SIN TIME PLACE 2009

There are seven deadly sins, plenty of time for, and a myriad of places in which to indulge
Places are changed by time.

This exhibition explores the seven deadly sins as they are effected by time and place.

A fully illustrated catalogue of this exhibition can be purchased online at www.sinTIMEplace.com


SIN AND TIME

The seven deadly sins are a frame work formulated by the early Christian Church ,that ,with broad brush strokes, cover the spectrum of human feelings that become destructive and are a negative force when consumed by.
They are 1.LUST
2. GLUTONY
3. GREED
4. SLOTH
5. ANGER
6. ENVY
7. PRIDE

I have personified each sin by thinking about what I would imagine the sin would look like when embodied as a figure. I have also imagined how the archetypal sinner would look in daylight and then at night. In order, I have portrayed each figure from 05:31 in the early morning and the next figure every 1hr and 43minutes until each figure has been portrayed in the daylight and at night over a 24hr period.

Then I have represented each archetypal sinner as painted hand gesture and decided what each sin would look like as a color. I have then used that color as the field in which the hand gesture is placed.

Subsequently, I have tried to represent the sin as a naked figure devoid of any props that might signify the sin. In doing so it has become clear that the sinner is mostly invisible, that these feelings lie deep, and that what is present is mostly hidden behind the lie of what is visible. It have decided that at the most, a figure can only allude to the sin and that the sin can really only be seen as an action.

Finally, I have mimicked the posturing of the naked figure as a geometric shape in a surreal landscape. Each geometric shape is painted in the color that I have assigned to the sin ( a darker version of that color for night time ).

Each sin is displayed as a vertical wall hanging with the 4 ways of seeing the sin read from top to bottom. The tapestry of these sins over 24hrs is viewed from L to R .

The intent has been to look at the seven deadly sins from a number of different angles, and to show these angled thoughts in a readable way visually. The time frame in which the sins are portrayed has become a dominant thought. It seems to me that time changes the substance of the sin. For instance, at night there is greater room for rumination and obsession. In the darkness, the feelings can lie deeper and be bigger.
There is something about the beginning and the end of a day that is inherently positive. It is as if the change from light to dark and vice versa , brings something new, and the new thing brings possibilities, and the possibilities are opportunities. LUST and PRIDE are both augmented in this way. PRIDE at the end of the day is a potent time for that feeling to swell compared to in the wee hours of the morning .
The heat of the late morning makes SLOTH a stronger feeling than when it is portrayed in the late evening. GLUTTONY at night seems seedier in the evening than at the start of the day. ANGER is portrayed in the middle of the day and the middle of the night. Both these times in some way add weight to intensity of this feeling. GREED at 08:57 seems less of a problem than at 20.57. ENVY is more likely to be triggered in the day by exposure to an event, whereas in the small hours after midnight this feeling spends time festering in the mouldy darkness.

Obviously the sexes struggle differently with the seven deadly sins, but I have not addressed this as an issue. I have represented ANGER and GREED in male form in both the day and the night, and LUST is personified androgynously in the archetypal form and female in the naked model. The naked figures alternate between male and female for the other sins. In my mind it is almost arbitrary which sex is used to describe which sin. Anecdotal observations in the Roman Catholic confessional suggest that, for men, LUST followed by GLUTTONY, SLOTH, then ANGER are their greatest weaknesses. Women most usually confess to the sins of PRIDE and ENVY.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the seven deadly sins are mortal sins, which carry the threat of eternal damnation unless forgiven by confession and penance. I have no opinion about the worth or otherwise of this way of thinking but am interested in the reality of these very human feelings and how one can imagine each sin in different visual ways. I also like comparing my imaginings with each sin and with each other. There is a satisfying pattern produced by making similar comparisons for each sin. I have connected the sins by the natural progression of time and by setting the imaginary archetypal figures in a connected landscape (diorama). When I first started this series, it was my intention to just portray the archetypes in a diorama over 24hrs. Once completed, I started to think about how I could better observe a person indulging in the sin and imagined that a gesture or look would be a sign. I further decided that hand gestures would most likely not conceal or lie about the feeling and so the series of hand gestures came to be. In the process of making the hand gesture paintings, I decided that to color code each feeling would further identify the sin. After that I felt more confident to look for the sin in the posturing of the human form, but once this series was completed, I felt that the personification of each deadly sin only served to cloud any clarity I had previously had, that the sinner could be seen. I seemed then logical to reduce the sinner to an inanimate geometric shape referenced to the figure by its shape and identified with certainty as a specific sin by its color. Because the time sequence for the series has been such a dominant factor in these images, I have painted an identification tag for each sin where the time is stated in 24hr clock form.


PLACE AND TIME

I have constructed significant places in comparative pairs, where the comparison is of how time effects the image.

The first in this series is of how time and tide change effects the image of the wreck of the Cherry Venture (a ship which was washed up on the beach in 1972 in South East Queensland). Over time the wreck disintegrated to a point where it was a danger to visitors and it was finally removed in pieces from the beach. All that is now left are small scraps of the metal hull. I have collected a bag of these metal scraps and arranged them into a boat shape positioned appropriately on each board because of the change in tide with time.

The second pair of images is of the Story bridge in Brisbane viewed differently by a change in time from dusk to early evening. The images further compare the view looking towards the setting sun and then away from the disappearing light. The bridge is reduced to its essence (the inverted kite shape of its arch supports).

The third set of images is of the Valley Pool. It is represented by a single unit of its building block (one of its lining tiles). The comparison is the changing view seen by the swimmer swimming along in a lane and then turning at the end of a lane. There are further references to the effect of swimming in the water as compared to turning in the water (the wake is aligned to the lane and the swimmer while swimming and at right angles to the lane while turning).

The fourth pair of constructions is of a view of the Stinson wreck in the Lamington National :Park. In this case the images make the comparison of the jungle with and without the metal wreckage. Time is reducing the wreckage and eventually the wreck will be gone ( just like the Cherry Venture) and new jungle will take its place. I have moved forward in time and imagined “walking stick” palms taking the place of the pieces of wreck.

The fifth comparison is of either end of the new North South ( Clem 7) tunnel, under the Brisbane river and the Story Bridge, connecting Woolloongabba to Windsor . I have taken the color identified ventilation towers at either end (each tower is the same except the tiles used at the north end are red, and at the south end are lavender), and signified each tower by a selection of the tile shapes and colors specific to each tower. The pattern made is the same for each image but the color identifies which end of the tunnel each image represents.
The sixth construction pair is of the tunnel dirt storage tanks erected at the northern end of the North South tunnel which are connected via elevated covered conveyor lines to the tunnel head. The comparison is of the effect of emerging morning light as compared to the light in the afternoon heat, on the visual impact of these massive structures.


The post impressionist painter, Emile Bernard, has said "In the artist's imagination the emotions or mental state provoked by a visual image take the form of signs and plastic equivalents which reproduce the emotions or mental state without copying the visual image ...... the idea is the form of things regathered by the imagination".

Whether or not I have successfully managed to communicate the ideas of my imagination into forms that are fathomable, is for the viewer to decide.

mark dutney Sept 2009