Abscission: A portrait of grief: A portfolio of interrelated works by Fiona Curran

Curran, Fiona ORCID: 0000-0003-0409-9151 (2020) Abscission: A portrait of grief: A portfolio of interrelated works by Fiona Curran. Wreckingball Press.

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Abstract

An extended examination through poetry and film making of the metaphors, contexts and spaces in which grief can be encountered, and defy every hope of categorisation from the molecular to the very physicality of the bespoke coffin. The enquiry begins with a nine-part poem, The Scientist Series, in which grief is explored, as molecule, compound, as equation, as organ, as artery and ultimately as heat itself: The poems inform and are informed in turn by four films: CUR, introducing us to the guardians of the underworld, Pluto’s two sleek and terrifying Staffy’s. BOXES, a process documentary filmed in Vic Fearn’s coffin factory in Nottingham; a factory with over 150 years’ experience of making all manner of bespoke coffins, where we meditate on the beauty of the dance of death, as performed mesmerically, by one of the workers, who attends to varnishing the lid of the final box. LID, where a dancer finds a way to make her peace with her box, before packing herself into the trunk for the journey to the other side, and finally TRANSIT 0.2 in which the artist, trapped in purgatory, finally escapes to the world above, only to find that bringing her fractured psyche to a full stop amongst the throngs of her old world no longer automatically allows her access to it. We view grief through the context of comedy, the animal, dance, workmanship, street scenes and homecoming. Elaborated through poetic context and enriched with sonic landscapes, this portfolio allows us to explore the underbelly of grief, through the almost everyday detail, of death.

Item Type:	Other
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Grief; Coffin; Dog; Staffy; Poetry; Death; REF2021
Related URLs:	http://wreckingballpress.com/product/nev...
Related records:	Never Try To Outswim A Bear TRANSIT 0.2 LID (Excepts) BOXES (Excerpts) CUR (Excerpts)
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Creative Arts
Research Priority Areas:	Culture, Continuity, and Transformation Creative Practice and Theory
Depositing User:	Fiona Curran
Date Deposited:	17 Nov 2020 12:58
Last Modified:	01 Aug 2021 21:52
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/8947

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