Monday, February 06, 2006

What's in a title?

I am in the process of brainstorming the title for my next exhibition.

I thought I had it... Beware the surface dwellers... but it is a bit negative...

so I came up with Mrs Higgins underwater adventure... which is still on the theme of going deep... deep into consciousness (water is a great metaphor for that) and deep into otherness, earth and the cosmos. As a result of that title I came up with lots of ideas for some pieces.... lighter, more fanciful... as one might expect from such a title.

But perhaps, after all, this title is just another stepping stone. I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. This blog writing helps me to step back from the doing into big picture questions... like what really are my intentions in putting together an exhibition... what is the sort of art I am interested in doing...

... perhaps one which transforms, inspires, elevates, perturbs?


I am remembering my previous exhibition of 10 months ago which went through a few name changes.

The final title was The Seduction of Agnes Scornethope which came to me after experiencing for myself the nature of seduction (and I don't mean in the physical sense). During this experience I was in a state of disequilibrium, anticipation, intrigue, excitement, playfulness. "Hmmm." I thought, "could I create a whole exhibition which might create this sense of being seduced in my viewers?" Pieces could use paradox, out of place parts, depth, layers etc... to entice people into a journey of delightful discovery. Well it seemed that it worked from the comments I received. And there was also a lot more which emerged.

So I am asking myself, for my next exhibition, what state of being would I like to create in my audience? Perhaps I have been focussing too much on asking how I could perturb my audience to see in new ways. There is a relationship between being and seeing. If we are in a certain state of being we might see things we might not ordinarily see. When we are invited to see in new ways it helps us move into a new state of being. A flux, flow, evolution perhaps. But really can I control or engineer a state of being in anyone? Perhaps all I can hope for is to hold a state of being in myself and allow that to flow into my work, without letting my brain get too much in the way.

What state of being am I in now? Well I would have to say it is a state of disequilibrium. I am going through big questions in my life about direction, letting go the old and allowing space to enable creation of the new... new opportunities as well as a new self. Yes, I am experiencing the disequilibrium of evolution.... could this be the theme of my next exhibition?

The disequilibrium of Mrs Higgins?

The evolution of Mrs Higgins is not going quite to plan...

Each new idea seems to paint images in my head of posssible pieces and I am quickly recording them in my visual diary. Who knows what the title might evolve to next, but the journey is interesting!

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