Alphabet Letters and the Formulation of Ritual: Initial Experiements...

 

To kick-start my considerations of text and the formulation of ritual, I decided to use magnetic alphabet letters (and laser-cutting cut outs from a previous text installation project- 'Phoenix') as the initial material and visual stimulant for my experiments; in the hopes of directing the vague wandering of my ideas. 

I played with them- forming quotes and developing structures (as children do when learning to read and write) placing them over books from which I chose pertinent quotes, images I deemed as contrasting for the backdrop of the textual questioning, and images from films (whilst playing on the television screen) to add doses of satirical irony. This, although simple and relatively literal, had a powerful effect in making me consider the visual language of texts as viewed and questionned during our development... making me think back to childhood days when the simple and obvious questions seemed so important; and now ignored by those who had questionned them before... 

I then went on to experiment with the projection of alphabet letters with a broken projector (acquired from the depths of Martin's studio) and made some very Barbara Kruger-esque projections, accentuated by the shadows of the shattered glass of the screen.

After several failed attempts to capture shattered glass shards exploding and disrupting formulated alphabet letter quotes (taken from the bible , in this particular case 'I'm sorry that I made any of them' Genesis)... which I intend to try again at a later date... I have begun to formulate more experimental ideas that use motifs of ritual in their enaction; covering with candle wax, burning, washing, submerging, sinking, burying, cutting, breaking, reforming, exposing to the elements... etc, the majority of which I will carry out this Christmas Holiday back in the Falklands.

I also have a vision of creating a video exploring the cleansing/washing away of or the disguise within ritual, by filming the everyday process (and for me rather a habitual obsession!) of washing the dishes, but washing away spaghetti letter quotes which have been stuck and encrusted to the dirty dishes. I am intruiged by the conceptual dilemma of cleansing as a healing, purifying act; or a disguise to mask what was considered to be wrong...