About six years ago, I began fundraising for UNICEF in relation to child trafficking and still support the cause. It's interesting that it's a topic that many people simply don't want to consider. (I experienced that personally, and it's something you read all over the net). And that's despite some of these basic facts: http://dilanz.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/what-is-it/
For the second part of my Face Value project, I planned to create five different pieces of work, illustrating the comparative market value of each.
The Artefacts
1. La Prairie face cream:
Market value: £656 for 50ml
Method of Execution
I was thinking of re-creating the pot in collage form, using kitchen foil and blue sweet papers.
2. Homemaker Pottery:
Once available at bargain prices in Woolworths, now a collectors' piece due to its perceived iconic design (on show in the V&A etc).
Today, the cost on Ebay for one cup and saucer is $59.00 (plus $10 shipping).
Method of Execution: I was thinking of doing a chalk/charcoal drawing of a piece of the pottery.
3. The Swedish Three Skilling Banco:
Printed with errors in 1855, the stamp, the only one remaining, was recently sold to a private buyer and is said to have achieved at least the £2.3million it made in 1996.
Method of Execution: I was going to do a machine embroidery piece, freehand embroidering in black and white three on yellow velvet.
4. Mark Rothko - Orange, Red Yellow:
Rothko was highly anti-establishment, so would probably have been mortified that the sale of this painting in September 2012 made $86,882,500, a new record for post-war art.
Method of Execution: I hadn't quite figured that yet, but wondered about finger painting it!
5. Water - the New White Gold:
There are people now seriously considering putting a price on water, as within the next few decades it's going to become so scarce: http://www.investmentu.com/2010/March/the-water-industry-and-blue-gold.html
Method of Execution: I was planning to make an acrylic box, fill it with water and have words relating to the developing scarcity of water etched into the front. (I quite liked the idea as well that, over time, the water would evaporate).
Finally, I wanted to contrast all of the above by doing a drawing/painting of a child - showing that they can be sold on the streets for as little as $15.
However, having given it all some serious thought this morning, I've decided that I simply don't have the time to do all of the above. I'm also concerned that I would have done three pieces of work that involved a comparison between five/six things, and don't want to keep doing that.
So, I've decided to forget the above (less is more: definitely my catchphrase of the course) and just look at doing a portrait of a child.
The Child At Risk
I spent a long time looking for images of real children that I could work with. However, nearly always the images on the net are set up shots, rarely involving real children. And that's for good reasons, which I completely agree with.
Sadly, I could have found some real children instantly by googling naked children, but that wasn't something I was prepared to do.
I did find some amazing things, including this brilliant exhibition co-created by Emma Thompson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnSU1eLsRH8
This to me is art working at its best. Accessible but giving a really important message.
I then tried googling orphans and sex trafficking, which again brought up lots of hideous things, but no photos of real victims that I could use.
***
Then I remembered my time in Cambodia last summer, where I visited an orphanage in the South West.
I had gone along to volunteer there for a couple of days, and was fairly appalled by the easy access I was given to the children. After an initial chat with the Principal, I was left pretty much to my own devices with the kids. So I went into a 'classroom', with just a few broken toys and books, and watched as the kids wander around, the older ones occasionally trying to 'teach' the younger ones, but basically all just playing.
Even more extraordinarily, I was asked to take the kids to the beach at the end of one day. I think there was one adult worker with the group as well, but I was amazed that such a thing could happen. Especially as I found myself in the sea with stinging jellyfish and about fifteen children - none of whom could swim.
Sadly, my overall impression about my time there was that the Principal was far more interested in trying to get me to donate money, than really looking after the welfare of the kids. Although, having said that, they all appeared well fed, happy,alert and engaged, and really well behaved.
Even worse was that, talking to others in the town, there were rumours of the orphanage having previously been used as a 'shop', selling these very children to visiting men. That was truly horrifying, especially as, looking at the time some of the kids had been there, they would have been personally effected.
So, after looking at my photos from the orphanage, I have decided to use them as the basis for my piece. Although at this point in time, I've no idea what I'm going to do with them.
NB: I would normally post some photos of the kids here. But, as this is the internet, I'm not going to as they're real kids and I want to do my bit to protect them. A display in college is ok, but I think that's enough.
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