SUMMERY
'Encased of the skin of another’ is based upon a
response to Birmingham City Centre in a puppet form.
The definition from the Compact Edition of The
Oxford English Dictionary, Volume II is that a puppet is a figure (usually
small) representing human being or animal. Nothing is mentioned about strings
or shadows and this is the aspect that I have taken.
People tend to have less compassion for rats in comparison
to other animals such as sparrows, dog and cats. This is something else I have
taken into consideration.
Adaptation is omnipresent in all habitats, it is
essential to adapt to survive. Camouflage is the ability to blend in
with the surroundings and is a common example of an adaptation. The rat wants to
be accepted into the city and attempts to disguise his appearance as a bird. People
enjoy feeding the birds around the city and do not encourage rats. I have decided to go with a humorous
characteristic and give it a narrative of the rat wanting to ‘belong’ in
Birmingham and this is portrayed through my photograph.
In
reflection it is like people in and around the city. The way people dress,
their behaviour and their general appearance – all evolve to become more acceptable
into today’s society.
The biblical story of ‘The wolf in sheep’s
clothing’ has provided with a wealth of support towards this piece as the rat
is wearing the wings of a magpie as a costume or disguise.
Once upon a time a Wolf resolved to disguise his
appearance in order to secure food more easily. Encased in the skin of a sheep,
he pastured with the flock deceiving the shepherd by his costume. In the
evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the fold; the gate was closed, and
the entrance made thoroughly secure. But the shepherd, returning to the fold
during the night to obtain meat for the next day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf
instead of a sheep, and killed him instantly.
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During this module I have explored a wide range of possibilities
for the term ‘puppet’. Originally I was going to do shadow puppet about animal
life in the city. Through tutorials and talking with peers I decided to go with
taxidermy as my practice. I am very apprehensive as my practice isn’t yet
defined after my last negotiated project was from cardboard and so I still
consider myself to be experimenting and exploring pathways compared to others.
From the point I decided to do taxidermy I would like to
think that I have explored many different sources – the background knowledge,
the skills and equipment needed, what makes successful taxidermy and how easily
it can fail. I have consistently researched appropriate techniques related and
not related to taxidermy. I have researched articles and pieces of text that
support my practice. I have also researched in depth the statistics and facts
about rats in Birmingham and the canals in general. I have also showed strong
interest in other artists that are related and emailed Jackie Mock (one of my
favourite artists) a small questionnaire to support my practice as she too has
done a taxidermy piece as well.
What really interested me whilst completing my research is
why we generate less compassion for rats? This is why I decided to use this
animal in my outcome eventually. At first I was really interested in the
mannerisms of pigeons but this soon developed into what it is now. I was originally
going to create a stop motion animation, however after facing too many
constraints I decided to change this. My photography is a lot stronger than my
animation skills as I have never done a stop animation before and with the time
after collecting all equipment; I was limited on time to try something else new
to me. (The delivery of the rat was prolonged more than originally planned due
to unforeseen circumstances)
After deciding that I was going to do taxidermy I was
concerned about how I would execute this for display. After talking to David
Curtis – Ring a very successful artist that specialises in costume and prop
design inspired me that I could simulate a different environment with objects
that were easily accessible. I designed and built a drain from cardboard with
the theory that the light shining through the top would be reflecting on the
tray of water at the bottom of the cardboard cube. This however failed
miserably as the camera didn’t pick up the reflections, and after much
deliberation I decided against the idea. The outcome for display was going to
be a photograph of this hybrid in a drain but then I then came to the
conclusion that my outcome had no reference to Birmingham at this point. So I decided
to photograph my hybrid in an appropriate place in the city.
During the experimental process I tested out several
techniques including polymer clay, paper maché and felting.
The Biblical story of the ‘Wolf in sheep’s clothing’ has
supported my practice immensely and this is why I have included it on my blog
and in my work. The fact the wolf wanted to make a kill and succeeded in doing
so by disguising itself in the skin of a sheep really appealed to me. My
taxidermy rat is clearly wearing magpie wings as a child wears a fairy costume.
I have chosen not hide the cord that the
wings are attached to for this reason and to add a humorous aspect.
I have done many designs, my initial taxidermy idea was
going to be a pigeon, then turned into a rat with wings concept with a rat
wearing the pigeon as a disguise, then developed to a magpie as I had one of
those too, then having my rat wear the whole skin of a bird, then to a tribal
costume with a crown and cape; And then finally into a rat wearing wings to
demonstrate that he wanted to be included into Birmingham life which links into
the lack of compassion for rats in the city centre.
I think the best decision I made was changing from the
over exaggerated costume with the crown and cape into just a simple pair of
wings on the back. However without doing the above processes I wouldn’t have
got to the point I’ve got to now.
If I had more time I would have liked to create a film or
animation and provide myself with more practice in this given medium. I enjoyed
making the moving image in my last project but I felt that photography was the
better option as my puppet was so static which is a total contrast to everyone else’s.
My puppet is not held or animated by strings or does not make an interesting
shadow it is another type of puppet, it is more of a figure representing the
rats and animal life in Birmingham.
The rat resulted in being so stiff and couldn’t be moved
in any way and this is just the nature of taxidermy. So I embraced this and
went for more of an animated narrative instead of an animated video/ moving image.
I am very conscious about what I have achieved in the
weeks given, I’ve had many up and down points and I have had that many
constraints to face I have spent most of the weeks panicking about the level of
work.
I planned to display my work with a collection of three
photographs on the wall and then a statuette of my rat hybrid inside a drain on
the floor for people to see. However now I have mounted the rat onto a plinth, I have created a 'wardrobe' that will be along side this at rat-level and then one photo on the wall.
I have learnt how to stuff an animal, how to handle dead
animals, how to handle the constraints I came face to face with and more
importantly I have learnt to keep referring back to the brief. I think I got
easily lost in the moment and at several points and my outcome wasn’t anything
to do with Birmingham apart from the rat but they can be linked to any city. And
I am also conscious that people won’t see how taxidermy can be a puppet. But through
my depth of enquiry and what I discovered I figured that puppets are figures that
represent animals or humans. I am also conscious of the fact that I portray the
rat hybrid in context.