HUSH

This project will explore the suppressed voices asking questions of female representation and the relationship between body and mind. The work aims to deal (or more so - struggle) with the ever so subtle stereotype of the unobtainable ‘ideal’ self. The female battle continues to acknowledge the body as a site where issues are raised, debated and regularly ignored. It’s intriguing to focus on the self as an image and the self as the ‘other’. Self as a split, mirrored, multiple, fragmented image.

“Silence is golden, or so I was told when I was young. Later, everything changed”

These new works are inspired strongly by the brilliant Rebecca Solnit and her book The Mother Of All Questions, particularly her writings on silence. Her powerful words and statements will be the main source of sound for the installation piece that will be held at the Cork Film Centre this coming March.

For this installation, text will be incorporated into the video pieces. This is an unfamiliar experiment but, the outcomes will remain hopeful and enthusiastic. The use of text will resonate with the violent attitude towards women and their stories, the refusal to hear our voices. The aim is to compare/contrast/overlap these visual texts with the sound of Solnit’s essay on silence. “Breaking stories, breaking silence.”

“By redefining whose voice is valued, we redefine our society and its values”

Stories, Film Still

Chloe Austin