The Music Is You, 2024
Inspiration & Context
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Connecting to anti-immigration riots that swept across 27 UK cities between July 30 and August 7, 2024, targeting asylum seekers’ shelters and involving the police.
On August 4, while walking from the British Library to Waterloo Station, I felt the weight of living in a society grappling with such deep issues. I kicked aside a discarded , single use electric Vape and reflected on its journey - from resource extraction to landfill - fuelling climate disasters that force man into climate-driven displacement, only to face hostility.
This moment crystallised the interconnectedness of our global environmental, economic, political and social injustices that drive my creative exploration.
On August 4, while walking from the British Library to Waterloo Station, I felt the weight of living in a society grappling with such deep issues. I kicked aside a discarded , single use electric Vape and reflected on its journey - from resource extraction to landfill - fuelling climate disasters that force man into climate-driven displacement, only to face hostility.
This moment crystallised the interconnectedness of our global environmental, economic, political and social injustices that drive my creative exploration.
Single use, electric vapes, collected from London’s streets
Benchmarking Research
Material as metaphor and narrative
According to Good-Bryant and Philips (1978, pp. 39-41), remains — defined as the matter or substance left over from a primary action with no particular purpose or function — carry a constant meaning and reality throughout their contextual incorporation, while their existence remains inherently ephemeral. Examples of remains may include hair, sand, paper dots from hole-punched sheets, wood fragments, fumage, and similar materials.
Good-Bryant and Philips (1978, pp. 39-41) further state that Contextualists employ an additive method, integrating the properties of remains into a broader context to extend meaning beyond traditional margins. Remains can serve as the dominant material or be combined with other objects and materials to shape the nature and characteristics of the art object.
In my research, I am particularly interested in examining discarded single-use electric vape remains to uncover their hidden meanings, histories, memories and narratives beyond their originally intended usage and margins. I am interested in examining their transient and spiritual properties as a testament to the resilience and courage of my fellow marginalised economic and climate refugees.
Good-Bryant and Philips (1978, pp. 39-41) further state that Contextualists employ an additive method, integrating the properties of remains into a broader context to extend meaning beyond traditional margins. Remains can serve as the dominant material or be combined with other objects and materials to shape the nature and characteristics of the art object.
In my research, I am particularly interested in examining discarded single-use electric vape remains to uncover their hidden meanings, histories, memories and narratives beyond their originally intended usage and margins. I am interested in examining their transient and spiritual properties as a testament to the resilience and courage of my fellow marginalised economic and climate refugees.
Practitioner Research
Material as metaphor and narrative
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Fig1: Ai Weiwei - Soleil Levant, 2017, life jackets in front of windows facade, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo: David Stjernholm
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Fig2: Mona Hatoum - Quarters, 2017, White Cube, London. Installation view. Mild steel. 275 x 516 x 1515 cm
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Fig2: Mona Hatoum - Quarters, 2017, White Cube, London. Installation view. Mild steel. 275 x 516 x 1515 cm
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Fig4: Karen McLean - Primitve Matters: Huts, 2010. Gallery view RA, London - Entangled Pasts, 2024. Recycled parquet flooring, found metal, Chipped board, acrylic paint, projected photos. 126 x 168 x 22 cm
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Fig5: Lubaiana Himid - Naming the Money, 2004. Gallery view RA, London - Entangled Pasts, 2024. Mixed media installation. Dimensions variable.
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Fig6: Ndidi Dike - Blackhood: A Living Archive, 2024. Nigeria Pavilion, 60th Venice Biennale, Italy. 736 black wooden batons, black mild steel. Installation view.
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Fig7: Mona Hatoum - Current Disturbance, 1996.
Tate Britain, London, 2024. Gallery view.
Tate Britain, London, 2024. Gallery view.
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Fig8: Cisco Merel - Mirages of the Gap, 2024.Panama Pavilion, 60th Venice Biennale, Italy. Multicoloured mud and soil from Panama. Installation view.
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Fig9: Lawrence Abu Hamdan - Earwitness Inventory, 2018. 95 sourced and custom-designed objects and instruments, animated text. Installation view. Dimensions variable.
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Fig10: Ibrahim Mahama - Fracture, 2016. Coal jute sacks, dimensions variable. Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel. Installation view, 2017.
