SELF-CRITICAL BADGES: A project by Duncan Sellar
Duncan Sellar writes: In this project, participants in Remarkable and Curious Conversations were invited to submit criticisms of themselves to be made into badges. Submission was mainly via postcards issued to participants and returned to me at my studio. On receipt of the postcards, statements were hand-painted in acrylics onto origami paper and made into badges 3.2cm in diameter (as stipulated by toy badge-press). The colours used were chosen for their visual qualities alone. Contributors will be able to claim and wear their badges whenever they are put on show.
As well being motivated by curiosity about what people think, or claim to think, about themselves, I liked the idea of being deliberately and perhaps inappropriately open about such thoughts. I chose badges as a medium for their guileless feel, and because of the way they declare their content on behalf of the wearer.
I'm surprised by how discomfiting the results are: the contrast between the sentiments expressed in the statements and the jolliness of the badges’ appearance often feels discordant. I'm interested to find out whether this will change when the badges are worn, and I hope that contributors will choose to claim and wear them when the time comes. That would, for me, be the culmination of the project and the natural context for the badges to be seen in. I'd be interested to hear other people’s responses. Many thanks to everybody for their contributions.
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Duncan Sellar |
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Contributors to Self-Critical Badges include Tânia Bandeira Duarte, Tineke Bruijnzeels, Marco Cali, Alison Carter Tai, Claire Deniau, Patrick Jeffs, Ingrid Jensen, Philip Lee, Andrew Markham, Martina O'Shea, Lorraine Pepper-McCrudden, Steve Perfect, Roger Perkins, Ann Rapstoff, Joan Skelton Smith, Cally Trench, Imogen Welch and Mary Yacoob.
Back to Duncan Sellar
Back to Dan Lovelace
Back to Tânia Bandeira Duarte
Back to Tineke Bruijnzeels
Back to Marco Cali
Back to Alison Carter Tai
Back to Claire Deniau
Back to Patrick Jeffs
Back to Ingrid Jensen
Back to Philip Lee
Back to Andrew Markham
Back to Martina O'Shea
Back to Lorraine Pepper-McCrudden
Back to Steve Perfect
Back to Roger Perkins
Back to Ann Rapstoff
Back to Joan Skelton Smith
Back to Cally Trench
Back to Imogen Welch
Back to Mary Yacoob