Reflections on IPP2 Materials Workshop - Amy Voris

For the materials workshop I chose to use a set of fairy lights. I have them constantly hanging up in my bedroom all year round, to remind me of happy Christmas times. I explored with low lighting as this gave a new perspective on the material. As I moved with the fairy light source, images from past memories flooded through me. I played with the idea of being trapped, solving a puzzle, twisting movements and breaking free. I tried making shapes, patterns, and images.
While exploring this material, I remembered an extract from the Tufnell and Crickmay reading ‘A Wide Field’. The reading talks about how sensing and feeling is continuous in our daily lives. We all make connections with certain objects and textures. I realised that the bright, sparkling visual effect from the fairy lights had enticed me into choosing them. Materials can be used to represent who we are as people and how we like to be seen in society. I felt the fairy lights showed a side of my personality and also expressed emotion and connections I had to the material.
During the exploration, I had the idea of using my body to almost sculpt the lights around me. In ‘The Artist’s Body’ reading it mentioned how artists look at themes such as ‘fear, death and danger’ within their work. As I wrapped the lights around my waist, legs, neck and face, these images and themes also became present in my mind and work. This reading also talks about how the body is constantly changing. It is unstable and imprecise. Each body is different and expresses varied ideas and connotations through its behaviour. I remembered this idea when working with my own body and watching other members of the groups exploration.
Eventually as I moved the lights around, the plug fell out of the socket and I felt momentarily free. I could now move to any space within the environment, change shapes without restriction and move and dance with the rope of lights around me. However after a while I noticed that I didn’t have the same sense and feeling as to when the plug was in the socket and the lights lit up. My light source was extinguished. This made me question myself – Is anyone ever truly free? The resistance I felt both from the plugged in light source and when it was unlit and ‘free’ made me question the nature of freedom and restraint.