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Fig11: Tavares Strachan - A Map of The Crown (Amina), 2023; Mind Field No.1, 2023. Bronze, flocked hair. 179.8 x 60 x 60 cm. Hayward Gallery, London, 2024. Gallery view.
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Fig12: Olu Ogunnaike - The sam way you came in?, 2021. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2021. Installation view.
I am interested in contemporary practitioners, who explore narratives of migration, memory, social and environmental injustice, passage, and fragility through the material properties of their work. For example, Fig1. uses collected life jackets from Lesbos—a transit point for Syrian refugees—to highlight the risks and sacrifices made in the pursuit of peace (Public Delivery, 2024). Fig2 presents ghostly, stacked black mild steel structures as a visual metaphor disrupting systemic narratives, revealing the individuality and trauma of Palestinian refugees (Accelerator SU, 2022). Fig3 repurposes aluminium liquor bottle caps to recount the history of alcohol trade as currency
in the slave trade, connecting it to contemporary Ghanian societal challenges (Clark Art Institute, 2011).
Fig4 uses recycled parquet flooring and chipboard to interrogate colonisation against the backdrop of the Magnificent Seven (McLean, 2010). Fig5 incorporates wooden materials from theatrical staging and shipping labels, combined with sound installations of personal stories, to render an often-invisible history into a confrontational material presence (Entangled Pasts 1768 - Now, 2024) . Fig6 employs black wooden batons and black mild steel to confront viewers with the enduring legacy of policing violence and systemic injustices in contemporary Nigeria (La Biennale di Venezia, 2024).
Fig7 features a wood and wire mesh structure of 240 stacked cages, each containing a single household light bulb, exploring tensions between individuality, systems of social control, and surveillance of the human body (Tate, 2024). Fig8 uses mud and soil from Panama as a visual testament to courage, resilience, and hope, encapsulating the human struggle for dignity and a better future (Merel, 2024). Fig9 incorporates sourced and custom-designed objects and instruments to reinterpret the concept of ‘whiteness’ requiring the audience to testify to what they heard rather than saw, with each object serving as a testimony to historic trials (Marill and Hunges, 2022).
Fig10 uses jute sacks to ‘combine multiple layers of history in one single frame, just as an object in its everyday life does’ (Mahama quoted in Prime, 2022). Fig11 employs Black hair as a biological medium to address circulation, displacement, and connections among geographically dispersed family and friends (Can, 2024). Fig12 features chipping of smoked wood from former colonial nations ‘a layering of potential narratives, wooden memories – all of these places smashing together’ (Jennings, 2022).
in the slave trade, connecting it to contemporary Ghanian societal challenges (Clark Art Institute, 2011).
Fig4 uses recycled parquet flooring and chipboard to interrogate colonisation against the backdrop of the Magnificent Seven (McLean, 2010). Fig5 incorporates wooden materials from theatrical staging and shipping labels, combined with sound installations of personal stories, to render an often-invisible history into a confrontational material presence (Entangled Pasts 1768 - Now, 2024) . Fig6 employs black wooden batons and black mild steel to confront viewers with the enduring legacy of policing violence and systemic injustices in contemporary Nigeria (La Biennale di Venezia, 2024).
Fig7 features a wood and wire mesh structure of 240 stacked cages, each containing a single household light bulb, exploring tensions between individuality, systems of social control, and surveillance of the human body (Tate, 2024). Fig8 uses mud and soil from Panama as a visual testament to courage, resilience, and hope, encapsulating the human struggle for dignity and a better future (Merel, 2024). Fig9 incorporates sourced and custom-designed objects and instruments to reinterpret the concept of ‘whiteness’ requiring the audience to testify to what they heard rather than saw, with each object serving as a testimony to historic trials (Marill and Hunges, 2022).
Fig10 uses jute sacks to ‘combine multiple layers of history in one single frame, just as an object in its everyday life does’ (Mahama quoted in Prime, 2022). Fig11 employs Black hair as a biological medium to address circulation, displacement, and connections among geographically dispersed family and friends (Can, 2024). Fig12 features chipping of smoked wood from former colonial nations ‘a layering of potential narratives, wooden memories – all of these places smashing together’ (Jennings, 2022).
