'An ordinary object [could be] elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.' - Marcel Duchamp, 1938
Tracey Emin's My Bed (1998). Photo Credit: Christie's.
DAY 106. How did I not know what Anthropocene means?
DAY 107. How did I not know that the Anthropocene puts blame of climate change and the ecological crisis on all humans and not just the privileged few?
DAY 108. How did I not know that there are other options to the Anthropocene?
DAY 109. How did I not know that we need to 'stay with the trouble'?
DAY 110. How did I not know that trash, humans, non-human species and nature are all interconnected?
DAY 111. How did I not know that by making wings out of trash I am already thinking about my human relationship to things that are non-human?
DAY 112. How did I not know that there is something to be said about 'wasted time'?
DAY 113. How did I not know that there would be days where I felt this project was a waste of time?
DAY 114. How did I not know that an object becomes art when an artist says so?
DAY 115. How did I not know the power of the artist?
DAY 116. How did I not know that my wings didn't have to be angel wings, and instead could have been seen as bird wings or butterfly wings?
DAY 117. How did I not know that people would view this project from a fine art framework?
DAY 118. How did I not know that Call Us Angels fits into many different categories: art, activism, socially-engaged practice, performance...?
DAY 119. How did I not know that I wouldn't have time to read everything?
DAY 120. How did I not know that I wouldn't have to time to write about everything?
DAY 121. How did I not know that sorting my trash on my bed brought back flashbacks to Tracey Emin's 'My Bed'?
DAY 122. How did I not know that I would have to consider Marcel Duchamp?
DAY 123. How did I not know that I didn't want to have to consider Duchamp or Emin?
DAY 124. How did I not know how personal this project would become?
DAY 125. How did I not know that I would have to invite angels to be voyeurs in my bedroom whilst I made trash wings?
DAY 126. How did I not know that there would be so many bloody questions I would not know the answers to?
Work Referenced:
Christie's. 'My Bed'. Tracey Emin, 2014, https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/tracey-emin-b-1963-my-bed-5813479-details.aspx, (Accessed: 2020).
Demos, T.J. 'Against the Anthropocene'. Kaai Theater, 2017, https://www.kaaitheater.be/en/articles/video-tj-demos-against-the-anthropocene, (Accessed: 2020).
Discombe, Charlotte. 'Week 4'. Instagram, 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfMnVonK7x/, (Accessed: 2020).
Haraway, Donna. Staying with the Trouble: making kin in the Chthulucene, 2016, Durham: Duke UP.
MoMA Learning. 'Marcel Duchamp'. Dada, N.D., https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada/marcel-duchamp-and-the-readymade/, (Accessed: 2020).