Category: Blog Post

Throughout the process of focusing on this subject, it’s been challenging since it combines making things in 3D, and also having to be photographed, but because of this it’s also been super fun and one of the most experimental things I’ve done in terms of the subject and how I’m conveying this! Using the boilersuit as an astronaut’s overalls and wearing a biker jacket as the more protective gear, alongside with the helmet, was interesting in how I felt. I didn’t feel macho or masculine and I didn’t feel at all feminine either, I really only felt like an astronaut and only identified with that role, which in a way blurred the lines of gender. I drew on some makeup around the jaw cheeks for a more masc look, and in the last two images below I drew on a moustache, just since I wanted to play around more with drag. I did have the idea of wearing more of a drag get up for this, but didn’t want it to turn into a male astronaut or a drag king astronaut, I wanted it to remain in the middle. From what I said above, I wonder how it would feel to be an astronaut (as am I here) but without the bounds of Earth, and the questions surrounding gender from that experience. This reminds me of a book I’ve also been recommended by the Mission Gallery, ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula K. Le Guin. The premise follows an ethnologist who observes the people of planet Gethen, where the inhabitants are androgynous. The main character struggles to navigate and adapt to the Gethens unique perspectives on gender and identity. Just something I’d like to read to garner more perspective on this.

How I’ve developed this so far, is putting myself in a familiar and natural environment that I’ve placed this astronaut figure in, I guess this is to put this figure more in the reality of my daily life. I also looked at images of astronauts in the space craft, just doing anything like sitting or playing with buttons, or floating, and applied that sort of environment in my home. In future, I plan to carry on with the idea of creating outer “armour”, as I’ve shown in past blogs, and to make environments, whether that is using props or creating it digitally. This will most likely be an on going project for me for quite a while, as the subject is a large part of my interests and expression.

Thank you Mission Gallery for giving me the opportunity to explore these themes on a platform, and being so supportive of what it is I’ve been doing, I’m truly grateful. And thank you to everyone who has read through my blogs!

I wanted to use polaroid film as well which helped me in just taking a photo and moving on instead of being indecisive on how it should be done. I also liked the immediacy of receiving the film and the old timey feel, to me it makes it feel more like an old documentation of an astronaut.

I used the cut out images as notes and to play around with different mediums.

Sketches are included from my notebook, I thought I’d just share them here since they’re part of what I was thinking about in terms of how I view this persona and my thoughts on how to approach it.

Taking the photographs, my sister took the role of the photographer and we just went around the house and Welsh landscapes to do this, she was very patient (thank you Lili). I considered using a backdrop, but couldn’t really find anywhere or anything for this, and I don’t own a green screen to edit in backdrops either. I also find it uncomfortable for the focus to be just on me. This is just an issue I have with taking photographs, so being in areas that had more around the space and the central focus wasn’t just on me made the process easier. Although a lot of the areas are overly crowded, for now they serve to be steps in what I could do using editing and photography. I would have liked to have played around with editing softwares and seen what I could’ve come up with, so far though I’ve used a few printed images and painted around them just as a rough idea playing with surrounding areas.

A really interesting artist I’ve come across is Mowgly Lee, who uses a combination of photography, painting and editing to create surrealist moving images. Particularly his ‘Theatre of Life’ work which can be found on his Instagram (link below). I’m more interested in using digital editing to further a character or a world or a concept. I’ve also mentioned Jon Rafman before, who uses a lot of digital softwares to create surreal techno based stories. On his website, you can watch multiple different films that have a videogame type format.

