THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 23RD MAY 2021: DAY 420

The Fourth Wall: Rückenfigur, staffage, spectator or observer?
Where do I stand?

'Near Black Mirror', oil paint and resin on plywood block, 150 x 150mm, 2020.

Rückenfigur, staffage, spectator or observer?
The ‘accessories’ of an artistic composition (companion). Where do I stand? Part 2.

This question of where does the observer stand in relation to a piece of art is far more complex than it initially sounds; indeed, it can and should also be expanded to include the enquiry into where does the artist stand? But let’s approach each of these facets of the issue separately dealing with the observers position first. Let us begin by considering the observers relationship to ‘painting’, or to any traditional form of two-dimensional artwork as it is conventionally encountered.

When this ‘painting’ hangs on a wall, parallel to that wall’s vertical plane as we would traditionally encounter it, it actually does something much more complex than is at first considered. This painting becomes, what has historically been considered to be, the equivalent of a theatrical proscenium; the oft mentioned ‘fourth wall’ of the stage. The fourth wall is an imagined plane which in theatrical terms is framed by the two sides and top of the proscenium arch and by the stage floor itself. This virtual quadrilateral plane forms the structure not just of paintings but of all two-dimensional framing devices which we may encounter in the world, from the theatrical stage to windows and doors. From our ‘painting’ to TV and all other manner of screens and onto our humble bathroom mirrors.

To be continued...