Specious [Ovis’Aries L’Her]: A textiles investigation

How do people perceive the natural in a human space?

·        

      Expectation

·         Intrusion

·         Personal Space

For this work, I was interested in investigating the idea of ‘personal space’, and the perceptions we have towards the ‘natural’ when it is in this space. According to Bill Mckibben, author of “The end of Nature”, the connectedness of modern life means we no longer need to be aware of our connections with nature. “Human’s no longer see themselves as living in a conjunction with nature” and are “separate entities” (Schwarz, 2012). I feel as if the ‘natural’ is perceived by humans as something which is unknown, not produced and not entirely controlled by humans and therefore it is perceived as something to be wary of. In contrast to this, the ‘human’ space, as a separate entity, is a more comfortable space being something that is created or manipulated by humans and is therefore understandable, predictable and ‘safe’. When the ‘natural’ comes into the ‘human space’ there is a personal response; wariness, discomfort and a want to regain control. I wish to investigate this idea, evoking the viewer to question why this is. 

The aim of my work is to evoke a feeling of both discomfort and intrigue in the viewer. Firstly the viewer will be compelled to feel that ‘nature’ has taken over and soiled something that is meant to be, or originally was, human space. The viewer will perceive the work to be unsafe, dirty, smelly and unhygienic but feel intrigued by the materiality and shape of the work to inspect it further. From this inspection, the viewer will discover that it is lacking the stereotypes that were first noted. In this way, the role of the work is to challenge human perception and expectations regarding what are and what should be human/natural space and prompt to make the viewer question why they are separated?

The final installation was made from individual lengths textiles which where created using felt and dyed with tree bark. The pieces were developments from extensive research into felt including the form, shape and texture as well as the addition of elements both natural and man made; sticks, beads etc..   Disgusted? intrigued? 

Schwarz, E. 2012. The End of Nature; Humanitie’s Perception of Nature. Wordpress. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/humanplaceinnature/2012 Accessed May 3rd, 2013