Practice-based Researchh
OBSERVE - LISTEN - ANALYSE
Dismounting discarded single-use electric vapes, collected from London’s streets
Collecting the vapes became a months-long drift, a migratory drift across the streets of London. I wandered through the boroughs, peeling back their layers like an onion—
from Richmond’s quiet corners to Chelsea’s polished streets, from Kingston’s riverside to Camberwell’s winding roads. Each step was a meditation, a whispered conversation with these discarded objects.
Who are you?
Where did you come from?
What shaped you?
Why were you made?
How did you end up here?
Can anyone else see you?
Each discovery felt like unearthing gold. I would race to claim these treasures before invisible hands could take them—but no one else would. Why? Because our relationship with these objects was different. Others passed them by, indifferent or unaware, while I saw histories waiting to be unveiled. On the streets, these forgotten things lay in plain sight, longing to speak to anyone willing to listen. My practice is a partnership with materials—a quiet collaboration. I observe and listen, letting them shape themselves, letting their stories emerge as they wish to be told. I am drawn to their colours, the gradients that shimmer in light, the textures that invite touch, the resilience of metals forged in fire and pressure. These questions guide me: How do materials endure? How do they transform? What secrets lie in their responses to the world’s relentless forces?
from Richmond’s quiet corners to Chelsea’s polished streets, from Kingston’s riverside to Camberwell’s winding roads. Each step was a meditation, a whispered conversation with these discarded objects.
Who are you?
Where did you come from?
What shaped you?
Why were you made?
How did you end up here?
Can anyone else see you?
Each discovery felt like unearthing gold. I would race to claim these treasures before invisible hands could take them—but no one else would. Why? Because our relationship with these objects was different. Others passed them by, indifferent or unaware, while I saw histories waiting to be unveiled. On the streets, these forgotten things lay in plain sight, longing to speak to anyone willing to listen. My practice is a partnership with materials—a quiet collaboration. I observe and listen, letting them shape themselves, letting their stories emerge as they wish to be told. I am drawn to their colours, the gradients that shimmer in light, the textures that invite touch, the resilience of metals forged in fire and pressure. These questions guide me: How do materials endure? How do they transform? What secrets lie in their responses to the world’s relentless forces?
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Discarded single-use electric vapes, collected from London’s streets
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Dismounted remains of a Crystal Vape, showing components
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Multicoloured stainless steel tube remains, from disposable electric vapes. Dimensions 85 x 15 mm each.
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Drilled and cut stainless steel tubes. White cotton thread, fishing vinyl, vintage-brass jewellery chain, aluminium jewellery wire.
Originally, I envisioned connecting the vape remains into an architectural tapestry (see fig.3, El Anatsui) using a delicate fragment-connecting technique. I believed these
remains were forged from aluminium, but only when I took one to the metal technician—seeking to open it—did I discover their true nature: stainless steel. Steel resists.
Opening them revealed jagged edges, sharp as defiance. Even drilling through them demanded immense strength, a labour that felt like wrestling with their spirit. Further
research revealed why this material was chosen for electric vapes: its properties create the perfect conditions for fire. Steel endures fire. When I found them on the streets,
they often bore the weight of buses and cars that had rolled over them. Yet, they only bent—never broke. That resilience struck me as a beautiful metaphor for my people:
resistant to fire, able to bend but refusing to break. So, I asked, ‘You don’t want to become just a metal fragment, do you? Tell me—what would you like to say?
What would you like to become?’
remains were forged from aluminium, but only when I took one to the metal technician—seeking to open it—did I discover their true nature: stainless steel. Steel resists.
Opening them revealed jagged edges, sharp as defiance. Even drilling through them demanded immense strength, a labour that felt like wrestling with their spirit. Further
research revealed why this material was chosen for electric vapes: its properties create the perfect conditions for fire. Steel endures fire. When I found them on the streets,
they often bore the weight of buses and cars that had rolled over them. Yet, they only bent—never broke. That resilience struck me as a beautiful metaphor for my people:
resistant to fire, able to bend but refusing to break. So, I asked, ‘You don’t want to become just a metal fragment, do you? Tell me—what would you like to say?
What would you like to become?’
Transforming into soundwaves
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Photographs of configuration tests and outputs for analysis. Dimensions variable.
