ON THE FENCE x PROJECT NOTES

Firstly, here’s the link to my current WIP of assessment two.

As for what I’ll be discussing today, I’ve really tried to simplify my subject matter and ideas in order to articulate them clearly. I’ve used a few key questions as a guideline and am happy to hear feedback from those within the studio.

What does the gallery present?

My gallery presents a list of fences. As part of my learning with ontography, I wanted to look at things as things and how they are connected through their parts. I chose the fence because I was interested in observing boundaries, particularly in their materialization.

All my five to six second videos contain unedited clips that are filmed at different angles. When collecting my materials, I decided to film without camera movement or people in the frame, to ensure that there was minimal distraction away from the fence.

 

How did I compose the list?

I composed this list by walking around my neighborhood. Since I live in the outer South-Eastern suburbs, majority of the houses on the streets have fences. These fences provide clear boundaries, which are useful in documenting the idea of a boundary since, after all, a boundary is a ‘fundamentally spatial phenomenon [that] allows an entity or idea to be spatially differentiated and identified’ (Jones 2009, pp. 186).

 

What is the list is doing?

When I began researching boundaries, there was a particular quote from Andrew Abbott that stood out to me; he argued that, “It is wrong to look for boundaries between preexisting social entities. Rather we should start with boundaries and investigate how people create entities by linking those boundaries into units. We should not look for boundaries of things but things of boundaries.”

This idea of looking at things of boundaries is what I wanted the list to do. By listing boundaries through the category of the fence, I hope to show these ‘containers, then frame the way [in which] the world [by the fence] is ordered, organized and understood’ (Jones, 2009, pp. 186).

In terms of presenting my final work, I’m leaning towards a single video that includes either spoken word or subtitle-style words on screen. Both will have some kind of musical track, however, I’d love to hear feedback.

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