Nam June Paik

Amazing piece that also uses a world map!!!

In a previous entry I explained I went to the Nam June Paik exhibition at the Tate. This trip has become very inspirational and a good reference point to my work now. Using TV's in my work, I instantly thought of him. I remember looking behind some of his works and seeing all wires and technical stuff which looked rather complicated. No doubt I will have to overcome some hurdles using technology in my work. This also made me think of how to hide my wires/dvd player etc as I wouldn't want these visible and visually impacting it. I have come up with a cutting plan for Sean so we can start building a suitable plinth on Friday.

New Idea

Because I have been struggling to find the digital timers (I have emailed different electronics companies, asked the electronics department for LJMU, been to Maplins) I have changed my idea. I want to use TV/Monitors and record a timer counting up to the appropriate numbers. These numbers will be displayed on the screens. On Friday I am making a plinth with Sean to put the TV's on and tomorrow I'm going for a TV hunt to the tip. I have two TV's already but need 9 in total. I have also joined freecycle.com.

Originally I was going to have string attached to the TV's that lead to the map behind (attached to the appropriate countries). However, after speaking to Lorenzo Fusi today I have decided not to use the map (or have it just for experimentation). We decided that visually it would look too busy and they would both detract from each other. Instead I am going to use just the monitors/TV's and either have it more scientific or add a hint to the numbers involved (like showing an outline of the country behind or a plaque on the TV).

Artist Research: Map work and the missing

Kathy Prendergast, Lost Map

Kathy created on first impression a map of the USA. However, on closer inspection this computer-generated map reveals that all the names of places have been removed from the map except for those that begin and end with the word lost. Her aim is to create an emotional map of the world.

Guillermo Kuitca, People on Fire.

Another artist who uses the notion of loss in map work is Guillermo Kuitca.Using a map he puts the names of countrymen and women who “disappeared” during the reign of terror in Argentina, color-coded by gender: male-orange, female-pink with some spots left blank symbolising the unknown. Just as I will have blank spots on my map for the unknown numbers, so this piece is a good reference to my work. Both these artists are good to look at when creating my missing map.

At the moment I have been looking at artists who use large scale maps in their work to grasp an idea of presentation. I recall going to see the High Tide exhibition held here that used a large scale map attached to wood.

UK maps of the missing

I was able to find out roughly how many people are missing per day in regions of the UK, so I made mock-ups of these as well.

I have also made varying scales of maps and feel the large maps are more eye catching and effective.

European maps of the missing

Most of the statistics I was able to find came from Europe, so I decided to make mock-ups of European maps too.

World maps of the missing

Map Idea

While this has been happening I have looked back on my own information collected on missing people, especially the statistics. My work is heavily researched based and I would like to present this in some way. I think a good place to start would be on my website I created a few weeks ago, which is still in the making. michellequinnartist.weebly.com.The internet is easily accessible for everyone and it seems only logical to use this. I have listed some statistics on my blog, but it seems more appropriate to use a website.

I also want to create a physical representation of the figures involved with missing people. Most people have no idea about the numbers of people that go missing everyday, and after a lot of researching I found out some of these on a global scale. I have put these numbers on maps as a mock-up of what I want my piece to look like. I have tried using different map types but feel the blank maps work best. The numbers are the amount of people that go missing in that country per day. Some, or most, countries do not have this information available and there can be many reasons for this...undeveloped countries do not keep records or some governments misrepresent /keep this information secretive. At the moment I am finding it difficult to find the timers that will be used to count up the number of people going missing over a 24 hour period. My plan is to ask at Maplins or other electronic stores for advice.

More photo's from event

Missing Mystery Event

As you know I had taken part in Patricia's performance workshops which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was the first time I had done performance art and because the performance was unexpected to the audience it was great to see the reactions and how they interacted with what was happening. I have always been interested in interactive art and have done some in the past. I felt the time was right to re-visit that now and get people involved in my work. Using the art and design building itself in the performance piece seemed a great way of utilising the space and taking advantage of what we already have. Therefore I decided to hold an event that utilised the whole of the building for a missing mystery event.

As my work deals primarily with MWWS I chosen Vivienne to be 'my victim' for the event as she fits the criteria. I made up missing posters, each with a different clue that would eventually lead to her whereabouts. I put these around the building, utilising all the floors, along with picture clues of the victim walking in different directions. I invited guests to come along for a little soiree beforehand.

I found this to be a good experience as myself and the people involved enjoyed the evening and I feel art is made to be enjoyed. As my work has been quite intense and deals with important issues, I found this to be a more light hearted approach yet carrying serious undertones. Again with this event I had to do some negotiating, everything from the wine to where I could put up the posters, but you learn from these experiences and they set you up for what to expect after university. I feel that if this could be done on a bigger scale it would be a great way to raise awareness of missing people and could even be used to raise money for charities for missing people. For example missingpeople.org, who look for missing people as well as holding a lot of information on the statistics involved.