Looking Glass Self, 2014

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Every city has a sex and an age which have nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine. So is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and, in this, hasn't changed since the time of Dickens. Paris,I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman.[1]

Looking glass self 2, 2014 is the second body of work resulting from a recent residency at the Rosamond McCulloch Studio, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris where I visually explored the premium perception of the French culture “brand”.

Colloquially we talk about the “Paris end of town”, the affluent “French” doors onto the patio, and let’s not forget the fetishised view of the “French” knickers” ability to give the wearer more runs on the board than our branded Bond’s cotton tails.

The romanticism associated with “French” underpinned by prestige, tradition and authenticity has long had the ability to surpass our immediacy and provide a sense of added cultural value. Associations with the “French” brand provide a prime opportunity to negotiate our impression management in our continual craving for recognition and belonging. The resulting complex visually dense multi-layered, glass reflections of shop windows create unexpected relationships and juxtapositions that have the potential to act as a language of transformation.

Longitude and latitude reference points in the titling, (recorded at the time of image capture with my iPhone), reference both the dream/decision-making process and social capital. In addition I am also interested in the reference points’ ability to provide a sense of ‘having been there’ where questions arise in the capacity to value add the desires that drive the consumers’ social and emotional needs.

  

[1] Berger, J., 2001, Selected Essays, G. Dyer, ed., Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London p524