This blog first appeared as a section of a post on my patreon. To see the pieces discussed, and the concluding restoration section of the project, sign up here. (No tiered subscriptions, pay what you want.)
lamentation six
papier mâché and arm
This piece is the most personal of the six laments. So much so that the Bible used is the Bible I had as a teenager.
The work alludes to the deep place faith has in my life, The Bible literally becoming part of my veins and nervous system throughout the performance. Alongside this, the sounds used are intended to reflect the use of religion to oppress. The text is taken out of cultural and narrative context, and the humanity has been removed by having them spoken by a machine. This audio is then further distorted through digital processes removing it further and further from its original intention.
At the end of the piece, the paper mâché ‘veins’ are ripped from my arm, stopping the voices. This is a reflection of how removing faith and religion would remove its misuse and oppression. However, it would also remove something at the core of who I am.
This final act is intentionally shocking, and visually alludes to self-harm. Whilst working on the piece I thought long and hard over whether to add a content warning to the video. I’m happy with how the piece works and feel it has the potential to be a powerful piece.
Alice Fraser recently wrote about trigger warnings and reflected on the difficulty of providing an appropriate warning to those needing one, whilst not ruining the art in the process. I feel the shock value of the final act in this piece is part of what makes it powerful. As I sat with the final video, I felt that the piece was less triggering that the concept had been in my mind. With this in mind I chose to leave its description simple and non-descript like the rest of the laments. Although if feedback on the piece were to change my perception of this I would of course reconsider that.
This is the final reflection on the six lamentation pieces. If you’ve enjoyed hearing these and would like to see the second restoration section it will be made available to my patreons first. You can subscribe here.