HELEN McCARRON, Lincoln

Last Updated: 5 February 2010 705 views 3 Comments Posted by: B-Side Empire

Name: Helen McCarron

University: Lincoln University

Course: Fine Art

“Language is the string, the thread, the rope that is language…the rope that strangles us while connecting us, not slowly and without our noticing it, but a priori and with everyone’s co-operation”.

“Language is both our freedom and our restraint. Books have the power to influence, educate and inspire us. There is often a guilt associated with classic books we haven’t read. My work explores books that have inspired me. These revisited books begin to create my own list of books to be read. Reading leaves no material trace, but can forever change and alter our outlook and perceptions. This work attempts to create a trace of reading and interpretation. The text in these pieces becomes almost impossible to decode, symbolising how our understanding of text often becomes confused through reading. Many novels show the chaos made from one misinterpretation, which often acts as a catalyst for the plot. It is the attempted construction of language that creates an interweaved tangle of new confused narratives. New narratives are made, each time the work is revisited. The physical act of removing and manipulating text allows for new interpretations of pre- existing stories, revealing hidden narratives.

The delicate dissection of text brings beauty and fragility to a mass produced object, emphasising creation through destruction. The often time consuming nature of my work also highlights the care and treatment of the book and the text, in addition to the lengthy process involved in reading and interpretation. There is a continuing debate in the medium of ‘altered’ books between creation and destruction, and this work blurs the lines between the opposites. Through the destruction of the book as an object, more power is given to the content and brought into discussion. The audience perhaps feels a new value or interest in the text. Derrida explains “to deconstruct something suggests that the act of taking something apart can be the first step toward understanding something anew.” Through the revisiting and close study of text, the book is altered and understood once more. Jacque Derrida reveals the misleading nature of opposites, whether it is the opposing characters, or, the inside and outside of the book, one cannot exist without the other. In Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Heathcliff are tangled and conflicted throughout, confusing the boundaries of the opposite. Brian Dettmer, another artist inspired by Derrida’s theories on interpretation, explores the physicality of a book through his delicate book autopsies. Through the process of carving into the book he is unaware of the hidden narratives that will become revealed. However my work responds to the content of the book. A process of reading, interpretation and dissecting is used in order to understand the book anew.”