Bones
The first Chinese calligraphy has been found carved into bones and tortoiseshell. This gave me the idea of using actual bones, soaked in Chinese ink to form characters. Each large bone forms a stroke and the smaller ones resemble the way that the image fragments as the ink in the brush runs out at the end of a stroke. The origins of the written language are being used to form modern characters meaning bones.
I saw an amazing multi-screen installation at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester by Jane and Louise Wilson called Monument (Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee). The modernist monument by Victor Pasmore was one a symbol of optimism but is now neglected and has fallen into disrepair. In the film, it is being explored and clambered over by the playful misrule of a group of teeneage boys. The space becomes activated by their dangerous clamberings but it also highlights the haunting decay of the structure. If you ever get the chnce to see the film, I thoroughly recommend it.
