Students zines University of Wollongong (Australia)
Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522
Con*trust was originally constructed in Wollongong Australia
© 2016
The right to be identified as authors has been asserted
by Kathryn Rowney & Brittany Mari Ruiz
Images throughout zine: Kathryn Rowney & Brittany Mari Ruiz
All rights reserved throughout the world.
Printed and bound by office works printing group Wollongong NSW Australia
Contents
Prologue
Influential artists
Our direction
Part 1
Our beginning
Part 2
Our formation
Part 3
Our resolution
As the authors of this zine,
we have the control over the notion of what you read and the way in which
you read it.
Yet....
As the reader you also have to power of choice and trust in us. You can
decide to really read, flick-through, or skip to the end.
By picking up this zine you have the power to decide what you are going to
do, whilst, almost primordially giving us your trust to take you on either an
enjoyable, scary, enlightening journey of being.
Give us your trust
To flick, read in-depth, go straight to the end……what will be your aim and
process in the way of reading, or only seeing.
Trust is a force that we invest in
others, hoping they abide our rules
of control. But what occurs when
the balance is lost?
Trust
Noun
Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of
someone or something.
Verb
Believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of.
Synonyms
Noun. Confidence- faith- credit- reliance- belief
Verb. Believe- confide, rely, credit- hope- entrust.
Control
Noun
The power to influence or direct people’s behaviour or the
course of events.
Verb
Determine the behaviour or supervise the running of.
Synonym
Noun. head, preside over, have authority over, supervise,
superintend, oversee, guide, steer.
Verb. Be in charge of, run, be in control of, manage, direct,
administer,
Our direction.
The trust given between two people is a valuable source.
The passing of control accompanies this trust, giving, but
there needs to be a balance of both. Two performance
artists that demonstrate the balance of both control and
trust are Marina and Ulay. There is a unique connection
between these two individuals, adding to the authenticity
of their performance. Their strong concept of trust is
illustrated through the use of a bow and arrow. The bow
and arrow is associated with the act of killing or to injure
an organism. the arrow is aimed at the heart of Mariana.
The partner’s tension, both metaphorically and in reality,
is what keeps them safe, but with one slip up, the arrow
can kill.
This performance is the very start of our conceptual and
material practice. The performance element is captivating
and is an iosyncratic way of demonstrating a strong
concept. We soon found out that the choice of materials
and space are vital in giving an effective performance.
Another artist who inspired our direction was Chris
Burden. Burden was an endurance performance artist. His
works created a profound affect on his audience members,
challenging the notion of control and trust between
himself as the artist and his audience members. His work
focuses on discomfort and pain, and the reactions of
others in these extreme activities. He explores the nature
of suffering by enduring in extremely uncomfortable
situations. One work which demonstrates this is his 1975
work, “Doomed”.
This performance piece was showcased at the Museum of
contemporary art in Chicago. Burden laid on the floor of
the museum under a five by eight-inch glass plate that
leaned against the wall. Burden left the fate to the
audience. The piece would only end under certain
circumstances, one of which was if an individual
intervened with the performance elements of the glass,
clock or himself. The performance stemmed for hours
upon hours. After 45 hours a staff member of the museum
placed a cup of water next to him due to their rising
concerns of his health. That marked the end of the piece.
After the water was placed, he arose, smashed the clock
with a hammer and casually walked out of the museum.
“I thought I had gone too far, I
Although
his material
was simple,
he was
able to
thought
my practice
god will
they
leave
have such a strong concept demonstrated affectively in its
form.
let the to
audience
control his fate, hoping that they
me Hehere
die?!”.
would interact with him.
~ Chris burden
Our beginning.
It all started in the first tutorial away from our home group tutor.
Everyone was sitting around quietly in the room. The tutor, asked
if we had thought of who our partners might be. Everyone began
asking others if they wanted to be in a group. Not knowing where
to go, we turned to the person sitting next to us and decided that
we should be partners. Before this, we had only talked a couple of
times, having little to no idea how the other ones’ mind worked in
regards to making art. This is where it all began.
We started throwing out random ideas. Should we do a painting?
Photography piece? Sculpture? it was the first decision we had to
make together and yet it was probably the hardest. The form is
one of the most vital decisions as it must affectively accompany
and communicate the concept at hand.
We thought that because we couldn’t decide on the form that we
would first come up with a concept. Straight away we came to the
conclusion that it would be around control, further developing to
the concept of trust and control working together. It was just a
strong concept that people experience in everyday life. It was easy
to work with and meaningful at the same time.
Due to the introduction to performance artists, we decided that a
performance piece between two individuals would better
demonstrate this concept. Now that the main concept and form
were decided, it was time to delve deeper into how we would
depict such scenes.
