Artist Research - Inspiration

Jonathan Barnbrook: How to Guides

After finding my muzzle idea as a main project for Made to Persuade, I thought it would be a good idea to create manual on how to use my work and explain its use. I was inspired by Jonathan Barnbrook and his directory entitled How to Guides: Disobedient Objects which is a book of various ways to fabricate makeshift creations. The works are composed of simple single step instructions on how to use ordinary objects and modify them to make them suitable for various situations. An example of this can be seen with how to transform a water bottle into a tear-gas mask or a bike lock into a cuffs.

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Extracts from Barnbrook's How to Guide.

What I found most interesting about the guide was the way it looked like any normal guide such as ones found on airplanes or in construction sets. This art style is commonly used for simple catalogs of every day common situations and can even be seen in sets for children like Legos. The fact that it is here being used for objects related to situations of conflict and aggressive environments is unusual and raises the question on why such objects should even be made. Branbrook subtly makes the reader realise that themselves might be in need of such creations if something goes wrong through simple instructions that induce paranoia to even those living in a comfortable part of the globe. It is a handy guide to have but also a scary one to even think of buying or using; will there eventually be a time when I will have to create a tear gas mask or need to lock someone using a bike chain? Through his instructions Barnbrook reminds us that people have been forced to create such objects in moments of crises and cautions that those people also never thought of needing to do so. It is an indication that no where is truly safe from conflict and it expresses the disturbances in the contemporary world. People such as myself forget too often of the various catastrophes happening on a daily basis and are inclined to believe that everything is going fine. We move on with our lives worrying about mundane situations forgetting about disasters that others go through. The guide is not only a guide but reminder of how fast things can go wrong, we should not be deluded by our own comfortableness nor should we take it for granted. Out there somewhere someone is making these objects. Don't forget it.

Disobedient objects: Make shift shield and a stencil of Ghaith Mattar, a Syrian activist who died under the torture of Bashar Al-Assad's regime.

Personally I was very inspired by Barnbrook and and his idea of creating a catalog on how to use common tools to create new objects with a completely different purpose. For my own work it gave the idea to experiment with various things around my own home and devise an object of my own with the same childish creativity of Wilcox. I began thinking of how I would manage to make my Chomp Clomp or muzzle for people who chew with an open mouth. At first I thought of using velcro straps to allow the adjustments to the head but quickly realised this would be difficult and tedious to create. I then began experimenting with things like belts and strings but eventually settled with using elastic bands commonly used for sports.

Bibliography:

“Disobedient Objects.” Barnbrook, 20 June 2019, https://barnbrook.net/work/disobedient-objects/#:~:text=Disobedient%20Objects%20was%20an%20exhibition,exhibition%20identity%20and%20display%20graphics.

Victoria and Albert Museum, Digital Media webmaster@vam.ac.uk. “Disobedient Objects: How-to Guides.” Disobedient Objects: How-To Guides, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL. Telephone +44 (0)20 7942 2000. Email Vanda@Vam.ac.uk, 20 May 2015, http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/disobedient-objects/how-to-guides/.

RESEARCH - Made to Persuade

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