Marianna Simnett

Marianna Simnett (born 1986) is a London-based[1] multi-disciplinary artist who works with film, installation, drawing, and sculpture.[2] She is best known for her large-scale video installations.[3]

Early life and education

Simnett studied at a musical theatre school as a teenager.[4] She received a BA from Nottingham Trent University in 2007 and an MA from the Slade School of Art in 2013.[5][2] She has a studio in Hoxton.[6]

Themes

Simnett's work examines the perception and imagination of the (human) body.[2][7] In the works she has created to date, the themes of sickness and the intervention of medicine figure large.[7] Themes of contamination, disease, violation, sexuality, identity, and metamorphosis [8] Central to surrealist visions are issues of vulnerability, autonomy, and control.[8] Simnett cites empathy, trauma, catharsis and the embodiment of these as important themes in her practice.[9] Throughout her body of works and the works themselves is a nonlinear narrative of "bodily dread".[8]

Recurring motifs

Botox figured in Blood In My Milk as well as The Needle and the Larynx, 2016, and Worst Gift, 2017. A recurring character, Isabel Maclaren appears as Isabel in The Udder and Blood[9][10] Syncope features prominently as a motif in Simnett's work.[1][8] Fainting is a central motif in Faint which was later expanded upon with Faint With Light.

Practice

Simnett works with non-actors: children, farmers, doctors, scientists.[8] She make extensive use of abrupt transitions from one sequence to another.[3] She offers a fragmented representation of multi-faceted reality.[3] Simnett re-uses footage from early works; Blood In My Milk merges (newly edited) footage from her trilogy (The Udder, Blue Roses and Blood) with Worst Gift (2017), a reprise of The Needle and The Larynx.[8]

Critical commentary

"Her recent work explores female subjectivity and bodily integrity as they relate to the power dynamics of the medical profession".[11] "employed the forensic and macabre to elicit a visceral reaction from viewers" [8] Simnett focuses on the dystopic consequences of technology through a psychosexual lens[8] Simnett's work elicits a physical response though its depiction of physiological processes and techniques such as dreamlike sequences contrasted with hyper-real scenarios[12] and the use of music.[6] Simnett induces the same emotions, such as fear, that she enacts in her work.[1] Her work has been said to combine mythic structures with the aesthetics of medical documentaries.[8] "Simnett composes fanciful narratives, employing leaps of logic while creating intentional slippages among her characters’ identities, genders, and physiognomies".[9] References Donna Haraway and Paul B. Preciado.[9] Simnett's consideration of self-preservation mobilizes feminist concerns without becoming prescriptive.[9]

Influences

Her practice has been influenced by Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Cindy Sherman.[6] Simnett credits Bruce Nauman with getting her into moving-image work, and cites Derek Jarman as a "huge influence".[13] Simnett has affinity to Mika Rottenberg.[10]

"Transformation is much more my message than amputation—transformation is through and through my work. Everyone is always becoming something other than themselves.” [10]

Works
  • Faint (2012), recalls the story of Simnett's grandfather, who escaped death by firing squad by fainting.[6]
  • Dog (2013)
  • The Udder single channel HD video, 15 minutes, 30 seconds (2014) is the first in a trilogy of works that includes Blue Roses and Blood (both 2015). Shot on a robotic dairy farm,[8] it is a clinical account of bovine mastitis and a cautionary tale about female chastity[8] The Udder (2014) is a coming-of-age story set on a small, rural, roboticized dairy farm.[10]
  • Blue Roses (2015) goes back and forth between a varicose vein operation and the creation of a cyborg cockroach[8][10] Blue Roses’ (2015) premiered summer 2015 at Comar on the Isle of Mull.[12]
  • Blood ( 2015) recalls the history of Emma Eckstein and her treatment by Wilhelm Fliess.[12] It features Lali, an Albanian sworn virgin and references the Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit [12] Blood (2015)is a dreamlike depiction of a nasal surgery that references both a Freudian case study and the Kanun.[10]
  • The Needle and The Larynx (2016) [1] shows the artist receiving botulinum toxin injection in her larynx to lower her voice.[10]
  • Faint with Light (2016) is room-size installation that consists of a series of LED lights synchronized to a soundtrack of the artists hyperventilating until she faints[1] Faint with Light is an audio and light installation,[7] a 12-metre wall of bright LED lights[7] the artist deliberately induces syncope through hyperventilation.[7]
  • Worst Gift (2017), a group of thuggish adolescent boys trapped in a dirty hospital are subjected to endless injections to their vocal chords.[10]
  • Blood In My Milk (2018) is an immersive 73-minute, five-channel video installation,[3] made between 2014 and 2017[14][7] Its characters are surgeons, scientists, children and insects.[7] Blood In My Milk examines fears and (specific) phobias (Blood-injection-injury type phobia).[3]
  • The Bird Game (2019) is a wicked fairy tale in which a loquacious and bloodthirsty crow, voiced by Joanne Whalley, lures six children to a secluded mansion and snares them in a sequence of deranged games. Scored by Oliver Coates, shot on 16mm film by Robbie Ryan (cinematographer), co-written by Marianna Simnett and Charlie Fox.[15]

Exhibitions

Exhibited at the New Museum in New York,[3] the Kunsthalle Zürich,[14] the Serpentine Gallery in London.[6]

Awards

In 2014 she won the Jerwood Foundation's Jerwood/FVU Awards.[2] Jerwood commissioned The Udder (2014) and Blood (2015).[16]

References
  1. "Jeffrey Kastner on Marianna Simnett". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. "2019: The Year According to Marianna Simnett". walkerart.org. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  3. "Marianna Simnett's videos explore fears and phobias surrounding the human body". www.itsnicethat.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  4. "Visiting Practitioners Series: Marianna Simnett - CRiSAP". Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP). 2018-02-20.
  5. Collection, Zabludowicz. "MARIANNA SIMNETT - Exhibitions". Zabludowicz Collection. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  6. Eastham, Ben. "In Focus: Marianna Simnett". Frieze (176). ISSN 0962-0672. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  7. Steer, Emily (2019-06-17). "Marianna Simnett: Blood & Milk". ELEPHANT. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  8. "When Body Horror Meets Fairy Tale: The Films of Marianna Simnett |". Flash Art. 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  9. "Mira Dayal on Marianna Simnett's Blood In My Milk, 2018". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  10. Indrisek, Scott (2018-10-08). "Marianna Simnett's Brilliantly Grotesque Videos Are Not for the Faint of Heart". Artsy. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  11. "Hazmat: Charlie Fox and Marianna Simnett •". Mousse Magazine (in Italian). 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  12. "Marianna Simnett talks about her films". atractivoquenobello. 2015-08-20. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  13. "Marianna Simnett - shortlisted artist profile - Film London Jarman Award 2017".
  14. "Marianna Simnett | Kunsthalle Zürich". kunsthallezurich.ch. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  15. https://www.fvu.co.uk/projects/the-bird-game
  16. "Jerwood/FVU Awards | Marianna Simnett". www.jerwoodfvuawards.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
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