“It’s like driving. We invest so
much trust into everyone around
us, the other drivers. And we
give them so much control over
the situation. This is only one
simple example in which we do
this in everyday life.”
~ Kathryn Rowney
We began discussing how trust and control could be
portrayed. What acts we could do and how affective they
would be. In this discussion, the notion of throwing was
suggested. This notion was one of the first ideas formed in
regard to this concept; simple, yet compelling.
As humans our instincts help us to complete everyday tasks
and problems. In terms of throwing, it is our instinct to catch
something that has been thrown, or is falling. We give our
trust over to the ‘catcher’, believing that they will not let the
item fall. Similarly, trust is placed on the ‘thrower’ to ensure
an adequate throw. In the same scenario we are handing over
our control, once the item leaves our hand, it becomes tied to
a number of other forces. Will it be broken, caught or bounce?
The use of a Heart was suggested, as something starkly fragile
and vulnerable. Whilst an interesting notion in its own way,
the throwing of a heart is a notion very much loaded we
thought an intrigue, that could possibly negatively affect our
concept. Fruit, thus became our catalyst, specifically apples.
They are strong in nature but when placed under too much
strain they can break, and begin to show their age/wear. They
also bear semblance to a ball, relating to a child’s game, a skill
game based on awareness and coordination.
Our formation
Following the weekend, whereby creative juices could
replenish, the notion of our clothing for this performance
piece became the subject of interest. The first thought was
to wear all white, to emphasise the colours of the fruit and
any juice that may stain the clothing. But after a lot of
conversation the idea of Black/White, Yin/Yang became
the popular suggestion, further highlighting the way in
which Trust and Control rest in a continual balance.
After much email communication, the main aspects of the
performance had been set. We had our object and our
costumes, it was then we set out in search of the perfect
stage. We began walking around for the perfect location,
whereby we stumbled upon an empty room in Building 19.
With a white wall behind, we got into our all Black/white
attire, and began to film ourselves throwing at first one
green apple, followed by a red and green apple. Filming
was also conducted outside, whereby a number of other
more fragile fruits were experimented with- nectarines,
pears and tomatoes. However, our second review of this
footage revealed that this was not appropriate and
complementary enough with our concept. At this stage
filming was completed using a camera phone.
It was advised by our tutor that we re-film, as elements
such as lighting, the carpet and a tilt in the filming could be
posed as a problem. After further discussions we decided
to re-film, which turned out for the better.
Our new filming criteria included a hard floor, white wall, good
lighting and better equipment. Borrowing both a Camera and
tripod from the University, we began to scout around Building 25
for an appropriate location.
Eureka! A perfect filming location, situated around the corner
from the lecture theatre. Plenty of space, a hard floor, good
lighting, it was perfect. although there was a traffic risk…
We took our chance, combating people coming through doors a
malfunctioning camera, and a broken piece of fruit. Through the
camera malfunction, some perfect pieces of performance were
missed, including the splitting of our red apple as a result of a
legendary collision. The camera constantly turned off
automatically through filming, despite changing the settings.
Recovery began. Our camera was swapped and clear sticky tape
was found to bound the red apple back to its form. However,
during this hour time period, the lights were changed at our place
of filming, subtly changing the tones that were recorded.
However, the show went on!
With our footage, we began to experiment using Adobe After
effects, a new program fraught with difficulties and challenges. In
a way our trust was placed in this new program, control focused
upon the notion of clicking a button.
‘I Feel like I have to catch it, and
when it falls my stomach and heart
drop with it. I feel guilty”
~ Brittany Ruiz
Our resolution...
After all our material was collected, we began the process
of editing and manipulating certain pieces of information.
The programs utilized included Adobe Photoshop,
Illustrator, After Effects and Microsoft Word. The work
load was devised evenly, through the manner of who has
and could use the products mentioned.
The images and film were edited using the adobe
products, whereby colour manipulations led the front In
terms of Photoshop and Illustrator, but after effects was
completely new. This product was used in complete
conjunction with YouTube tutorials. This turned out to be
an interesting and time consuming process.
The Multiple disciplines within this process has been eye
opening to say the least. The performance, the
manipulation using computer programs and the concept of
the work took a long duration of time, yet it was
rewarding. You expand upon what you know to find more
in depth concepts. Just think, this started in a tutorial
room, just two people talking. Communication was
definitely the key throughout the whole process.
It raises some really profound questions.
Do we ever have control? We can only hope that we do.
“We must understand the relationship of trust and
control to fully comprehend a situation”
~ Brittany Ruiz
“Are we ever fully in control? A sophisticated/
complete system intertwined amongst individuals &
society; a contradiction, a subtle yet vivid notion of
being”
~ Kathryn Rowney