Lou Baker
Living sculptures Documentation of research and conversations at Make space, Bristol Museum, 18.7.18 and at disquiet exhibition, Walcot Chapel, Bath 18.9-23.9.18 and elsewhere
‘A knitted jumper would usually make me feel comfortable, but these make me question what makes us comfortable.’
‘Our clothes are like a second skin.’
‘I could have worn then for a long time. They’re very snuggly.’
‘Selfie? Self? Lots of selves?’
‘They make me think of the fashion designer, Christopher Kane, and his sleeves with multiple holes.’
‘It’s like being a kid again, with a dressing up box.’
‘When I was little I used to wear my mum’s jumper and pretend to be a dinosaur.’
‘You know the rules of knitting, then you deconstruct them, then you play with them!’
‘They make me want to dance.’
‘I think its really important to explore your dark side. It makes you whole. Own it, integrate it, leave it. Then there is no death.’
‘I like stroking them.’
‘I like the fact that you can arrange them however you like.’
‘They make me want to move differently.’
‘It’s a funny mix of fun and feeling a bit uncomfortable.’
‘It feels as if I can be whatever I want to be. It’s very freeing!’
‘I can be whoever I want to be!’
‘Such fun!’
‘They made me think what, or who, are these made for?’
‘I like the fact that you can choose how to put them on. Is that a sleeve? Or can I put my leg through it?’
‘They make me think of the book Women who run with the wolves. It’s about women finding their wildness. She says something about ‘knitting yourself into a many sleeved sweater.’
‘Every time someone wears one and puts it back, it changes the shape.’
‘It interests me how they change when you wear them. They are primarily sculptural, but wearing them they become secondary to the wearer.’
‘It’s a blue octopus.’
‘They reminded me of Elephant man, or some sort of monster. Maybe a creature, actually, as there wasn’t anything frightening in it. Is there part of me that this would fit? Is there part of me that is that creature?’
‘I feel like a sea creature.’
‘It makes me very uncomfortable that they’re unravelling! I want to rescue them.’
‘They’re comforting. I had to touch them.’
‘I’m a singer and I’d love to wear one when I’m performing.’
‘I don’t like the meat hooks.’
‘Are the meat hooks part of the narrative?’
‘I’m fighting an urge to rearrange the sculptures so that that one’s not touching the floor.’
‘They look as if they’re hovering.’
‘The colours are so vibrant and lovely, but the meat hooks make them edgy.’
‘I like all these hanging bits. They’re like paint drips.’
‘Seaweed, kelp, coral.’
‘They remind me of Freud’s essay on the Uncanny. You know it, it’s disturbing, you don’t want to know it.’
‘It all feels so suspended.’
‘It’s interesting that you allow people to touch them. It makes it very different.’