Mark Read
‘see the unseen, seek the unsought’ is an exhibtion of painting, text and photography. It serves as the vehicle to voice a denunciation of a lamentable situation. Work towards it began in November ’08 when I committed 72 hours to living on the streets. Although nothing in comparison to those individuals who are genuinely disenfranchised, dispossessed and evicted these 72 hours gave a valuable insight into what it means to be socially excluded, to rely on the charity of others, to be cold, afraid and exhausted on the streets of one on the richest cities in the world.
For art to have a real effect and be more than the consumption of images
Art has the ability to communicate, and with that ability there is responsibility: Responsibility to communicate something worthwhile.
When we wish to spread new ideas among men, we inscribe them as marble or on a canvas; what a beautiful destiny for the arts, that of exercising over society a positive power
see the unseen, seek the unsought serves as the vehicle to voice a denunciation of a lamentable situation. Work towards it began in November ’08 when I committed 72 hours to living on the streets. Although nothing in comparison to those individuals who are genuinely disenfranchised, dispossessed and evicted these 72 hours gave a valuable insight into what it means to be socially excluded, to rely on the charity of others, to be cold, afraid and exhausted on the streets of one on the richest cities in the world.
The 72 hours, combined with volunteer work in hostels and shelters in London have informed and strongly engaged me with the subject. This experience then integrates itself into research, allowing more accurate selection of appropriate information and giving a skeleton of contention. This is the framework for the production of the work: The paintings, a longer accompanying text, and engaging the ‘homeless’ individuals from the shelters with the exhibition by requesting photographs from them.
The painting is the last of a developmental series and operates within a set of parameters. Descriptive yet not photo-realistic with space to be both recognisable but with room for interpretation. The basis is to portray the experience of ‘homelessness’ without featuring any one person. Conscious of not wanting to invent a “poster-boy” for this situation, the painting personifies someone hurt and ignored by society, bruised and dirty but so commonplace one may not give them a second look.
Anxious not to speak on behalf of those who sleep on London’s streets, five cameras were distributed to individuals who were asked to keep a picture record of their week. This involvement creates interest and stimulates conversation, further ratifying the contention for a greater engagement of art with social and political issues.
‘Homelessness’ is a detested word. ‘Homeless’ seems to imply that it is a state, or race; its own society, separated from the rest. The contemptible social exclusion that precipitates the revolving door of “homelessness” deserves attention, consideration, discussion and abolition. As art has in the past, once again it can be an important part of that action.
Art at its best, I would argue, does much more than feed on itself and may even be engaged in effecting social transformation
The context and contemporaries within the ‘art world’, in which the work is grounded, are not numerous. The work of Alfredo Jaar and Anthony Hernandez offer much in terms of parallel ideas and means of communication. Jaar in particular; the concise and effective ways in which he has addressed specific inadequacies and injustices. ‘Lights in the City’ (1999), an intervention targeting Montreal’s apathy towards its ‘homeless’ crisis was founded on Jaar’s belief that; “With enough media coverage and public outrage and support triggered by these ongoing distress signals, homelessness could be completely eradicated from Montreal.”
Hernandez’s Landscapes for the Homeless, conceptually has a strong tie: The idea of showing the location of ‘homelessness’, something which intrinsically has no location, without singling out individuals, is the shared intention.
Margaret Morton’s pictures appear in The Tunnel and Glass House . These dark, damp underworlds would go unseen and unsought by most.
‘Homelessness’ suffers from its abundance, because it has become so commonplace in London it has become part of the fabric or structure of the city. Society lacks the distance to gain a proper perspective; consequently the absolute outrage of human beings being evicted and pushed to the edge of society is rarely noticed. Art can serve to give this distance, to allow the viewer to see the absurdity of building a society upon injustice.
Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer to shape it with
