Maxina Spence
Castle Hill High School
CORRIDORS OF CONFORMITY
Documented Forms
Performance, paint, film, clothing
My body of work investigates society’s attempts to force conformity on individuals who are seen as different, making them fit ideals of ‘normality’. The work is performed in a desolate place, representing how people are separated from their identity as society pushes normality upon them with ‘brushstrokes of compliance’. The work begins with each coloured figure painting the white figure peacefully, with unified brushstrokes, but as it progresses they start competing for their personal colour to be dominant, fighting for their personal ideals of what they deem 'normal'. The white figure escapes, stating that ‘true beauty lies in diversity’.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Marina Abramovic, Yves Klein, David Bailey Ross, Lucian Freud.
Marker's Commentary
Corridors of Conformity is a journey of self-realisation, cleverly developed using filmic conventions. Changing viewpoints, varying camera angles and judicious editing allow the audience to become integrated within the action and have first-hand experience of the event. The artist’s prose is visualised utilizing the features of Performance art. The protagonist’s body is the vehicle for describing and experiencing the narrative’s arc perpetrated by the support cast. The barren landscape that serves as the backdrop for the performance ensures the focus is on the characters and their act. The audience is delegated the role of onlooker while listening to the narrative and watching faceless people. This shifts when the protagonist’s face is revealed and the audience realises they are being spoken to and invited to engage with the narrator and their deliberations. The documentation through film allows the work to exist beyond its initial launch and takes on the characteristics of a cinematic experience to be viewed multiple times now and into the future.