Further Researchh
A moment of tribute
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Fig13: Shenece Oretha - Conspiracy: After Jeanne Lee, 2021. Speaker bodies, speaker stands, sound and spotlight. Installation View. Dimension variable.
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Fig14: Igshaan Adams - GETUIE (witness) v, 2021. Metal, rubber and glass beads, metal charms (horns), metal wire and chain, resin. 53.3 x 65.4 x 59.7 cm. Gallery view.
Subject matter (Fig13): shape a
moment of tribute, communication and ceremony creating a figurative metaphor - a mediation on moments of discord and harmony in the way that we live together (Black-whole info, 2024).
In my work, I am interested in celebrating the act of listening and the musicality of communal resonance within spiritual existence. I’d like to explore sound as a spiritual element, creating a ritualistic work - a subconscious stimulus that invites deep listening.
Subject matter (Fig14): According to Marill and Hunegs (2022), the work draws inspiration from rieldans – a dance performed by indigenous communities in South Africa’s arid Northern Cape. It conjures images of bodies in motion and dust rising, suspended in time and space, as if the very essence of the earth is given air. In my work, I am interested in examining insubstantial and changeable forms that embody a sense of transience, lightness, and playfulness. Through movement, I seek to capture the fleeting moment where time and space appear suspended.
In my work, I am interested in celebrating the act of listening and the musicality of communal resonance within spiritual existence. I’d like to explore sound as a spiritual element, creating a ritualistic work - a subconscious stimulus that invites deep listening.
Subject matter (Fig14): According to Marill and Hunegs (2022), the work draws inspiration from rieldans – a dance performed by indigenous communities in South Africa’s arid Northern Cape. It conjures images of bodies in motion and dust rising, suspended in time and space, as if the very essence of the earth is given air. In my work, I am interested in examining insubstantial and changeable forms that embody a sense of transience, lightness, and playfulness. Through movement, I seek to capture the fleeting moment where time and space appear suspended.
Concepts & Prototyping
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Black&White sketches of suspension opportunities.
Working with gathered materials feels like a beautiful dance of interchangeable possibilities. I add to my collection daily, and at this early stage of development, the work remains open-ended, evolving as its material source continues to grow. This openness has been challenging, as I am accustomed to working with clear plans to execute design solutions. However, this uncertainty has kept the conversation with the materials alive. As I discover, alter, and respond, the work takes on a non-fixed, nomadic form, fostering a dialogical relationship between the vape remains and me. While interacting with these tubes, I noticed they released a subliminal, delicate voice as they touched—one that faded into silence. I realised that suspension could enhance these qualities. I chose a spiral arrangement, embracing the circularity of existential journeys—of any body, every body. Suspending the work expanded its dimensions, pushing it into an existential realm beyond the bounds of rationality. This approach allowed me to transform my sculptures—traditionally the most solid of spatial arts—into entities subject to temporal flux.
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Aluminium sheet joint with blind rivets. 5 x 20 x 0.3 cm
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Brass sheet joint with blind rivets. 5 x 10 x 0.2 cm
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Joint with blind rivets. 1 x 10 x 0.2 cm
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Waved copper wire. 10 cm diameter.
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Suspension prototype. Iron mesh, wire cable. 7 x 20 cm
Drilling holes into the vape remains
Removing protective tapes from drilled vape remains.
Drawing on Sara Byer’s metal workshop lessons, I experimented with various metals and joining techniques in search of the ideal suspension ring. I began to question whether I should keep the focus solely on the remains or move toward creating an assemblage or structure that reflects the conditions of hybridised identity—one in which every part plays an equal role. In my effort to protect the prepared vape tubes during drilling, I discovered a delicate and intimate sense of care. I taped them to prevent damage, knowing they are made of steel and require significant effort to drill through. In that moment, what had once been discarded junk from the street began, at least for me, to transform into valuable, individual bodies worthy of protection. My first prototype failed because the spaces between the tubes were too large, preventing them from touching one another. The second attempt came closer to my vision, but it made me realise that these structures might require engineering skills. I would need to ensure each part fits perfectly, calculate precise dimensions, determine spacing, suspension, elevation, and joints to transform the work into a more refined, machine-like structure.
