Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man
(The Willows)
2011
Silicone; fibreglass; hair; clothing; mixed media.
As the title may suggest to some, this work is an assemblage of two prior works: the photograph Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man (1840) by Hippolyte Bayard, and ‘The Willows’ (1907), a short story by Algernon Blackwood. In this story (considered by HP Lovecraft the greatest supernatural story ever written) a man is found drowned and marked with small funnel-shaped indentations — ‘That awful mark!’ — made by an unknown supernatural being; the title of Bayard's photograph (considered by some the first conceptual art photograph) suggested the identity of the unfortunate victim.
With thanks to Grant Mason FX, Glasgow. Commissioned by CCA, Glasgow.
Installation photographs from the exhibition Resemblances, Sympathies, and Other Acts, CCA, Glasgow, 2011
(The Willows)
2011
Silicone; fibreglass; hair; clothing; mixed media.
As the title may suggest to some, this work is an assemblage of two prior works: the photograph Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man (1840) by Hippolyte Bayard, and ‘The Willows’ (1907), a short story by Algernon Blackwood. In this story (considered by HP Lovecraft the greatest supernatural story ever written) a man is found drowned and marked with small funnel-shaped indentations — ‘That awful mark!’ — made by an unknown supernatural being; the title of Bayard's photograph (considered by some the first conceptual art photograph) suggested the identity of the unfortunate victim.
With thanks to Grant Mason FX, Glasgow. Commissioned by CCA, Glasgow.
Installation photographs from the exhibition Resemblances, Sympathies, and Other Acts, CCA, Glasgow, 2011
