This work investigates a contemporary representation for suicide. Originally this research was conducted as Masters Study at Auckland’s University of Technology. Since this study I have added further work and now feel a revisiting & new exhibition is necessary.
Anyone that takes there own life is the ‘author’ of their own death, and the researcher is the ‘reader’ left to interpret, relive, and reconsider this final irrevocable action. In this regard my work is autobiographical as initially it was my response to the suicide of my dear friend Jeremy. In a sense the author is still omniscient whilst we take the role of voyeur, extrapolating backwards from the event, looking for insight as to why. Key to my work is the narration & story telling we place upon the deceased: the familiar premise that suicide is the sad demise & end result of a depressed mind.
Today contemporary thought closely intertwines mental illness as a vital part of suicide. Whilst not wanting to refute this narrative, my work alludes to how we interpret and may misrepresent suicide, and perhaps it is more subversive in nature than we give credit for.
Suicide is a death then birth of defiance, not solely within its boldness of action, but in the way it confronts and challenges us with its consequences. It severs relationships with family, friends, and community, and through this sense of abandonment we also stand accused of inaction, of not knowing and not seeing until it was too late.
‘Your funeral, my trial’
Nick Cave
Anyone that takes there own life is the ‘author’ of their own death, and the researcher is the ‘reader’ left to interpret, relive, and reconsider this final irrevocable action. In this regard my work is autobiographical as initially it was my response to the suicide of my dear friend Jeremy. In a sense the author is still omniscient whilst we take the role of voyeur, extrapolating backwards from the event, looking for insight as to why. Key to my work is the narration & story telling we place upon the deceased: the familiar premise that suicide is the sad demise & end result of a depressed mind.
Today contemporary thought closely intertwines mental illness as a vital part of suicide. Whilst not wanting to refute this narrative, my work alludes to how we interpret and may misrepresent suicide, and perhaps it is more subversive in nature than we give credit for.
Suicide is a death then birth of defiance, not solely within its boldness of action, but in the way it confronts and challenges us with its consequences. It severs relationships with family, friends, and community, and through this sense of abandonment we also stand accused of inaction, of not knowing and not seeing until it was too late.
‘Your funeral, my trial’
Nick Cave
