GENERAL NOTES-

historical context, deconstructing gender binary, gender theory, gender as a constructed concept, questioning authority roles and the roles of the oppressed classes/social groups from many different viewpoints, extensive theory work/research beforehand, current work in jersey in the archives, digitisation of film negatives and archival analogue images

INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS + THEORISTS-

Claude Cahun– politically motivated, often bends or swaps traditional gender roles, use of the abstract and surrealism, lived in Jersey during the Occupation but being Jewish Cahun was a target and was sentenced to death during the Occupation but this was never carried out, attempted to incite rebellion against the occupying forces with her partner Marcel Moore, very influential artist on the theme of gender, androgyny and self-identity, their main body of work is self-portraits

Duane Michals- innovative but simplistic work, black and white, uses photo-series and sequences to convey his messages, his photography has addressed some lgbtq+ issues, often incorporates text/handwriting alongside his images to add elements of emotional context and philosophy

Casa Susanna- found at a flea market in the early 2000s, this photo series was shot in the 60s by men and trans women while they were at a hotel/resort called Casa Susanna, run by a trans woman and her wife (Susanna and Marie Valenti), it was used as an escape to express their own identity without fear of judgement, intimate and private images,

Walter Pfeiffer- lgbtq+ issues, poeticism in imagery, features the subject taking back some control, subject was a young gay man

Adi Nes- features soldiers, links to the islraeli-palestine war, questioning of masculinity and traditional gender roles in society

Judith Butler- American philosophical theorist who focuses on gender as a social construct, personal identity, influenced fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, literary theory as well as philosophy and ethics, speaks about how prescribed gender roles are passed down through generations and is more of a performance than anything else

June Singer- androgyny and gender theorist

O’DONNELL’S OWN WORK-

shrinking violet- Hautlieu A-level project, based on motherly roles in family and career, gently mocking women’s traditional roles during the 60s, 2nd wave feminism, domestic household setting

abort mission- project at uni, anti-abortion protesters vs pro-choice protesters, ideological beliefs and links to religion (specifically Christianity), the subjects were fully aware that they were being photographed, links to govmt and the justice system as well as the Church and sexuality/morality, controlling women’s bodies

by your bedside- relationship with her mother, she was in an induced coma due to breathing problems, links to family relationships, medical trauma + personal trauma, hospitalisation, personal impact, interviews with family members to gain outside first-hand viewpoints, art/photography as a form of therapy and closure, the film features the use of sound; layering music with interviews and background noise

cat and mice- in Cardiff, focuses on Suffragette movement in Wales, difference between suffragettes (militant activist) and the suffragists (political and pacifist), contextual links between the past and the present with reference to locations and the changes over time, historical police brutality

that’s not the way the river flows- gender identity, mocking the traditional concepts of femininity and masculinity, questioning the self and own self expression, short film, “moving still”, own poem and personal viewpoint on subject, questioning the binary of male and female, cutting stills from film camera, use of traditionally gendered clothing and manipulation of the expectations.