The Bound - Sue Parr

by Sue Parr

This work was created as part of the Painting 2: Studio Practice course, when we were asked to construct a narrative.

It explores relationships- the connection between painting/drawing/video/performance and writing as well as human and non-human agents.

The poem and animation piece revisit the story of Prometheus who stole fire from the Gods to give to humans. It is a myth which has been visited many times before in art and literary history, and in this regard Prometheus is an ambivalent figure, sometimes depicted as hero and, at other times, a trouble maker.

The work explores how the tale potentially fits into 21st century life: considering how we are bound to fire and technology. The narrative looks to challenge the anthropocentric view that we are always superior, and suggests that perhaps other non-human entities have agency and power that we cannot always control.

Amy Silman’s use of poetry and iPhone stop-motion animation was an important influence in the process.

In parts, the digital painting was recorded in real-time via an iPhone app, mapping the human performance. The agency of the non-human digital painted marks moving on the screen were important, as they challenge the need for painting to involve the physical substance “paint” and also continue to question ideas of authorship: as the technological apparatus (iPhone & apps) plays a large part in its creation. The animation was made entirely with an iPhone 5S and a number of cheap /free apps. This was challenging as the screen is very small and my finger -large in comparison. This led to a rawness In the final imagery which is naive in places. My workflow, too, was very long-winded and the process was slow; but there was a really strong sense of collaboration and connection with the iPhone- we were making the work together. It’s interesting what an ambivalent relationship we do have with technologysometimes we can feel frustrated at other times, supported. The recent coronavirus epidemic has certainly made us all aware of how we are so reliant on it to sustain our connections in 21st century life.

The accompanying poem was written for assignment 5 - working with text. Using the cutup technique as a starting point on which to work with and build. As some of these words have had lives before within other articles / older poems, there is a sense of historicity to the materiality of the text, questioning authorship and newness of original ideas, whilst emphasising the generative iterative process of creativity.

The writing was fun to do but also it felt essential for this piece to work. The process made me realise how text and image are inextricably linked within contemporary culture. We often put our visual experiences into words, or vice versa: someone speaking can trigger a strong image in our minds. There is again a vacillation between- it is hard to split them into two entirely distinct categories. Boundaries shift - which is, fundamentally, what the work is really about.

You Can watch The Bound on YouTube by

clicking the camara below: