Beginnings

The first day of Block Chain! Since finding out I was taking part in the project – I have been considering what dissent is.  According to the dictionary dissent means ‘the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held’.  Looking further into the meaning of dissent...

....perhaps it is the power to be a free thinker - to follow your own conscious, rather than the will of the herd, and not being afraid to be in a minority of one.
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I have long been interested in the boundary between civilisation and chaos, and the unspoken social rules that both control us and shape our identity.  My recent work has explored feminist issues, relating to women’s rights and our psycho-sexual identity forged through societal reinforcement. 

The recent women’s rights marches globally, have greatly inspired me and shown how social media can be used to raise awareness of important issues.  As a starting point for own work within the project, I was moved by a recent story on period poverty.  A study by Plan International UK found that 1 in 10, young women (aged 14-21) in the UK could not afford to buy sanitary products.  The issue touches upon hidden poverty, social taboos, capitalism and individual self-worth. 
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I am excited by the potential of social media as an art medium, to create digital art without the need for an art gallery.  I am really looking forward to working with Fran...to explore the contrast between the real and the intangible, and create new, unexpected artistic outcomes. 

My first piece is a stitched banner stating the Plan International UK static.  The work is inspired by the embroidered banners used by the Suffrage movement a century ago.  The right to votes is a vital measure of equality - however this is meaningless, when people are jobless, homeless or having to use food banks.  Society celebrates the positive, but ignores those left behind.
​RG

Welcome to BLOCK_VI,  Here are images passed on from BLOCK_III,  Use them as you, will or not at all, the space is yours. Susan Francis