This was a half day conference at the RCA. Some of the top names in the textile arena were in the audience, (Alice Kettle, and Gina Pierce from London Met) and others whose names escape me, (as well as me and Vanda!). Oddly, given the rarity of this type of event, some universities running higher degrees in this field, were unrepresented! The conference was to promote a new book The Handbook of Textile Culture which promises to be a major reference book for the decade. Just a quick flick through shows a very detailed bibliography for every essay - always a good indicator for a student.
I will focus on one presentation: Lived Lives - Materialising Stories of Young Irish Suicide. This was a moving presentation, sensitively given, about how Seamus McGuinness worked with bereaved parents to create several artworks. These artworks positively represented young Irish people who had killed themselves, over a 5 year period. From conversations with Irish staff where I worked, I was already aware that in Ireland, suicide is hugely stigmatised and if the nature of the death can be concealed, it will be. According to the people I have spoken to, this is because people who have ended their own life are not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground.
The artist, Seamus McGuinness, was studying for his PhD and worked with Dr Kevin Malone, clinical psychiatrist, St Vincent's University Hospital and they wanted to find out "what artworks can do in society" (p149). Seamus said one of the areas of difficulty was gaining agreement from the Ethics Committee to create the artworks. The main area of contention was that he wanted to use their images and first name - this categorically is precluded on grounds of confidentiality and anonymity as specified by the Ethics and Medical Research Committee, and to which Lived Lives had to adhere. However the factor which gained the required consent, was that one of the parents attended the Committee Hearing and asked them by what right the Committee could prevent her giving permission for her child to be named in this way. (p152)
There were both still and moving images of this artwork in the presentation. 21g was an artwork of 110 shirt collars ripped from shirts, suspended from the ceiling. 21g is the mythical decline in body weight at the moment of death, and 110 is the number of recognised suicides in Ireland in 2003. It was an incredibly moving image. There was a poignant comment made by a parent when viewing it "My son Patrick is in there somewhere". Seamus said it was at this point he realised the cloth was a conduit to the people represented in their absence, and the nature of the cloth was a critical factor by its tactility and memory as much as the presentation and form in space.
Seamus noted official lines of investigation often overlook the lay knowledge of the family members. He believes narratives and research methods which take lay knowledge into account create a potentially deeper comprehension. While my work is not in anything like as difficult a field as Seamus works, I think it is an interesting concept that "unique human insights or small memories …" create individuality and uniqueness. The essay in the book refers to Barthes 1993: 28 for "an ethical mode of listening" I need to read this.
There were some powerful quotes from parents. "I feel the best I have felt in 5 years, since my beloved first born child handed her life back to God". A positive outcome from an artwork, and a positive way describe the ending of a life.
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