On starting semester two of my final year at Bradford College I was unsure on what work to set myself. I had received very good feedback from my tutors for the last work I submitted in semester one and was told I need to think of a new subject that can push my skills further.
I thought of different ideas and possibilities which I could base my major project on, however none of these ideas caught my attention and I was confused as to what I could use as a foundation for my project. I had a tutorial with my tutor Polly Jensen explaining to her that I hadn’t decided what I was doing for this semester and asked for her help. She began by asking what interests me and I told her I enjoy visiting places, art galleries, theatres, museums etc… I then went on to tell her about my dissertation and how I was writing about challenging what is considered flawless beauty and how embracing our skins natural textures is still beautiful. I had linked one of my visits into my dissertation – my visit to the Tate Gallery which enveloped me with the idea that beauty doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’.
An exhibition entitled ‘Art Under Attack’ documented portraits slashed with knives, smashed stained glass windows, sculptures blown up, water colours defaced and art objects doused in acid. Breaking an image does not eradicate it; it merely replaces it with another – creating a new image in its own right. The image can then be very far-reaching and have different meanings for the viewer. Medieval marble statues are iconic works of art but are compounded by missing limbs that have been smashed off. The creation of powerful new images may be a well-intended outcome. The act of vandalism changes the original function of the artwork; the artwork is still viewed as artistic and beautiful.
This exhibition I discussed with Polly and she thought ‘destruction’ was a good idea of what I could base my major project on; it also links into my other work with my dissertation and the work I did last semester with adding additional textures to make-up.
I will begin by researching artists who damage and destroy their own artwork and then try to link make-up artists that have experimented with this within their make-up work.
Major Project; Destruction 