Adele Giles

[The Aurora Hale Project] consisted of a series of staged self-portraits that explored what it means to be seen as a woman in society and visual culture. The project was curated for digital presentation and delved into the performances of cultivating an online identity. Drawing a parallel between the history of the female nude, and the modern-day selfie; where we continue to present an artificial version of ourselves for the benefit of the spectator.


Starting this project, I saw myself as neither a photographer nor a performer. I was an artist looking for a means of self-expression and found myself straddling the two disciplines. Throughout, I developed a strong interest in the use of the body, self-representation, relationship to the camera, and the performative aspect of photography, all of which are areas of focus of the survey publication.


Furthermore, I am interested in the potential for artists to learn from and inform each other's work, as suggested by the open call. By participating in this survey publication, I hope to contribute to a conversation that will help us better understand the unique qualities of each form of expression and how they can be combined, using my existing knowledge of the subject, and expanding the potential for artistic collaboration and growth.

Comments

  1. Artmuseum Alexandra FlyApril 7, 2023 at 6:16 PM

    A very interesting project that perfectly shows the performative aspect of photography

    ReplyDelete
  2. kerryrawApril 12, 2023 at 6:30 PM

    this is a well-thought, gritty piece

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lar MacGregorApril 12, 2023 at 6:41 PM

    I am interested to know the relationship between your posed 'selfie', a kind of contemporary Pre-Raphaelite study of your private nudity, with the backdrop of the grafitti, an art form that is usually done without permission and within public view...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adele Giles Art ResearchApril 22, 2023 at 2:55 PM

      Hi Lar, you have hit the nail on the head with this piece.

      I titled this image Venus of Merthyr (a play on Venus of Urbino). For this particular piece I was thinking about the rise in online sex workers. I was looking into the history of the female nude being painted through the eyes of men for the male spectator. Then comparing it to now, where we can take ownership of our bodies through self representation, but continue to use it to appeal to the male spectator.

      This was more me “working out my own thoughts” as a female working with the subject of the body, rather than me making a direct opinion. This project was made in year 1 & 2 of my degree, so it was the first time I had been introduced to Body Politics. For that reason the project was all about experimentation and trying to find a sense of identity, and my place in the world as a young female in a digital age.

      The images were originally taken for social media. Then I printed and mounted them to photograph outside. There’s various shots with some images positioned in the bin or on park benches. Making the private public (which is prevalent in social media). This piece was my favourite for the connotations of graffiti being a rebellious art form, and as you so well put it, “done without permission”. I was questioning my own stance on consent and censorship in the context of the internet.

      Delete
  4. Adele Giles Art ResearchApril 22, 2023 at 2:30 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ExploristMay 2, 2023 at 7:49 PM

    The laptop also works really well in this image - there's the ambiguity of if this is a webcam looking at you or the question of what you are looking at (the camera view of your own self portarit as you take it?) a bit like the Rokeby Venus with the mirror.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adele Giles Art ResearchMay 30, 2023 at 7:32 PM

    The project description: A series of staged self-portraits exploring what it means to be seen as a woman in society and visual culture. Curated for digital presentation (instagram.com) and delved into the performances of cultivating an online identity.

    Through the power of social media, we can take control, and even manipulate, how we are seen. Applying make-up, wigs, heavy photo manipulation, and a new name (Aurora Hale), the artist indulges in a social-media-obsessed culture. Drawing a parallel between the history of the female nude, and the modern-day selfie; where we continue to present an artificial version of ourselves for the benefit of the spectator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

comments are now disabled for this dialogue

Popular posts from this blog

Demeter Dykes

Image
As a mature woman my work is the result of frustrations in relation to others’ expectations and misconceptions of me. Taking up space, unapologetically, has allowed a performative version of myself to emerge. I am interested in this commitment to performativity by mature women on social media sites. My images are made quickly and with materials and props that are to hand. The resulting photographs include filters and digitally drawn elements that build a persona, and my working process can be seen as a playground for the exploration of potential irreverent storytelling, both real and imagined. The swirling farrago of sensations that is menopause slaps you in the face, hard, and lets you know, unequivocally, that you are on a one-way street with no turning circle at the end of it. So, having less life ahead of me than there is behind compels my heels to dig into the earth so that the dizzying swiftness with which I am travelling along this one-way street, towards the exit from which th...
Read more

Rachael Rutherford

Image
The interests within my practice at large lie with portrayals of the body and how we heal through and with them. This has often been framed within the female body and it’s mis/treatment within healthcare settings.Using textiles and sculptural techniques, the nature of performance and self-portrayal comes through in the form of costume creation. The costume allows for sculptural elements to overtake the human form and in the context of my own practice, takes the internal and visualises it on the external. Thinking through the work as a visual form and way of healing, textile coverings allow the self-portrayal to embody something beyond the human form, a monstrous re-imagining of the self. For me, the performative aspect comes through within the use of video as documentation of the wearing of the costume. The creatures created exist within these videos as a way to create a barrier between the self and the audience, while creating an intimacy between the costume and its wearer that gener...
Read more

Esther Sabetpour

Image
I am a London based photographer, artist and storyteller of Scotish - Iranian parentage. I explore transformation, through intuative self portraiture and embodied performance. I work with with notions of identity using environments which reflect my phycological, physical or emotional landscape. Using photo montage, moving image and performance in my self portrait process, which began in 1998. As a photographer and burns survivor, my self portrait process boosts my welbeing emotionally and physically. This liberating spiritual process enables me to embody and interpret potent feelings and themes I feel trapped, which I cannot seem to be express through words. Through the repetion (and recordings) of often slight, slow, intuitive movements, I begin to experince another relationship to my self and stories. The process enables me to tune in to my feelings and make contact with layers of trauma within my body. In 2017 I began a dance based embodied movement practice. This practice enabled m...
Read more