familieswithoutfathers

[familieswithoutfathers]

"I had these various elements and arranged them into a sculpture. My main problem was the composition of the sculpture, finding a way of giving it both a visual and theoretical logic. For example, I wondered whether "the empty subject, who only expresses himself through screaming" could be arranged withe "the finger pointing skywards'?, whether these concepts, concretely arranged in this way made sense at all"

- Benoît Maire, 

Materiality of Theory, Birmingham: Article Press, 2011

[familieswithoutfathers]

My own father was helping me to create an audio piece for my work and after we were finished recording and i put my dictaphone away, he said some very poignant things about fathers as voices on the telephone, whether its a voice from over seas, a call from prison... he spoke of friends who hadn't seen there daughters for 6 years. the last time they hugged their child, they were just that, a child 10 years old and now six years later his daughters a woman, almost finished puberty without ever seeing her father. But hey are in England, trying to be a good father, to provide.

My project is not about Jamaica as a country full of men who don't want to be fathers, but a society, whether it is the intent or not, full of children being raised without a constant father figure. Sometimes families with more mothers than they can count. but with startlingly few men who are full time fathers 

[familieswithoutfathers]

Matchstick Men by Wolfgang Stiller

These objects created with faces have a personality and seem to speak of politics, humanity. The objects becoming powerful storytellers, their inquisitive faces question the world.

We look at the burnt tops and see these objects as victims of some fiery doom. They have been given a humanity that makes us question our own. This piece is the perfect example of the power and object can possess and portray. 

[familieswithoutfathers]

Wolfgang Stiller

been there done that "Istanbul 2" Röntgen-Kunstinstitut, Tokyo

  The way in which Stiller exhibits this piece is influential to me.

The objects contained within a box are displayed like artefacts, they seem to gain an organic feel, almost like body part, or the skin of animals. A narrative is created as each object seems to have had a life before being displayed. 

I want to create this kind of environment for my objects so they have their own life and story, independent of my explanations. Becoming objects worth examining in the same manner as one would a museum artefact.

[familieswithoutfathers]

Research: Robert Gober, Untitled (1991)

Robert Gober, Untitled 1991. Beeswax and Hair and Pigment

I saw this piece exhibited in The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. And found it as an object very exciting, the delicacy of the hair on the chest, the potato sack quality to the torso and the way it was so wonderfully simple to understand.

Gober's goal is portray reality rather than a romanitsied version of the physical form and so does not exaggerate the curves of the female side nor the muscles of the male. combination of the beeswax and hair gives it a very tactile quality but this medium is also used the unify the figure. We can see  that this was a comparison between men and women and that Gober is pointing out how in reality they are startlingly similar.

The manner in which it was displayed, just leant against a wall in the gallery, takes away the pretensions relationship that sometimes forms between sculptures and the viewer, and instead treats the viewer with a nonchalance of normality. The simplicity of the form ads to this idea as if Gober is making a statement that is so simple it can not be contradicted.

This piece of work inspired me to take up the medium of wax, as it was simple and effective in illustrating a concept in the form of an art object. However as I wish to comment on Jamaican society as an investigator, and do no wish to simply state my opinion as if were fact. I wish to exhibit my objects in a more structured format mimicking the environment of research facilities like libraries and museums.

[familieswithoutfathers]

"The nations of the Caribbean share a history of colonialism, slavery and intense interaction among cultures and races. The travel-posters image of the Caribbean tropical paradise contrasts sharply with the complex realities of the region, which has been shaped by its long history and more recent sociopolitical changes"

Infinite Island, Caribbean Art- Arnold L. Lehman

[familieswithoutfathers]

The Barer of the Erection Gun and its Lover/Victim

[familieswithoutfathers]

“The men who commit these crimes are feeling impotent as a result of the society in which they live”

In a society where their is a woman head of state.

Where women out number men in higher and further education.

Where men are raised by power house women, and are left with few role models of  good men; good fathers; or good husbands.

We are left with generation after generation of men left feeling useless, powerless and without a role to play in society. Leading to a frustration that often changes into anger and violence directed at women as an attempt to regain the power they have lost.

