Gordon Hall

What Held Your Body?

2020

West Seneca, NY

I am thinking about the politics of bodily vulnerability and support that are central to my work as a sculptor and performer, specifically in relation to healthcare, but also in a more general sense of support and holding in all its forms (parenting, mothering, furniture, cars, infrastructure and so on) as well as in the less positive meanings of the word "hold" in terms of being restrained, captive, and prevented from moving. I wanted to make something that didn't appear political on its surface and registered in a more emotional and physical poetic way, meant to be thought-provoking, asking people to probe their memories and mull over the different meanings of the words. And I wanted it to be hand-drawn so that it would both stand out in the world of printed letterforms and also to express a kind of time-taking and care in the crafting of this question; a sort of insertion of the human through the hand-colored lettering and background. This orange colored pencil is also one that has recurred in my work over the years.

Photograph by Kordel Fermin
Photograph by Kordel Fermin
Photograph by Kordel Fermin

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