ilka

The concept of the work is based on the theory of ‘the other’. The ‘other’ is that which is unfamiliar to us, the exotic or foreign; that which is other than ourselves.

Based on this principle, I asked myself; what is really more of an other, than an artist.

 

A few years back I was fortunate enough to go to Kenya on holiday. While there we went to a Masai camp. For foreigners, I am sure that nothing can seem more ‘other’ than the Masai. However, for myself I found it quite touristy and fake, a bit of a money-spinner in fact.

 

In this work I therefore juxtaposed the photos we took of the Masai, with an artist. The Masai, and the artist overlapping, asking the question, who is more of an outsider: the Masai or the artist.

 

Alongside, is a quote by the artist. The quote has been encoded into my personal alphabet of colour. This alphabet of colour is due to a cross-association between the senses, known as Synesthesia. In my case Grapheme Synesthesia, where letters of the alphabet are associated with colours.

 

The quote is accompanied by the name of the artist, also written in colour, however it is up to the viewer to try and decipher it.