective spells placed inside, and as mortals enter they therefore enter a space that is neither in the physical world or the afterlife. Even looking at burial sites of gender diverse individuals, the journey of their identity continues after their death in the interpretations of archaeological practice.

[atlasphoebus]

TUTOR CRITIQUE

In my tutor critique session, it just ended up being myself and Yolunda and operating as more of a supervision meeting than a critique which I still found incredibly helpful. We agreed that the rocks were a great addition, I was debating whether to include my objects as little offerings placed in the nooks of the rocks and we both liked this idea. Yolunda had some good advice discussing what the external assessor might ask and how to answer those questions in a more thoughtful and concise way. We also spoke about lighting options, which I have spoken with Matt about as well, whether to have a spotlight, or LED strips shining up from the rocks. A few different things to ruminate on and aspects of my work and materiality to think about in a way where I can verbalise it clearly and get past the surface level remarks to the deeper core.

[atlasphoebus]

LIMINALITY IN QUEER IDENTITY

Liminality in relation to queer identity refers to the state of in between or flux as a transgender or non binary individual. Liminal is, in all applications, the area of transition between one state and another. Usually it refers to space, like a door way or a waiting room, where these areas take someone from one space or place to another. In psychology it can refer to the area between conscious and subconscious thought. When put in the context of transgender or non binary gender identity, it is the way that these identities are never a fixed state of being, and are constantly in a state of change or reinterpretation. Inside the queer community and outside of it too, there is a pressure to "pass" or to be indistinguishable from cisgender people when transitioning, that the purpose of transitioning is to reach the end goal of being completely part of the identified gender and no longer a transgender individual. Part of this is because of the dangers of being a transgender person, with transgender women of colour being within the highest death rates in homicide statistics. But this is also because of, much like in the nature of queer ecology and queer phenomenology, the heteronormative binaries that control the way that even gender is perceived. The liminality of gender transition and non binary identity is a vital aspect of being transgender, that there is no beginning or end, and that it is an existence where the perception and expression of one's own gender is perpetually in flow.

[atlasphoebus]

ROCKS

While I wanted to use the wood as the barrier points for the body, and be able to carve them into shape, I realised that the wood is tanalised. This means that the wood is treated with copper sulfide and sometimes arsenic in order to preserve the wood. I can't work on the wood as the particles are toxic to be inhaled or ingested. To remain with the organic materials and structures, I decided to change to large rocks. This would be much easier for the carving as well since I have experience doing this where I have never done wood carving before. I tested carving into a rock from my house, doing a dragonfly. This worked really well, fading in and out of the lichen covered surface. I was able to acquire 6 large mossy rocks, each with unique and beautiful shapes and growth of moss. Placed around the body, they are reminiscent of Iron Age celtic rock carvings and Stone Age henge formations, often acting as gateways or sacred places and sometimes even being related to burial grounds. I have been looking after the moss on the rocks every day by misting them with water, placing wet paper towels over the moss and then wrapping the rocks in plastic bags to retain the moisture.

[atlasphoebus]

TERESA MARGOLLES

Teresa Margolles’ exhibition, Muerte sin fin (2004) at Museum Für Moderne Kunst, uses the water used to wash human bodies in mortuaries in Mexico City as a material for her artworks. In a strange way like a necromancer, she takes this medium of anonymous fluid into forms that transcend the mortal plain. The bodies are of those who have died due to violence, drug use, unidentified bodies and traffic casualties, and their remains are part of a wider bureaucratic system that makes these people disappear from public consciousness.

The exhibition includes an installation of Margolles’ En el aire (2003) which features a main hall filled with bubbles made from this water mixed with soap. Referencing the Vanitas theme “homo bulla”, she commits the dead to flight, popping in the air as if they had never existed. Yet to pop on the audience’s clothes or skin is to make post life contact, being reconjured as glittering translucent spirits.

Another of her installation works is Aire (2003), similar to En el aire (2003) but where the water is put through a humidifier to fill the space with the particles of the deceased. Anyone entering the space is forced to become a part of the journey of these remains, breathing in the vapour of the anonymous dead, the living become the corporeal host and the remains become a body within a body.

In Margolles’ work, there is a constant questioning of the relationships between the living and the dead, memento mori and memento vivere. Viewers are reminded throughout that we are alive, and that death still touches us, that there is a post life but also a post death. The exhibition space becomes a place of mourning and grief for people otherwise unknown, a space of discomfort and unease, a place that is haunted by physical matter. I am interested in Margolles' work in regards to this working within the liminal states of physical death to relate to my ideas in my work and to feature in my Literary Review. These states of being where the individual themselves is deceased yet their remains linger in new forms of existence and purpose, essentially being placed within a physical state of flux, is a direct example of the liminality of death and death object. This relates to mourning jewellery, an object where their remains become an object that outlives their death and continues in the world of the living, and the works of Margolles follow the same state of liminality.

[atlasphoebus]

ANATOMICAL VENUS

The Anatomical Venus was developed during the 1700s, originated by Clemente Susini. These wax models made in order to teach anatomy while cadavers were in short supply for medical schools due to crackdowns on the unsavoury methods of obtaining bodies. However, Anatomical Venus' were both a marvel of scientific practice and decadent artistic practice. With up to seven removable layers, and featuring organs which at the time of its inception were still unnamed in the medical world, these false bodies were envisioned as a way to remove the dissection of human remains altogether. And while the rendering of the purpose of the life sized wax model was that of mastery, she still featured the face and the pose of an image of beauty and desire. Born out of the male gaze, though her cavity lays open and innards bare, her thick, beautiful human hair swirls around her while her head sinks back into her shoulder, neck exposed, an expression inviting one to partake. To me there are similarities, in very odd ways, to the image of the Puppet Master in Ghost in the Shell (1995) as spoken about in a previous post. This external image manufactured by male desire, by heteronormative culture, the body of a woman rendered powerless and splayed upon the table is a firm connection. And underneath this overt image of sexuality is a shift so harsh that it is almost frightening. The scientific technology of the Anatomical Venus and that of the Puppet Master become opportunities for humanity to shift away from the biological, for information to be contained within new methods and shells. The aesthetic of the Anatomical Venus, this extreme contrast between gore and divine, has somehow mirrored in the image of my work. In the way that my body is developing its influence will become clearer and clearer.

[atlasphoebus]

HEAD UPDATE

The head is almost ready to attach to the torso. I have completely smoothed the right side of the face, just needing to finish the eye and forehead on the left side, and add some ears. Once his head is ready, I will glue the base of the neck into the opening in the mannequin torso, and use NSP clay to cover the seam and blend the areas of clay into the plastic of the mannequin before smoothing and painting.

[atlasphoebus]

WOODEN POSTS

For the burial chamber, I want to have a type of structure that acts as a kind of barrier or ward, a boundary for the body to rest in. I had originally thought maybe this could come with the making of a coffin or burial table of some kind, but after some consideration I thought the use of wooden pillars could be a good way to do that. For now these posts act as a stand in, and I intend to carve into them the motifs used earlier in my work for the mid year exhibition, such as the dragonfly and cicada. They will also have forged nails hammered into them to hold the hair jewellery, as well as the flat tops having the cast objects placed on top as offerings. As they will be carved, I will also remove the prefabricated look they have, making them look old and weathered.

[atlasphoebus]

To keep my drawing practice up and further my skill in figurative work, I have been attending the life drawing sessions at the Auckland City Art Gallery for their drop ins on Fridays. Here are a selection of my favourites.