Tell an Untold Story: Cornelia Parker

Parker has an ongoing series called Avoided Object, in which she takes objects and transforms their identities through methods of distraction. The destruction of some of the objects is orchestrated by her, while some are natural and others aren't considered objects but negative space. i.e. Territories that people avoid psychologically like underbellies (liminal spaces).

Parker is interested in the memory of an object held in its tarnishes - what has come before. If you morf and rearrange an object is it still a record of its history? How is the history still present if it is not visible? Is it present in the perception of the viewer?












- 'Thirty Pieces of Silver' (1988-9)

Here Parker takes lots of silverware, holding stories of people’s lives and steamrolls it to alter its meaning and everyday worth. It is no longer functional. She suspends the silverware above the floor in a ghostly manner, so that it is waiting to be reassessed by the viewer.

I am looking at the objects left behind by people and how they are remnants of the people passing through the liminal space of the canal. This idea of an object holding a history of what came before therefore really interests me. They hold a memory of time passing in their tarnishes. My objects still hold their tarnishes to indicate their history on the canal but now that I have taken them out of context do they still represent the people passing through the canal and what came before?

Parker uses an interesting analogy of the quick life of a canal to describe how functional objects work toward their own imminent distraction. I am not totally sure what she is getting at but it fits in quite nice with my theme.

'The aspect of deterioration and destruction has an analogy to the brief life of the Canal at the beginning of the industrial revolution. The Canal worked towards its own ‘destruction’ of its intended life’s purpose, by transporting materials for the railways. The railways then surpassed the canal in speed, efficiency and quantity of goods transported, thus rendering the technology of the canal obsolescent.'