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"untitled (body object series) #5-bushhead, 1984/1993" |
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“untitled (body object series)”
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Thought of by Hamilton as sketches or studies for future installations, the "untitled (body object)" photographs feature the artist interacting with everyday objects and materials. In each image, an object is seamlessly joined to a part of the artist's body. The effect is both startling and humorous, as one can interpret that the body has grown an object or, vice versa, that the object has developed a body. Usually photographed in front of a neutral background of white, gray or black, each figure-object combination resembles a specimen recorded in a scientific almanac. Removed from any natural context that
might explain how these creatures came to be, the viewer can only guess at how each thinks, feels, and senses the world around it.
In one faceless photograph, the artist is seen sitting with a wicker
basket
covering her head and shoulders. Again, the physical sites where
language emerges and is interpreted - the mouth and ears - are concealed.
And yet this odd portrait participates in language by acting as
a visual pun, suggesting phrases such as "basket case," "head case,"
and "basket head." Evocative of both the simple curiosity of childhood
(what will I see when I put this on my head, what will I look like?)
and the severe isolation of mental illness (people cut off from
the world by way of their own thoughts and interior life), the deadpan
style of the photograph allows for a multitude of interpretations.
While for a young child, having a basket over one's head may make
one invisible (the naive logic that if one closes one's eyes then
one can't be seen) for an adult, camouflaging the entire body and
not just the senses seems like the most practical solution. And
so we find Hamilton holding a door,
her feet and hands peeking out from the edges. If camouflage is
not enough to protect oneself, a more aggressive tactic is in order.
In an instance where camouflage is akin to armor, Hamilton is seen
standing and from the back, wearing a pinstriped suit covered with
thousands of tiny toothpicks.
In this scenario, the artist has fashioned a new and tougher skin
for herself. Worn in a performance titled "suitably/positioned,"
the toothpick suit would become one of the first instances where
Hamilton would employ a live subject (herself) in her installations.
In a final photograph, the artist is seen in profile with a shoe
jutting abruptly from her mouth and nose. While the shoe acts like
a muzzle, silencing Hamilton's ability to speak, it can also be
thought like a prosthetic device, returning functionality to a body
that has become isolated from a world of things. In another (pictured
above), Hamilton is seen with a bush in place of a head, about to
move forward towards the camera. Blind, deaf, and mute, this figure's
senses are limited as it forced to navigate in the world by touch
alone. Alternately, Hamilton's body can be thought of as not a body
at all, but rather a human root that nourishes the plant above.
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