ARCHIVED WORK OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS & SCHOLARS
Anderson Family: Peter Anderson, Clare Cameron, Esme Anderson & Mary Anderson
Clare Cameron February 2012
This was my first visit to Haiti. Once I arrived, I wanted to respond to the experience directly – I threw out my initial plans + explored. My project had 2 outcomes.
Suture Map
Human bones are everyday objects among the artists of the Grand Rue in Port au Prince. They are part of the environment, and for some, literally their family. Andre Eugene had an anonymous skull in his studio and he allowed me to borrow it.
It is an object that comes with symbolic baggage, both historically and in contemporary popular culture. This symbolism continues to evolve, with Damian Hirst's nod to the massive wealth potential of contemporary art investment.
We all have a skull, it is made of beautiful material, but strong and essentially a useful object. This is how I wanted to approach it. I recorded it in intimate detail, making over 300 close-up photographs, and following the sutures began to create a map. My intention was to undermine its inherent power as a symbol or object of superstition – to scrutinise it into submission if you like…
The scale in the resulting photographs is ambiguous. They are reminiscent of a feature of the earth or a building, a dry riverbed or an earthquake fissure. I brought them back to their place of origin and attached them to the rough exterior walls of the artists' ghetto in the Grand Rue.. For me this project is not just a response to the culture and cataclysmic history of the country but also an assertion of our common human identity. It is a work in progress.
Drawing/documentation
My first instinct when I arrived at the Grand Rue was to draw, in a small sketchbook, what was around me. Suddenly I had sitters. This became a reciprocal activity and a way of communication – drawing as snapshots – with no camera to form a barrier.
While I was in Haiti I thought a lot about this basic method of expression. The term drawing can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways. It needs a bare minimum of resources and operates on a level playing field.
I hope to develop this into an on-going shared project, documenting and communicating experience and mark making.
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