In a light and airy space entitled the ‘Viewing Room’ at Spruth Magers, I found a piece that leapt out at me during a recent gallery trip to London. I saw lots of work during the day and this is the one that stayed with me, so I wanted to explore why that was the case. In many ways it was one of the more understated works I saw.
I think the initial attraction was the dripping paint and the grey and red colour washes, from a distance I thought I could see some text and I was intrigued by what might sit behind the paint. Getting closer revealed the text of a US government document, with some words clearly visible:
Provision of common article 3 prohibiting ‘outrages upon personal dignity’ and ‘violence to life and person.’
This is part of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, but the references to Attorney Client Privilege and ‘Top Secret’ suggests this is a document relating to some kind of war crime trial. The application of paint echoes the act of redaction whereby published documents have elements of text that are obscured for political or security reasons. This added new depth to the work and intensified my curiosity. I think one of ‘Personal Dignity’s’ attractions is how the apparent simplicity builds into something with power and deeper meaning.
The large block of red hovers over the dripping paint, leaving me to wonder what is concealed from view, what atrocities might be hidden. I notice my inclination to think that it is more likely to be protecting the guilty and powerful than the innocent and vulnerable. I don’t think I would describe it as a harmonious piece compositionally, but I imagine that is part of the point, it speaks loudly of imbalances.
Seeing Personal Dignity made me think more about the inclusion of text in my own work. I initially thought that I hadn’t really used it very much in my practice even though I have an interest in typography and text and often work with transcripts in my research. I then started to remember various pieces that do feature text, as well as the installation I am currently making in which text plays a central role. Titles and themes are also very important for me in developing my work and I will often start thinking about a piece by creating a list of keywords. I think there is scope for me to develop this further as part of digital remains because much of what happens to digital assets after death is dependent on the written word and providing appropriate documents like death certificates.