Sarah Cinnamocnd

As an artist I am attracted to the everyday. Visually trying to understand my environment, its possibilities and restrictions. Previously before attending WDKA my attention was drawn to everyday objects that you would normally find
in a public or private space. I was interested in how certain objects would transform when in contact with a person, using my body as a tool I started to look into Performance artists Erwin worm ‘1-minute sculptures’, Ester Ferrer ‘Record of performances’ and Pina Bausch ‘Café Muller’. I began to explore all of the possibilities how I could move around a space with an object like a chair. This later lead on to the research of objects that could provoke emotional response like vulnerability and anxiety, exploring dentist chairs and over emphasizing height. Since my arrival I began to analyze the city, listening to the sounds on the streets while I stood outside my easy jet hotel full of curiosity. The repetitive ticking of the green man signs caught my attention.
I loved how immersive the sound was, such a wave of immediacy would rush over you almost matching your walking speed to the indifferent beats per minute. This was where I began to become inspired by unpleasant design and the social control inherited in the design of objects.

Exploring unpleasant design allows me to examine the relationship between space, designand social interaction. I feel it is important to subconsciously recognize what decisions arebeing made for you that you may not be aware of and to actively raise discussion about therepressive impact of social control that unpleasant design could inflict on people,particularly those who fall within unwanted demographics.

I plan to experiment by taking the functionality away from objects to emphasize restrictionsand restrictions in society. Inspired by George Condo and his ability to create these“seductive nightmares”, Condo’s work often depicts society through hyper emphasization,often commenting on European classism.
I plan to use this technique to inspire a hyperemphasized take to unpleasant design as we know it. Experimenting with concrete, latex,mod rock casts and mixed media I also plan to create a sound scape from a collection offield recordings taking throughout different areas of the city. Inspired by documentary‘Delia Derbyshire – The dellian mode’, she was largely inspired by the harsh sounds ofgrowing up in WW2 she is best known for her pioneering work with radiophonic workshopduring the 1960’s for the creation of the first electronic dance tape and a particular popularBritish TV series Dr.who.
As a number of strategies used in unpleasant include sound I feelit’s important to experiment in this field in order to create an immersive installation.