Post 3 "Gwen Charles"

The exhibit I visited was in the WW11 at NJCU, the piece of work that I chose was from an artist by the name of Gwen Charles. The piece I chose was the Glacial Ablation. This was the female body covered in soft, silver mylar and clear plastic sheeting that echoed slow waves undulating over submerged land and icebergs dissolving into the deep, dark ocean. The video was recorded at high speed and slowed down to twenty five percent, with the slow sound of the mylar crackling in attempt to replicate the sound of the glaciers calving, which along with the light shinning onto the surface produces reflections, evoking an artic aurora borealis.

I believe this project represents self because there is a human underneath the silver mylar and they are the ones controlling it. That is symbolic for the humans beings the sole reason for the pollution and the melting of the glaciers due to global warming. They are the ones orchestrating the video and making all of this happen and they are the ones destroying the earth. Also being the only ones that can stop it.

Born in NYC, Gwen completed her undergraduate studies at Parsons School of Design, The New School for Social Research and The New School for Public Engagement and completed her MFA with Transart Institute in Berlin, Germany and NYC. Her video works have been viewed in international venues and video festivals in New York, USA, Berlin, Germany, Maribor, Slovenia and in Carovec, Croatia. She has participated in artist residencies in Mexico, India, Slovenia and in NY and NJ in the United States. She now lives in Montclair, NJ. Her studio is based in Bloomfield NJ. 

Gwen Charles creates site specific improvised, collaborative live performances and choreographed actions for the camera using handcrafted wearable props and sculptures. Performances are created for non-proscenium formats, inspired by the trivial moments of daily life and everyday, familiar objects. She is interested in the subtle shift in view that can transform everyday materials into extraordinary ones. She invites the viewer to experience objects differently in her works, requesting a change in the perception of the ordinary. 

She is currently working in performance and installation, creating sculptures and sculptural costumes to be worn while in motion, used in a photographic scene or video.  Gwen draws inspiration for works from moments from daily life, interjecting the performing body into spaces embodying female archetypes, stereotypes and stories, while exploring gender roles. Most of her works end up having playful edge, unintentionally bringing together two parts of her personality. 

She has boxes of costumes in her studio clothes from thrift shops, garage sales and friends that are unique. She puts them on to find the different personalities they may represent and use these in her photographic set-ups. A common practice in her works she will strip down and remove all the costumes and props to explore the essence of a movement or idea, and then add back sculptural elements as needed. She creates objects as they are needed for a work of art or projects. She tests out a movement and records it on video and plays it back to see how it translates. There is a lot of testing and playing with materials. “The best works comes out of this non-directive, no-pressure playtime.”(Charles) 

Gwen has regular monthly meetings and critiques with artists to keep up an ongoing conversation and studio support system. They discuss progress, references and meet to see works at contemporary art galleries and museums. She says “These meetings and activities are both part of the studio process and of self-care inspiring and nourishing.” (Charles) Their expertise, suggestion or knowledge can shape the direction of a project or influence a key decision creating a crucial contribution to the formation of a work. Their works have many shared philosophies, politics, ideologies, creative rituals, and inquires. They say to have an uncanny connection to each other’s practice, however individually their processes are very different and wide-ranging. Also, there is a thread that runs through all of their works that connects with and creates inspiration from the references and theories that others are working with. There are times during the process the comments contributed by the critiques have greatly affected her works. 

Work Cited 

Charles, Gwen “Artist in Montclair NJ.” Interview Artist in Montclair NJ. 2018. Pdf

https://maggiebeutner.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/photo-mar-03-8-39-27-pm.jpg?w=1000&h=

http://gwencharles.com