1. STOP POVERTY
Clara Arnbjørn
INTENTION
ARTISTIC INVESTIGATION
I am in the process of examining how I can interpret UN World Goal 1: Stop Poverty, with a particular focus on Objective 1.2, which deals with halving relative poverty according to national definitions.
I work in clay and the finished work will be in ceramic material and unglazed. The plant is fired high so that the shard is closed and thus withstands the conditions outside where it is to be placed. I want to work with an interpretation of poverty, where the bust becomes the format that creates the framework for my design.
The bust will have the dimensions: Height 1.15m, width 1.15m and depth 0.85m. I will use a technique that takes into account modeling a embedding tube into the sculpture itself, so that an iron tube can be attached to a metal plate on the bust. Due to the large dimensions of the bristles, I have made a deal with Tommerup Keramik Værksted , because they specialize in handling such large ceramic items.
I work in clay and the finished work will be in ceramic material and unglazed. The work is high-fired so that the shard is closed and thus withstands the conditions outside where it is to be placed. I want to work with an interpretation of poverty, where the bust becomes the format that creates the framework for my design.
The bust will have the measurements: Height 1.15m, width 1.15m and depth 0.85m. I will use a technique that allows for modeling an embedding tube into the sculpture itself, so that an iron tube can be attached to a metal plate on the bust. Due to the large dimensions of the bust, I have made a prior agreement with Tommerup Ceramic Workshop, because they specialize in handling such large ceramic items.
Clara Arnbjørn's sketch. Copyright
Clara Arnbjørn's sketch. Copyright
Through my preliminary research of the world goal, I know that women are more prominent in the poverty statistics and therefore it is a woman I want to portray. At the same time, it is my wish to focus on the time span of 15 years (2015 - 2030) that the countries of the world in the UN have set as a time frame for the eradication of poverty. To be able to comprehend this time span, I want to portray a human being who has lived 15 years. Therefore, I want to portray a 15-year-old girl, who in this way expresses the temporal ambition for the world goal.
To anchor the world goal in Odsherred Municipality, I am in the process of a study of relative poverty in Denmark. First and foremost, Denmark has committed itself to halving relative poverty by 2030. Next, I think it is interesting and important to examine what poverty means in the welfare society as Denmark and how the consequences are experienced by those living in poverty. Therefore, I want to work with groups of young people, including young people who experience a daily life in relative poverty and enter into a dialogue on the subject and the taboos that may be associated with it. These are young people I would like to focus on in my civic engagement, as it is poverty seen through their eyes that I want to interpret into my project.
"I think it's exciting to create renewal of our reading of the bust, as it has historically been created to pay homage to a human influence, knowledge, prosperity or power. In the past, the people portrayed in a bust are individuals we should admire or praise - and to maintain their legacy. Instead of legacy, I would like to use the bust to create a reflection. By confronting the subject of poverty through a bust, the stories that the bust can hold are challenged and expanded. My hope is that the bristles from here can be used to meet each other at eye level, then it will be easier to see that poverty is structures in society that affect the individual family, the individual human being - and especially innocent children and young people. It's starting with admit the problem and creating new structures and opportunities. Historically, it will be a monument to relative poverty, which we will look back on in 2030 and (hopefully) be able to say "that's how it was once". "
The location I want the bust to have in Annebergparken is on top of a hill, to emphasize the renewal I want to create of the bust. Because by starting at the end of the hill, we can look up where the bust stands and then the bust gets an elevated status and we look up to it, just as we historically has seen busts. But after moving up the hill, we are at eye level with the person portrayed. This is the effect I want the bust as a monument to be able to accommodate as well.
Clara Arnbjørn
I am a ceramic sculptor and I use the bust as a format to form the framework for my stories. It means a lot to me to create renewal of our reading of the bust, as it has historically been created to pay homage to a person's influence, knowledge, prosperity or power and I believe the bust can hold more narratives.
I would like to reuse the status symbol that the bust possesses, to focus on the common man and on the challenges we each carry around.