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The astronaut helmet was difficult to try and put together. Originally I was just looking for a glass bowl that could fit around the head, like the helmet used in the ‘Afronauts’ series and other examples I showed from sketches and collage images. Surprisingly it’s really difficult to find a head size bowl with an opening that is also head size. I managed to find a bowl that was head size but the opening was really small. To make this larger, I broke it and used a small glass cutter. To make this safe to wear I sanded it a bit and taped around the outside of it. Using foam role and superglue, I cut out a shape which would be able to stand on my shoulders, I did this for the front and the back, I also cut out a shape that would be able to go over the top of the glass. I used a heat gun to make this foldable, and foam clay as well for some of the top part of the glass. I then painted over this with white paint and a red line. I added a couple of accessories like a hair pin to the side which acts as some sort of an antenna, I also glued on a zip from a part of a jacket on the front. Although the outcome is really messy and quite disproportionate, it managed to actually be wearable which I’ve impressed myself with since making and working in 3D is not my strong suit! I also quite like how it conceals my face when I wear it, since the subject of this is more based around identity and gender, it makes more sense for the wearer to look a bit “ambiguous”.

I wanted to use materials I know even if the result isn’t really what an astronaut would wear, the whole process of this was using the astronaut as a point of masculinity and how it makes me feel. The progress so far may be messy but it is me.

The oxygen tank was made using a cardboard shoebox, cut up tubes placed on the side, a tube coming out the back, ties knotted in order to wear like a backpack and this patterned fabric used to cover the majority of the shoe box.

Putting together the outfit was a task, using a blue boiler suit I stitched and superglued some belongings on there which I already had to make the garment more personal. A polaroid of my dog, Welsh flag, a British flag, a children’s coloured circle, a letter badge (to stand for my name), gifted keyrings and a butterfly hair clip.

Sketches of “character”

Recently I’ve been trying to gather items which I’d be able to use in making somewhat of an outfit or my idea of an astronaut in terms of how it relates with my character. In between doing this I’ve made rough sketches jotting out ideas and drawing outfit designs. Some of the images have been shown in previous posts but I’ve been able to scan them in so they’re also uploaded here as well!

I’ve found a blue boiler suit and also have a biker jacket which is quite bulky but I quite like how padded out it is. The biker suit and boiler suit were specifically designed for men so in this way it does have the effect of making me feel more masculine. With the foam sheets I have, I’ve considered using foam sheets to create an outer piece of “armour”, kind of like what Ellen Ripley’s character wears in Alien. Her white suit is fitted with these hard shoulder pads and chest plate that connects with her helmet. But I don’t want to overcomplicate the process, the outfit can be really simple for me but still tie in with the astronaut look using tubes and other things.

To the different areas of the outfit, I’ve got tubes which I’d like to attach to parts of the garment, acting as sort of a source of energy like an oxygen tank. Looking at the character Ellen Ripley as well, the character had originally been written for a man. Little was changed in the script other than the gender of the character, there’s less focus on her being a woman and her vulnerability that is usually the focus of most women characters in film. She’s a relatable person for most audiences, we view her earn her heroic status rather than be gifted with the ability to fight from the beginning. She’s scared and unsure of how to defend herself but after having found Newt (a little girl she finds and takes in as her own after experiencing the loss of her own daughter), her instincts and protection over Newt become a driving force for Ripley. The determination and fear in Ripley makes her such a great character. After having watched Alien, she’s become one of my favourite characters in film for the role she plays and how she’s portrayed.

An awkward photoshoot wearing the blue boiler suit. I’ve drawn over it as sort of a map for where things may go and an idea of how this may look on me. For an oxygen tank, I’ve got a shoe box which I’d like to try and use for this. This is also so that depending on what I do wear, the oxygen tank makes it more similar to the idea of an astronaut rather than it straying too far out into something else.

Collages of outfit ideas and inspiration, playing with editing as well

These are some of the items I’ve collected for the outfit. Currently I’m putting it all together and trying different things out. Once this is done, I’d like to focus on photographs, where and how these would be taken and what I’m trying to convey with them. I’d like to just wear it around and mess around with it and see what I can do with this.

The musician above is Solange. There’s not loads from this artist that I’m taking inspiration from, but a noticeable musician for me because of her electronic, otherworldly feel. The genre falls a bit within spiritual jazz, pop and R&B. Her music videos have this dreamy, galactic feel which is almost enchanting to look at. Her use of visuals with what she wears and the structure of buildings and colours creates this futuristic vibe that I find really pleasing to look at. Music videos like ‘Things I imagined’, ‘Down With the Clique’ and ‘Almeda’ are examples of this futuristic and starry feel.

