“We work in the dark, we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” - Henry James  

Present  

Following a string of ideas I found myself making the sculpture 5UPPRE55ION and a series of drawings and paintings based on the sculpture. It for me depicts ideas of my personal suppression.  Keeping of things. Things in. Feelings. Thoughts. Expression. Resisting. Arms help. Eyes closed. I often have an urge to smash a window or start a fire. I don’t anymore. I keep it in. I find other ways to let it out.  Is our society becoming more suppressed now? Our words? Our rights? 1. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005  - This Act allowed for the hearing of evidence against anyone accused of terrorism offenses in secret.  2. The Justice and Security Act 2013  This bill has extended the convention that information used by the security forces such as MI5 and MI6 should be heard in secret if there is a question of “National Security”.  3. CCTV Britain has become a surveillance society and at the moment there are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK. 4. Terrorism Act 2000  This brought in the stop and search protocol. This is the right for the police to stop and search without any need for a warrant or any reason of suspicion at all.  5.  Storing Information  Recently the government released a draft bill changing the law to make it legal for the government to store online information on everyone.  https://thebackbencher.co.uk/five-ways-the-state-has-taken-away-our-rights/I feel suppressed. I like to break things. I will make things. Johann Don-Daniel 

“There is no better hand adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” - Malcolm X