Will and Representation 7

    In the series Will and Representation I created 10 ‘photobricolage’ pieces composed of self portraits and ‘portraits’ of a mannequin. Both subjects are in the same poses and interlaced into a single body by the cutting and reassembling of negatives. The ‘photobricolage’ pieces are printed as enlarged contact sheets on 16x20 paper.

    Will and Representation explores the idea of the the body simulacrum, awareness, and the deception of the senses (and process), all in an effort to reveal them through the combination of man and mannequin and visible collage.

    The title of the project, Will and Representation, has been taken from Arthur Schopenhauer’s book of the same name which speaks of ignoring of the reliable sensory input and resorting to the constructs of language and reason, to arrive at a distorted copy (or simulacrum) of reality. just as Schopenhauer’s book does, my project speaks of the subconsciously willful deception of the senses by creating a single body out of two. This creates confusion as to perception, helping to make the viewer more aware of their perception constructs, as well as the separation between the real and the fake body, only made visible by the traces I have left.