Ethel Cain is a musician who uses story telling and characters to express a subject and feeling. Hayden is the musicians real name, but her performance name and persona is Ethel cain, which the album ‘Preachers Daughter’ is based around. The album tells the story of the character Ethel Cain, coming to terms with the imperfect existence that involves abuse, ignorance, etc. Cain goes on a destructive journey of self discovery through love and hatred. Ethel Cain uses her interest in the American dream and its failures as a source of inspiration for her character and storyline. Her song ‘Thoroughfaire’, is based around finding a guy who wants to share his love of America and venture out into this idealistic world with Ethel Cain, while she does not share his views on this. The whole character and story is really interesting and I do recommend looking into this musician, although it doesn’t tie much into what I’m doing, it still presents me with questioning what this process and idea means for me in terms of identity and my views on gender and the world.

From my last two posts, I’d looked at belongings and figurativeness in art that relates more with the identity. Something that I’ve had an interest in for a while is astronauts, but more so women who are astronauts. I’m a highly masculine person and find myself gravitating more towards androgyny and using this as almost a persona. Though being an astronaut is a highly gendered field, to me there is a juxtaposition of this by just the act of going out into space and “abandoning” societal norms and boundaries. Rules still apply during these missions but you’re exposed to different risks and elements and disconnected from civilisation that gender and other Earthly issues are of such minute importance.

The idea of being in space and the role of being an astronaut is such an isolating experience I feel, but I resonate it with this so much because for me personally it strips away what we apply to ourselves on Earth and leaves you simply as just a person who becomes so aware of space and existence.

A spacesuit isn’t really catered towards fitting women, it’s more so fitted for practicality and survival. There hasn’t been styling choices in terms of cinching at the waist or filling out the chest area. This is also why I like spacesuits, because they’re not so associated with presenting gender or catering to the appearance of this. But taking into consideration how women weren’t originally allowed to become astronauts, a spacesuit is more likely made to be catered to men. Since women started becoming astronauts, they wear what male astronauts have originally worn but in smaller sizes. Training between men and woman follow the same routine, and there aren’t really any differences in their preparation to take off into space. Following this, I’ve got sketches and ideas to become my idea of an astronaut. Previously I was only doing these as sketches as a separate thing I was doing from this, but I’m now working towards creating an outfit using materials I already have or finding items in shops that can be used. I’m tying this in with what I was doing in previous blog posts, but it’s developing in a more figurative form.

Cristina de Middel, Afronauts

‘Afronauts’, is a series of photographs depicting an astronaut which was made as a response to a Zambian science teacher named Edwuard Makuka, who decided to train the first African crew to travel to the moon in 1964. He would use an alluminium rocket to put a woman, two cats and a missionary into space. The plan would be to go to the Moon and then Mars using a catapult system. Makuka had founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space research and Astronomical research so he could begin this training.

Landscape images include spaces rusted rocket like builds with sandy and rocky areas. Maps are included and some images are edited to illustrate the concept further. The outfit designs include patterns which I think are associated with the culture of that area. There’s a combination of a patterned boiler suit and gloves with other materials like cellotape and fabrics to hold things in place like the chest template which features more patterns. A clear sphere is used as a helmet and a box is used as the oxygen tank. We view the main astronaut from this series traversing through different areas of the landscape, we see more people doing different things related with the subject which is quite narrative driven. Items and use of text are also used, which is something I would like to possibly incorporate into the making if it feels right. Another thing which is quite interesting is a short film called ‘Afronauts’, written and directed by Nuotama Budomo. It follows the same subject inspiration but is a fictionalised version.

Link to Cristina de Middel’s Afronauts series http://www.lademiddel.com/the-afronauts-1.html

Afronauts film

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is another photographer whose work has been introduced to me. Her work involves dressing up as characters and playing with themes of gender. Her works play on stereotypes and the diversity of humans. Her works are usually done in a series, for example her ‘Untitled film still’ from 1977, which involved emulating scenes from mid 20th century B movies. She would use props and put on guises to present as these characters and photograph herself in fictional scenarios.

