Review

In a small way I feel it had the affect I was looking for but it was mentioned that the use of the blood was not needed, as it looked very theatrical. I fully understood were they where coming from, it looked to dramatic and the fact that in real war it is very much not a movie or drama. It's as real as it gets.so I should of left it out but unfortunately it was to late, it was even mentioned in passing that maybe if I'd just had the helmet and the photo of my son or the photo of my family and the letter would have been suffieciant enough to get a reaction, it would have been just enough to let the onlooker create the story from what they saw in front of them, but unfortunately I gave them the story. 

My instalment

My instalment will consist of My fathers british forces standard issue helmet a Kevlar mk 3

I wanted to grab the onlookers attention by giving them something to deeply and really think about, the modern day soldier heading of and having to leave family behind. It's been a huge part of my growing up as a child and family history in the military dating back to the Zulu wars. 

So i thought about what troops carried on there person to remind them of home and family, for example a photo of a loved one and kids? Or a letter.

So I took photos of my son Coyan and printed this and one other of my family, my wife and my son and myself all together, then I asked my wife to rewrite a letter to me as though I was serving over seas in a confict this letter was rewritten from a letter my mother sent my father whilst he was over seas.

Once a placed the items on a white plinth I wanted to place the photo of me and my family just outside of the helmet I wanted to paint my hand red and then place a hand print on the photo and slide it away, to give the impression of the soldier being wounded and trying to grab the photo almost in a last attempt at holding on to his family before he passes. 

Family

Simon Cudmore 2014

Instalment 

Family

Simon Cudmore 2014

Instalment 

Installment ideas

This image of a tank built out of felt paper

An american helmet used as a plant pot 

And my favourite is this one, built entirely out of balloons. Something so hard and destructive yet built out of a material that is so so delicate and very easily destroyed.

An installation of war helmets decorated not in the usual army green.

Idea Change

Due to the time i had left and items and equipment i needed and a plan on how to construct my arm prosthetic or some way of restricting my hand movement to nothing, was getting tight, plus i had thought about it carefully and, to be truly honest i would never have experienced the lose of a limb because in reality i would still have my hand/arm attached to my body and i would still be able to feel the sensation of tingling or numbness. were as a person with a lost limb would have not have these sensations.

So i had to move fast on to another idea. It didn't take long before another idea was upon me.
I still wanted to stay with the injured soldier theme and maybe try to portray it in some small installment.

Prosthetics

Timeline of artificial legs that go back to the famous so called pirate peg leg. And then right thru to the 90s.

But as technology had advanced so to have the artificial limbs, and are today called prosthetics. Some can be moved manually by using you're other human hand to open and close the prosthetic one so that you can pick up objects such as a mug of tea or a knife and fork. And also depending on you're current finances can unfortunately determine how advanced your prosthetic limb can be. 

From something as basic as these two images

Then to the more advanced mechanical computerised ones

Idea progression

I had Ideas still set on the three drawings which pictured thre different ink pen images of british service men with prosthetic limbs.

But on descussion with my tutor, the  idea was not stopped, but instead  looked at from a different angle. My tutor explained to me that by doing these art peices I wouldn't be stepping out of my comfort zone, after painting and drawing in the level 4 he suggested I move a step closer to honour and show respect for the troops that have lost limbs and we came up with an idea. 

Instead of drawing a soldier with no limb, how about I try to experience loosing a limb for a morning or try for the day (laugh with uncertainty). 

So rather than creating a visual art piece it would be a performance. To experience trying to do everyday normal tasks that would otherwise be no trouble at all for someone who had all there limbs.

For this I would somehow make a fixing that would restrict my hand/arm movement to zero. I wasn't however going to replicate a real prostheses as time and of course money wasn't on my side. So now I was on the hunt for anything that would make a good fixture to my own arm and restrict my use of it.

Prosthetic limbs

I came across an image and began to draw it in ink pen.

The picture was of a british parachute regiment soldier who had lost both legs and an arm in afganistan.

www.dailymail.co.uk

As I was finishing I had an idea to carry on with the injured soldier drawings in pen and get them printed on a medium sized canvas maybe around three pictures and to leave them faceless.

This reason to have them faceless was so maybe the onlooker could replace/vision themselves in the blank space of the face.