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Prototype No.1 20 cm diameter
H: 100 cm, 12 vape tubes.
H: 100 cm, 12 vape tubes.
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Prototype No.2 10 cm diameter
H: 150 cm, 16 vape tubes.
H: 150 cm, 16 vape tubes.
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Prototype No.2 - Closeup;
Jewellery wire suspension & tape
Jewellery wire suspension & tape
Development
Basic Engineering & Silver
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7 x Silver jewellery chain. 1.5 x 201 mm each.
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Black&White development sketches.
Blocks of custom cut silver jewellery chains. Dimensions variable.
I enjoy revisiting sketching and brainstorming multiple times throughout my process. It feels like starting a new cycle—one that builds on everything I have experienced and
learned so far while allowing for refinement, challenges, solutions, alterations, and new possibilities. This time, I decided to focus on numbers: the precise measurements of the
vape tubes, the holes I drilled into them, and the additions I made. Using these as the central focal point from which everything else emerges, I began to develop an outcome that responds to the choices I made during this process of discussion and questioning. In our culture, silver jewellery, particularly chains, holds spiritual significance, serving as
talismans that provide protection, perseverance, and healing energies to the wearer during challenging times. Since my goal is to create a spiritual and ritualistic work, I chose
silver chains to engage in dialogue with the vape tubes and to explore their spiritual and communal resonance, as well as the music inherent in their existence.
learned so far while allowing for refinement, challenges, solutions, alterations, and new possibilities. This time, I decided to focus on numbers: the precise measurements of the
vape tubes, the holes I drilled into them, and the additions I made. Using these as the central focal point from which everything else emerges, I began to develop an outcome that responds to the choices I made during this process of discussion and questioning. In our culture, silver jewellery, particularly chains, holds spiritual significance, serving as
talismans that provide protection, perseverance, and healing energies to the wearer during challenging times. Since my goal is to create a spiritual and ritualistic work, I chose
silver chains to engage in dialogue with the vape tubes and to explore their spiritual and communal resonance, as well as the music inherent in their existence.
Development - The beauty of the digital sphere
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Screenshots of SketchUp development & slicing phases of 3D printed Chicago Screws (11 x 7.3 x 9 mm each)
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Chicago Screws. Digital Preview. 11 x 7.3 x 9 mm.
3D printer printing Chicago screws. 20 pairs in one workflow
Challenges often bring profound realisations to my practice. When my design required custom joints inspired by Chicago screws—unavailable in the market—I turned to the
3D modelling skills I developed during my undergraduate studies. This process, enriched by insights from Sian Fan’s BA Perspective talk, opened my understanding of the
digital realm as both a magical and scientific space for artistic exploration.
Working within this hybrid realm of digital and physical, I encountered the liminality of diasporic identities—a space where boundaries blur, worlds collide, and new structures
emerge. On screen, my tiny 11 mm screws appeared as monumental architectural columns, prompting reflections on perception: how what seems immense or minute shifts
with context. These tiny, invisible joints—indispensable to the whole—serve as a metaphor for the overlooked elements of life that hold the greatest significance. They illustrate how, through the fusion of magical science and the embrace of potential beyond rational and physical boundaries—the very foundation of the digital sphere—limitations are transcended. This creates space for critical reflection, revealing the often-hidden contributions of the overlooked and marginalized. These contributions, while not designed to be mainstream, ensure the seamless flow and rhythm within our interconnected structures.
3D modelling skills I developed during my undergraduate studies. This process, enriched by insights from Sian Fan’s BA Perspective talk, opened my understanding of the
digital realm as both a magical and scientific space for artistic exploration.
Working within this hybrid realm of digital and physical, I encountered the liminality of diasporic identities—a space where boundaries blur, worlds collide, and new structures
emerge. On screen, my tiny 11 mm screws appeared as monumental architectural columns, prompting reflections on perception: how what seems immense or minute shifts
with context. These tiny, invisible joints—indispensable to the whole—serve as a metaphor for the overlooked elements of life that hold the greatest significance. They illustrate how, through the fusion of magical science and the embrace of potential beyond rational and physical boundaries—the very foundation of the digital sphere—limitations are transcended. This creates space for critical reflection, revealing the often-hidden contributions of the overlooked and marginalized. These contributions, while not designed to be mainstream, ensure the seamless flow and rhythm within our interconnected structures.
