firsts experimental research report
TRANSCRIPT
Follow the ribbon.
Instruc)ons: • I slice my morning fruit. Count the seeds in my oranges. Count the seeds in my strawberries. Count the seeds in my kiwi fruit. Count the seeds in my peach. Add the numbers together = 64 and divide by my lucky number, 16 = 4.
The local morning paper arrives on my doorstep. I use the randomly selected number to isolate a word in today’s headline.
The number is 4 and the word is ‘FAMILY’. (insert image of newspaper here)
I travel 5km from home base in any random direcKon looking for discarded objects, moments, people, thoughts or sounds that
remind me of this word.
Images that connect us with FAMILY.
We are five.
We are three.
We hunt, we gather.
We hoard, we harbour, we hold on Kght.
We shaOer, we break.
We eat to so we don’t have to speak.
We write too oPen or not at all.
We remember our youth.
We love despite.
We grow old together.
We are liOle girls grown up.
…Where did she go?
Why did she lose her ribbon? Why was it placed so perfectly for me to find? It was like finding a piece of myself on the footpath. I stopped suddenly
because it reminded me of so many things. The hundreds of bows Ked in
my hair. Where did they all go?
MeKssage by Mademoiselle Maurice
Exploring the use of ribbons in art. The placement of the ribbon defines its purpose. Different ribbons signify different
things.
Me#isage is a street project by French arKst Mademoiselle Maurice. Dressing ciKes and making street art with ribbons. In this context they serve as a decoraKve contrast to the grey
street exterior.
Are ribbons more significant dependent on their placement? Do they change the meaning of an
object?
Experiment: tying ribbons around different objects. What does it mean now? What did it mean before?
Is this sKll rubbish?
Is this a present or a piece of fruit?
Ribbons are just lines. When does a line become a ribbon?
Ribbons are just lines Ked in bows. A ribbon becomes a bow when it is Ked. A bow becomes a ribbon when it is
unKed. It’s the INTENTION that defines what is ulKmately the same thing….but
we call it something else.
Lines that tell us where we are.
What do different lines mean?
Data collecKon from the random locaKon #2:
Lines that tell us who.
Lines that lead.
Lines that swirl for no good reason.
Lines that crack and show the Kme.
Lines that contain and communicate.
Lines that support.
Lines that scramble.
Lines that grow.
Lines that show the way.
Lines that divide the sky.
Lines in nature.
Lines that keep things in.
Lines that keep things out.
Lines that are wriOen.
When do lines cease to be lines? When do they become something
else? They are sKll lines.
Is a ribbon a ribbon or is a ribbon a line? Or both?
Pencil Drawing: Jennah Porter
ExperimenKng with lines. Do we see ribbons or lines? It’s a maOer of percepKon.
Ink drawing: Jennah Porter
Are these lines or bows? Are objects defined only by the names
we give them? “ A rose by any other name would smell as sweet:” Shakespeare.
The rock is pink because we say it is. Rocks don’t move but this one does.
Are objects limited by our percepKon and the names we give them or are
they capable of defying that?