After being given the brief of ‘Fin De Siécle’ and firstly feeling very overwhelmed by the broad range of possibilities, I have started to try and refine what I want to work on by initially writing down a wide range of words that come to mind for me, when thinking about our world now and the end of an era. 

 

I am taking my own interpretation of the phrase Fin De Siécle by exploring human relations within the concept of the end of the 20th Century and exploring the possibility that our abilities to interact with each other have been impacted enormously; partially due to the lockdowns and corona virus, but also the impact of social media and the culture of TikTok stars and easy fame, with everything now being done online rather than in person - banking, work, posting letters, online doctors etc - thinking how these examples might be responsible for deteriorating social skills.  

 

On reflection, I sense society could be experiencing unspoken feelings of increasing personal 'invisibility'. I therefore want to create an argument between the possibly negative connotations of invisibility, focussing instead on a more positive perspective: “I don’t know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public; they forget that invisibility is a superpower.” (Banksy, date unknown). 

 

My own experiences have fuelled this idea, for example when people judge me and appear to be suspicious and unkind towards me when I use my disability blue badge to park in car parks, given I don't 'look' disabled when I get out of the car. This is something that is very emotive for me, as I feel we are so uneducated in 'invisible disability'. Instead, we choose to judge, label and expect dishonesty from people.  

 

I am starting to gather references and inspirations for this topic, from artist to authors, academic literature and disabled comics. I initially started looking at Glenn Martin Taylor who uses the practice Kintsugi, using broken and unbroken items. For me, his work felt as though it had a strong connection to disabled and able-bodied, surface and reality and a sense of playful cynicism that is also something of a theme throughout my own work.

 

I am also researching Rosie Jones, who is a famous comedian with Cerebral Palsy, as not only do I find her funny, but also strong and empowering, as her disability hasn’t stopped her from doing what she wants to do. I think, if anything, her life experiences have probably given her a head start within her career as, not only from my life but also in her life, it is commonly felt that “people always feel awkward about disability so I always have jokes in my back pocket” (Jones, 2018). 

 

Throughout this project I will continue to research contextual frameworks, as I think, my initial idea is too big to start refining without exploring more conceptual references. I plan to read the book “I Am Not A Label” (Burnell, 2020) to educate myself in artists, athletes and thinker’s own lived experiences that have been challenging. I hope to consider my own emotional responses and use primary research methods to consider how my peers feel about these themes too.