Development - Assemblage
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Connecting the individual parts I had so carefully and meticulously prepared required my jewellery-making skills and the patience to navigate millimetre-small components while balancing gravity and precision. I often find fulfilment in developing labour-intensive work that fuses multiple skills to create a cohesive whole. Perhaps this mirrors how my personal, political, and economic experiences have shaped my identity. Growing up, I constantly had to figure things out—juggling multiple jobs, adapting, and learning to survive. This resilience has inherently become part of who I am, and naturally translates into my creative practice.
Development - Chandelier Rings
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3D model of suspension ring. 100 x 20 x 2.5 mm
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3D model of suspension ring. 100 x 15 x 2 mm
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3D model of suspension ring. 100 x 15 x 2 mm
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Susp. ring prototype No.1: 100 x 30 x 2.5 mm
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Susp. ring prototype No.2: . 100 x 30 x 2.5 mm
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Susp. ring prototype No.3: . 100 x 15 x 2 mm
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Suspension ring outcome . 7 pieces of golden rings. Dimensions: 100 x 30 x 2.5 mm
I originally planned for the suspension rings to be custom-designed, similar to the Chicago screws, 3D-printed, and then cast in bronze or brass at a foundry. However, time
constraints led me to use the 3D prints with a metallic finish for the pop-up show instead. I experimented with and designed pincers with a 1.5 mm gap to fit the 1.5 mm thickness of the silver chain. These were evenly spaced among the twelve, allowing the vape tubes to move freely and create resonance, while preventing chaotic entanglement—an issue in most of my earlier prototypes. The ring was designed to remain open at the top, ensuring it doesn’t disrupt the flow of resonance. This openness allowed the resonance to travel through the structure, fabricating an atmosphere of an existential realm whose meaning transcends the bounds of rationality.
constraints led me to use the 3D prints with a metallic finish for the pop-up show instead. I experimented with and designed pincers with a 1.5 mm gap to fit the 1.5 mm thickness of the silver chain. These were evenly spaced among the twelve, allowing the vape tubes to move freely and create resonance, while preventing chaotic entanglement—an issue in most of my earlier prototypes. The ring was designed to remain open at the top, ensuring it doesn’t disrupt the flow of resonance. This openness allowed the resonance to travel through the structure, fabricating an atmosphere of an existential realm whose meaning transcends the bounds of rationality.
Installation / Group critique
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Black&White sketch of installation plan within the Gallery.
Floor-plan of gallery layout
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Fig15: The Music Is You, 2024, Mixed media installation (7 wall-hanging pieces).
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
Fig16: The Music Is You, 2024, Mixed media installation (7 wall-hanging pieces).
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
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Fig17: The Music Is You, 2024, Mixed media installation (7 wall-hanging pieces).
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Audience engaging with work.
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Audience engaging with work.
Fig18: The Music Is You, 2024, Mixed media installation (7 wall-hanging pieces).
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
Dimensions variable. A to B Gallery - Camberwell. Installation view.
My objective was to convey images of bodies in motion that embody a sense of transience, lightness, and playfulness by suspending the work within the gallery setting. The aim was to capture a fleeting moment where time and space appear fused together. This technique seeks to create a suspended tribute, translating the musicality of our communal resonance—spiritual and physical—into an existential elsewhere. It aims to evoke emotions and ideas that words alone struggle to express.
As Mercer, cited in Hall (2017), suggests: ‘To translate is to move across, which is what the migrant does as a double-facing figure, looking both ways’. This perspective
encourages us to embrace optimism in translation. While something may always be left behind in translation, rather than being a weakness or lack, what escapes language
—what cannot be fully articulated by conventional rules and ideas—adds an extra dimension, keeping the conversation alive and evolving (Hall, 2017). This concept resonates deeply across all my work and drives one of the key explorations within my creative practice.
Feedback suggests that the works possess a quiet stillness in their current configuration, as they do not move. Some have proposed that this could be addressed through
elevation—varying the heights of the sculptures rather than keeping them uniform—or through adjusting their spacing. Others noted the challenge of encouraging specific
interactions in a gallery setting. Suggestions included incorporating a kinetic element, such as programmed movement, to introduce motion and inspire engagement.
