Topic of entropy and self-destruction

My work is an exploration of the topic of documentation in the age of the camera, exploring processes such as entropy and auto-destructive art. My work is highly process based and relies on the concept of progression, as opposed to focusing on the aesthetics or composition of what remains following the work. Therefore, I developed into using video, as this method displays the process most effectively. I did not follow the path of performance art, as, when researching Gustave Metzger who coined auto- destruction, I questioned the legitimacy of the destruction of the art entirely. This is due to its existance as the format of images and the recreation of the performance following the initial work in the 1960s. I believe that this project developed personally due to my familial connection to information and the lack thereof, considering my family’s history with vascular dementia.

Within this project, I focused on the use of candles. I was interested in its purpose to eventually disappear. This reflected the ideas behind the themes of entropy and auto-destruction present within my work. Therefore, my project became composed of videos based on this dispersal. Within the production of these videos, I initially focused on using basic white candles, however I released that using white candles on a white background created issues with the depth of field, and therefore I altered my materials into using black candles. The work is was filmed over large periods of time, allowing for the transition between a full candle to the end product, nothingness.

Significantly, I began networking with Jo Clements and visited her artist talk and exhibiton “Everyone In This Room Is Connected To Everyone In This Room” at the Whitaker Museum in Rossendale, where I met and spoke with her. My work was also influenced by Hollis Frampton’s film ‘Nostalgia’, 1971, of which I have read analysis’ of, as well as watching the footage.