Hi Jill,

Though there is good with bad in many of these comments, it is already getting rather depressing for me, as you can imagine. It is possible for you to also think of and send a few ‘inquiring questions’ that I can get my teeth into? For example, ‘ Could you please tell me how you came to the idea behind Holy Safety Net?’

I do appreciate your input and I know this is not really your responsibility but I had wanted the  Blog to extend the exhibition discussion, not to give space generally to critical comments – especially ‘anonymous’ ones (see one of my previous BBBBlogs). I already know that many will find this work challenging. These views should not be reinforced on the Blog unless the authors want to learn something more from the work. I wish to move beyond first impressions for those who are interested.

Many thanks for your help in all of this,

Flossie

Hello Flossie,

Anon ‘ Clever, but not my style of art. Lovely visually.’

Cheers Jill

Hello Flossie,

We have one comment for you from one of our volunteers who made the comment that the exhibitor was ‘…quite good as it relates to family & life, the ordinary living people.’ Kay noted that one person spent at least a half an hour looking at the exhibition while another basically walked in and walked out.

Cheers Jill

Week 9, Day 052 BBBBlog it!

Hello Flossie,

In reference to your work Handmade and the comment that the past can conceal a future bias – Is this to be understood as meaning that once one has taken up the domestic identity and ‘adorned the apron’ then one is always connected to that past and decisions will be coloured through the domestic identity? or could you perhaps mean that the apron has figured in both a positive nurturing light in addition to the domestic drudge that some see as a product of womanhood?

I am interested in the inspiration behind the work, so please explain.

Cheers Jill

I like both your interpretations of this assertion! I hadn’t thought of either idea specifically when I wrote what I did but yours make just as good sense to me!

I can only add this additional thought…by putting on the metaphorical ‘apron’ of our cultural heritage (as in doing ‘the correct thing for a particular reason’) we show others what we are made of, that is, our outlook learned from childhood. This is not something we can hide, it is out there being seen by others. But at the same time as we ‘put on’ our behaviour, we cover up part of ourselves. This private side, under the ‘apron’ dictates attitudes and actions we may not realize that we have learned from home. Some people do not look behind their cultural upbringing – for better or worse. In this way the aprons are not gender or domestically based but are used as a metaphor for the workings of society.

Image: Handcrafted aprons

Caption: HANDMADE, 2005, 15 hand crafted, Victorian aprons (Detail)

Women’s work often goes unnoticed but it joins the generations with a specific lettering of culture. Wearing one’s history – like putting on an apron – is easier and harder than may be realized. But the past can conceal a future bias.

Hello Flossie,

We didn’t receive any comments today however I have a question  for you. In the small gallery there is an arrangement of  ’books’ placed on plinths. Is there any significance in the way they are arranged, or is the choice of placement purely as a way of presentation? Cheers Jill

Hi Jill,

The eight artist’s books displayed as BOOKSHELF have many pages – some are transparent, some are collaged, some are hand drawn, etc. They are peculiar books because they are joined in a way that does not allow all the pages to turn of even be opened. These stand in a closed square as a metaphor to people who have some public areas and some private areas of their lives. When we know people it is rare to know everything about them…even if they are family. So, the arrangement of the eight books is both planned and haphazard, as is our ‘familiarity’ with others.

What would a book about your life show? Would it be words or pictures? English or other? Would it open completely or remain closed and private? What of you and your life will remain ‘on the shelf’ for future generations?