I agree with these insights. While outdoor wind might naturally create movement, this is not an option within the gallery. I will need to consider whether to keep the work indoors or move it outside, and perhaps experiment with elevation as a solution.
Additional feedback highlighted that the concept involving vapes has strong potential for further exploration. For instance, tracing the geographical spaces where riots occurred and where abandoned vapes were found could deepen the narrative. Another idea is to examine the air surrounding the concept—the air we inhale and exhale—and reflect on how vaping habits contribute to air pollution. I agree that this concept has significant potential and could be developed further over many years.
As Mercer, cited in Hall (2017), suggests: ‘To translate is to move across, which is what the migrant does as a double-facing figure, looking both ways’. This perspective
encourages us to embrace optimism in translation. While something may always be left behind in translation, rather than being a weakness or lack, what escapes language
—what cannot be fully articulated by conventional rules and ideas—adds an extra dimension, keeping the conversation alive and evolving (Hall, 2017). This concept resonates deeply across all my work and drives one of the key explorations within my creative practice.
Feedback suggests that the works possess a quiet stillness in their current configuration, as they do not move. Some have proposed that this could be addressed through
elevation—varying the heights of the sculptures rather than keeping them uniform—or through adjusting their spacing. Others noted the challenge of encouraging specific
interactions in a gallery setting. Suggestions included incorporating a kinetic element, such as programmed movement, to introduce motion and inspire engagement.
I agree with these insights. While outdoor wind might naturally create movement, this is not an option within the gallery. I will need to consider whether to keep the work indoors or move it outside, and perhaps experiment with elevation as a solution.
Additional feedback highlighted that the concept involving vapes has strong potential for further exploration. For instance, tracing the geographical spaces where riots occurred and where abandoned vapes were found could deepen the narrative. Another idea is to examine the air surrounding the concept—the air we inhale and exhale—and reflect on how vaping habits contribute to air pollution. I agree that this concept has significant potential and could be developed further over many years.
Bibliography
Accelerator SU (2022) Mona Hatoum lecture at Magasin III, Stockholm, 28 April 2022. 9 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEG1J01i8vc
(Accessed: 30 November 2024).
Black-whole info (2024) Conspiracy. Available at: https://black-whole.info/Conspiracy (Accessed: 29 October 2024).
Cao, M., (2024). Tavares Strachan’s Subversive Circulations. In: There is Light Somewhere. London: Hayward Gallery Publishing. pp 50-51.
Clark Art Institute (2011) Interview with El Anatsui. 9 June. Available at: https://karenmclean.co.uk/work/primitive-matters-huts/ (Accessed: 20 December 2024).
Entangled Pasts 1768 - Now (2024) Art, Colonialism and Change [Exhibition]. Royal Academy of Arts, London. 3 February – 28 April.
Good-Bryant, L. and Philips, M. S. (1978) Contextures. New York: Just Above Midtown, Inc. pp. 39-41.
Hall, S. (2017) The Fateful Triangle. Race, Ethnicity, Nation. Edited by K. Mercer. London: Harvard University Press.
Jennings, W. (2024) Wooden memories - an interview with Olu Ogunnaike. Available at: https://recessed.space/00015-Olu-Ogunnaike (Accessed: 19 October 2024).
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Marill, R and Hunegs, S. (eds.) (2022) Prime: Art’s Next Generation: Igshaan Adams. London: Phaidon Press Ltd.
Marill, R and Hunegs, S. (eds.) (2022) Prime: Art’s Next Generation: Lawrence Abu Hamdan. London: Phaidon Press Ltd.
McLean, C. (2010) Primitive Matters. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEG1J01i8vc (Accessed: 30 November 2024).
Merel, C. (2024) Traces on the Body and on The Land. [Exhibition]. Panama Pavilion La Biennale di Venezia. 20 April – 24 November.
Public Delivery (2024) This was Ai Weiwei’s refugee life jacket installation. Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/ai-weiwei-life-jackets/ (Accessed: 31 December 2024).
Tate (2024) Mona Hatoum: Current Disturbance. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain/display/modern-and-contemporary-british-art/mona-hatoum-current-
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