Interpellators - 2004
Oil on Board
Drawing on global shamanistic traditions of scrying, the practice of image gazing on reflective surfaces solid or liquid is a method used to bring issues of the mind to the fore. Interpreted in many different ways from superstition to psychoanalysis these pieces provide a starting point to promote thought and contemplation and are as much about the viewer as the art object.
The process of interpellation (Althusser 1970) is the mechanism that produces subjects in such a way that they recognise their own existence in terms of the dominant ideology of the society in which they live. Cultural products confront individuals in a continuous flow offering universal images and stereotypes which can block spontaneous creativity.
These pieces as interpellators encourage creative thought by not representing anything specific and are more an open invitation for interpretation. They are the opposite of cultural products with directed (ideological) values, a form of open ideology inspiring being.
Alexander Small © 1998 - 2013 all rights reserved