This is also, at some level, Assignment 6.

Blue Passports. The ideological rift driven by the Brexit debate and referendum which is still underpinning our politics today. Link to the development of this piece.

no/rmal. Commentary on the way people with cognitive and mental impairments were institutionalised in the past, selectively seen by members of the public on fundraising open days leading to split perceptions of worth. Link to the development of this piece. The style of the title illustrates the split with the use of a forward slash cutting the word in two and not prioritising one half over the other by the use of capitalisation. The word ‘no’ can be construed both as a denial that mental ill health can exist and as a demonstration that it can affect all of us.

Red Wall. The political profile of largely northern towns and constituencies penetrated by the Conservatives in recent elections but now seemingly likely to revert. Link to the development of this piece.

Curation. Assignment 5 video task combining a proof of concept curation solution with advice concerning description of painting practice. The setting is Second Life, a virtual world built by its users, and the venue is New Brighton. Link to the development of this piece.

Curation notes

I chose this selection on the basis of aspect ratio, palette, and theme. Although different sizes in physical terms, they are all wider than they are tall and have a TV screen impact on the eye, which I suspect sets unconscious conditions for viewing. The paintings are all political, focusing on rifts in socio-political climate (Blue Passports), geo-politics (Red Wall), and the ‘them and us’ perceptions of mental conditions (no/rmal) which is also political in terms of provisions.

The video, submitted for Assignment 5, brings these paintings and animations together, along with the first rift – a fantasy sci fi landscape folding and ripping apart millennia of geological structures – and places them in a virtual world along with an avatar wearing the recognisable Avatar skin, thereby closing a circle of physical, material, and digital worlds.