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| 'Political cover-up' on the chaise; and 'Spin' on the floor |
I was inspired to create ‘Political
Cover-up’ by imagining who would be using the chaise-longue and under what
circumstances. Mental images of tired
politicians and their staff grabbing a quick nap during late-night sittings
inspired the form of the blanket and floor rug. The patch-work blanket of original
pre-1988 newspaper political articles can be viewed as an object that covers or
protects the person on the chaise-longue. Alternatively, it can be seen as a
journalistic “cover-up” – hiding the truth beneath or within it. The
hand-embroidery is a metaphor for “embellishing a story”, as in journalism, or as
“embroidering the truth”, as practised by unscrupulous politicians.
Similarly, the small floor rug, ‘Spin’ refers to the way selective information can be “swept under
the rug” and the cut paper reminds us that what is published is not always the
whole truth, or in the order that it is presented.
The use of newspaper as a blanket or covering was a practice
often adopted by the homeless and down-and-out or those with limited resources
in challenging conditions. Paper has
also been used traditionally in quilt-making as templates for pieced quilts –
often old letters or newspapers were used because they were not precious
materials and were immediately to hand in the domestic environment.
Other artists selected to make work for Bespoke are: Jennifer Robertson, Cecilia Heffer, Niklavs Rubenis and Caren Florence in collaboration with Melinda Smith.