Another series uses higher amounts of makeup and dress up with false backgrounds to provide a scene for the character. Some of her get ups are more “poorly” put together, with makeup peeling off and wigs not secured properly, this is intentional as a commentary on artificiality of the fabrications we have on constructing an identity. MoMA, they state “Sherman subverts the visual shorthand we use to classify the world around us, drawing attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of these stereotypes and undermining their reliability for understanding a much more complicated reality”.

Kathryn Ashill

Ashill is another artists I’m looking at who includes dress up and performance in her work. Usually their works are quite humorous and involve storytelling. She focuses her work around her experience of the working class identity. Using a theatrical approach she shares observations on people, history and site as well as autobiography. There is a large part of drag used in their work, this is to open up a dialogue which discusses drag kings in contemporary performance throughout history, but also to explore their own gender identity. From my first blog post which discussed more about androgyny and looked at films like Orlando, Ashill for me is another introduction into this play with androgyny and persona. A project I really enjoyed from her is the ‘Poster Boy’ performance which focuses on Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s novel ‘Wuthering Heights’. The installation and performance revolves around the many interpretations and manifestations from national and international TV and movie productions of this character. This piece of work focuses on Cliff Richards portrayal of the character and the criticism received for accepting the role.

Link to website https://kathrynashill.com/Home/

I’m also looking at characters from films like Brand from ‘Interstellar’ and Ripley from ‘Alien’. Specifically how Ripley’s character is portrayed in the films and how she progresses throughout in her masculinity and desexualisation of her. David Bowie’s Major Tom character is also something I’m interested in. This character for David Bowie was his experience of alienation and confronting the minuteness of Earth. The narrative and persona of this character is something I’ve always been interested in in David Bowie’s work, Especially Major Tom. There’s also real astronauts I’ve been looking to for a source of influence and just out of curiosity, such as the cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, was the first woman in space, and Svetlana Savitskaya. There is also Sally Ride who was the first American female astronaut, Anna Lee Fischer who was the first mother astronaut, etc.

At the moment, I’m watching films like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Alien and Solaris. There’s also more pieces of work from artists like Alicia Framis’ ‘Lost Astronaut’ and Yinka Shonibare’s ‘Refugee Astronaut’.

Sally Ride

David Bowie’s Major Tom

2001: A Space Odyssey

Anna Fischer

Valentina Tereshkova

Svetlana Savitskaya

Alien, Ellen Ripley

Interstellar, Brand

Yinka Shonibare’s Refugee Astronaut explores identity, post-colonialism and globalisation through a refugee astronaut. This astronaut is a recurring theme in Shonibare’s work, it touches on humanities future with questions surrounding present day issues. The items which the astronaut wears like kitchen items and a toothbrush, is made as commentary on climate change and the current refugee crisis.

Alicia Framis, Lost Astronaut. This performance and installation piece which followed instructions from Marina Abramovic, Mark Beasley, Virginie Bobin, Kim Ann Foxman, Brian Keith-Jackson, Shelley Jackson, Angie Keefer, Matthew Licht, Rita McBride, John Menick, Katie Paterson, Silvia Prada, Frances Richard and Michael Schulman. Framis decided to live in Newyork for a month as an astronaut. She wore a 1970’s space suit from the former Soviet Union and carried out actions from written scripts previously made for characters she invited from the New York scene.  “In this future time, suspended by the interdisciplinary character of her work, Alicia Framis criticized the previous image of what would happen in the future, these preconceptions of the life to come which were based on 1950s science fiction concepts and the role of women in space”.

Solaris (1972)

These are just a few sketches I’ve quickly drawn up, I’m designing possible costumes I could create and looking through charity shops to find tubes, bowls, etc. I’ll be putting stuff together throughout the week, thank you for reading my introduction into this topic!