This animation is meant to depict the complicated relationship between women and men who feel this way. The object of their desire is also an object of jealousy- someone to overcome to regain strength.

They feel impotent in society.

They are attracted to women who take away this feeling of impotency by giving them the physical manifestation of their power- Their Erection.

Yet now they are in debt to woman again.

Women, who not only raised and nourished them,

But who gives them their erection.

Who can bare their children.

Women who are smarter; more useful in society; and who have proven their independence- but to whom they are so frustratingly dependant on.

And almost as if to disprove this they need to overpower Woman.

And so these frustrated men kill the women whom they love, whom they envy, whom they need.

In my illustration of this, the woman is killed with the weapon she gives the man, his erection. Which transforms into gun that destroys her. It is meant to represent sexual and violent crimes simultaneously. 

[familieswithoutfathers]

Passion is the Fuel for the Fire that Burns through Reason

[familieswithoutfathers]

The Holy family is held up as an example of what a family should be, because jesus is held up as an example of what a man* should be.

This is obviously a very restrictive view on this concept of  a family, it doesn't accept divorce, homosexuality, or children out of wedlock. I want to focus on the exclusion of the responsibility of the father figure in general. Th Jamaican society makes no secret of condemning homosexuals, you only have to listen the music to have an idea of the aggression, not just disagreement, that it generally felt towards homosexuality.** and by extension the concept of a family with same sex parents.

Yet in the case of wedlock, they removed the term illegitimate child from the 1980s and divorce is generally become an accepted part of many marriages. (I am generalising completely and individual views change between persons, but these are the opinions that are said the loudest) 

In many situations where a man and woman have a child in Jamaica, the child is left with a distant father figure, if they have a father figure at all.

The question I am raising then, is why does Jamaica feel then it is better that there should be no father figure than two fathers, or two mothers for that fact. Should I be addressing the lack of fathers of simply the idea of single parenting? 

I would move on to single parenting, however the issue in Jamaica is not a large collection of single father and single mothers it is that Jamaica seems to be a country of mothers with only a privileged few having a father in their life.

  *'man' here refers to mankind, men women and children

** homosexuality in general is reacted to with aggression but particularly a relationship between two men.

[familieswithoutfathers]

"Most anthropologists hold that there are no known societies that are unambiguously matriarchal"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matriarchal_society

[familieswithoutfathers]

"Matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matriarchal_society

[familieswithoutfathers]

The process of melting the father distorts all the figures

without Joseph would Jesus have grown into a good man?

[familieswithoutfathers]

A Holy Family Without a Father

As a Christian culture, Jamaican's refer a lot to Christ and the Virgin Mary, and try to live their lives by the guidelines set out by the bible. In fact the Bible is so important that it will soon become the first official text translated in Patois to be published, chosen as the means of validating Patois as a language and not just a dialect.

The translation of the Bible into Patois also indicates the need to have it universally understood throughout the country regardless of education or situation in life. This is because its role in society is intricate. However a discussion raised by critics of the matriarchal society, talks of the contradictions of following the bible as a guide to living but ignoring the role of Joseph in the Holy Family. Disregarding the importance of a father and simply relying on a mother. They say that this lack of a father figure in much of Jamaican families has lead to a deterioration in the value system and is responsible for the prevalence of so many crimes against women that plagues the island. 

This concept is very interesting to me and I chose to create an auto-destructive piece of art to illustrate this concept of destroying the father figure and its repercussions on the family unit, using the figures of the holy family to represent all families.

[familieswithoutfathers]

Examining Jamaica

The society of Jamaica is a very insular one where everyone knows everyone (or at least their families) which can make it extremely difficult for someone to really investigate the society from within. This blog is a collection of research and illustrations of some of the problems in Jamaica.

Preconceptions of the countries impact on Global issues and a presumption that the world knows about Jamaica in its entirely; leaves many things unsaid and too many stereotypes perpetuated. I want to examine Jamaica, illustrating some of its issues and asking why?

Why they occur?

Why they have become an accepted part of the culture?

My initial work will focus on male/female relationships and how it has lead to the "matriarchal" society of this island.