ARTWORK DETAILS

Hannah Blain
Gluttony Video
Time-based media; video duration: 00:03:30; sequence of overlapped videos with layered sounds.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Are humans intrinsically good-natured or plagued with greed, desire and selfishness? It’s easy to agree with the latter when our culture is driven by an attitude of ‘more’ – more money, more food, more pleasure. Gluttony explores the eponymous concept of humans blindly and uncontrollably over-consuming food. A person piggishly eats junk food while watching a video of themselves grotesquely eating. Isolated in a dark void and illuminated by the cold light of the TV, the work portrays the hollow isolation of society, now entranced in gluttony. The frozen clock alludes to the endless cycle of gluttony humans trap themselves in.

ARTWORK PROCESS

I focused on eliciting strong emotional responses from viewers by using grotesque imagery through audio-visual media. I was inspired by James Ostrer’s grotesque photographs depicting the greedy, gluttonous and disgusting habits of humans in relation to food consumption and consequently experimented with impasto paint, photography and video to convey similar ideas. Jenny Saville’s use of Perspex to photograph distorted human forms also influenced my process. Contemporary films informed my cinematography choices as I wanted to create narrative-like sequence to further engage audiences.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Hannah Blain

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