For the final case study I will be looking at Sara Davidmann’s project Ken. To be Destroyed. The project has similarities to what I’m working on at the moment, which is considering a story and creating art from a fragmented archive. My case study of Davidmann’s work has been very beneficial to my practice as it helped me to discover new concepts and ideas around creating work from archives and how to look at an archive in a different way. This case study does skim the surface of what I will be researching further.
Sara Davidmann is an artist working mainly in photography with a focus on queer and trans gender identities. From 1999-2013 she took photographs and made recordings of people from the UK transgender community. Self-representation, transgender relationships, children and families form a focus of this work. Since 2013 her work on ‘the family’ has focused on her own family and family history. Her last major project, Ken. To be destroyed, which tells the story of her transgender uncle (Ken) through using archival materials (letters and photographs) as well as new artworks created from these materials. Her output from Ken. To be Destroyed included; exhibitions, books, and the creation of another archive based on her process in doing this work.
Speaking about her practice-based research methods of working with the Transgender UK community she emphasizes the importance of collaboration, trust and representation. For far too long transgender people have been misrepresented in society, and unfortunately continue to face this problem. In an attempt to address this issue as well as the balance of power between photographer and sitter Davidmann gives more control over to her subjects than most. For example, to seek approval from the subject and various points in the collaboration.
(Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
Using these working methods, she has built trust, understanding and confidence between herself and the Trans Gender community.
The work with the Transgender community informed the methods and justifications for her next project titled Ken. To Be Destroyed. In 2005 Sara’s mother informed her that she had an Uncle (Ken) who was transgender. Her mother also said she must not tell anyone.
This of course was upsetting to Sara as she was so involved with the trans community and felt it was important to stand up for that . After Sara’s mother died she discovered two large envelopes full of letters and photos. On the envelope it was written Ken. To be Destroyed.
Within the envelopes were letters and photos from Ken to his wife as well as documents about Ken’s transgender experiences from the 1950s. This archive would form the basis for Ken. To be Destroyed project Davidmann would work on for the next five years. titled Ken. To be Destroyed
Even though the letters had a note on them that said To Be Destroyed, and Sara’s mother had told her to keep this a secret, she decided to make it public as a way to reveal more about trans gender people’s experiences with in family. When talking about how the archive was not destroyed she states,
“There are very few trans family histories that have. It was significant as a queer artist to know this thing existed.”
The methods that Davidmann used to tell the story of K from the archive included traditional photography, painting, film loops and a book.
She made her choices of how to create materials as reaction to the archive’s physical nature.
She was fascinated by the surfaces, textures and layers with in a photo album and pictures of Ken and Hazel that she found. These observations of the physical surface’s inspired Sara to create her own art using materials that enabled her in a digital and analog way.
Davidmann speaks about her methods:
“I worked digitally to create fictional photographs of K - a name I gave to Ken’s female identity – trying to imagine how K might have looked. I had digital negatives made and used hand coloring on black and white prints. I also worked in the darkroom with chemigram processes, applying the developer, fix and photographic bleach as if they were paint – bringing the image out of the surface of the paper through the marks I made and disrupting the original image I had made in the negative.
Using a combination of digital and analogue photographic methods gave me a freedom to interpret the archive. Sometimes the processes led the outcomes and at other times elements of chance meant that the results took me by surprise, which in turn gave the project a life of its own.” (Gosling and Davidmann, 2017)
Through her process of exploration, the viewer can apply metaphors and meanings with in the process and the outcomes. As Davidmann has stated she wanted to allow K the freedom to be a woman. Which would have been done through breaking through K’s a perceived identity on the surface.
Approaching the archive beyond only focusing on traditional historical methods is known as Queering the Archive. Alana Kumbier’s 2014 book Ephemeral Material: Queering the Archive offers explanations and strategies for working with limited archival materials.
“Queering the Archive articulates a queer approach to archival studies and archival practice, and establishes the relevance of this approach beyond collections with LGBTQ content. Kumbier argues that queering the archive (thinking through queer interests, experiences, explanatory frameworks, and cultural practices) allows us to think critically about established archival principles and practices” (Kumbier,2014)
In the 2015 issue of the Radical History journal featuring a In conversation article between artist Elspeth h. Brown and Sara Davidmann the queering of archives is discussed.
“ we see our artifacts as queer as well, whether gestures, silences, hair, or tattered envelopes marked “to be destroyed”: our continued interest in archiving these nonnormative historical traces mark us as queer in relationship to traditional historical methods, which continue to privilege written texts.” (Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
Davidmann’s new art created from K’s archive was well considered as selective choices were made of what text, element or object from the archive would be emphasized or reconsidered in as a queering. For example, Ken and Hazel’s wedding photograph which the original photographer has written PROOF on. On the surface this shows the viewer the picture as a proof or test for the final picture. However, upon placing this picture with in Davidmann’s work the viewer can now look at the photograph which shows Ken looking very uncomfortable. The work Proof now takes on another meaning. (Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
The approaches Davidmann has taken in creating new work from K’s archive is creative, relevant to today and the past. Her ideas for what she made were partially informed through her interactions with the physical archive. This shows us how an archive can be an excellent source for inspiring new art work.
The idea of archival artist is one that has been around for some time. American art critic and historian Hal Foster wrote extensively about it in his 2004 essay titled “An Archival Impulse” In the essay Foster describes the practice of using an archive in art as ‘an idiosyncratic probing into particular figures, objects, and events in modern art, philosophy and history’
Foster defines how archival art works ‘serve as found arks of lost moments in which the here-and-now of the work functions as a possible portal between an unfinished past and a reopened future’.
It is easy to see how this aligns very closely with what Sara Davidmann had discovered in K’s archive. Foster goes on to make the following points about artists and use of archival materials.
Archival artists seek to make historical information, often lost or displaced, physically present. They elaborate on the found image, object, and text. They favor the installation format to do so, frequently using its non-hierarchical spatiality to advantage. .They use familiar sources, drawn from the archives of mass culture, to ensure a legibility that can then be disturbed or detourné;, but they can be obscure, retrieved in a gesture of alternative knowledge or counter-memory.
Through creating new art from Ken’s archive Davidmann has elaborated on what was hidden or encrypted in the archive to the straight public. For example, Ken’s wedding picture which upon closer inspection shows how awkward and uncomfortable Ken looks with in that picture and situation. This alone would be hard to decode, however through combination of text and how Davidmann presents the photograph it becomes clear. In Davidmann’s new creations of photographs she chose to use technical methods which matched what was relevant at the time and now is familiar to people as vintage looking. The new pictures of K she created were made using negatives and hand painting on the final print. As Davidmann states “If it has a negative people assume it is real” All of these are familiar to people’s views of wedding photographs and portraiture of the 1950s. The difference of course is the subject matter being a transgender person (Ken) this would be shocking if seen at the time it is supposed to represent. (the 1950’s UK) Seeing the pictures through modern eyes the public is more likely to consider the subject and photograph with a positive reaction. Through this act Davidmann is creating what Hal Foster calls a gesture of alternative knowledge or a counter memory. In turn giving K the freedom of expression that she never had while alive. (Foster, 2004)
K at the roadside between Inverness and Culloden Moor. From the series Looking for K/Finding K, 2015© Sara Davidmann
The research I have conducted for this thesis has truly opened my eyes to show me that the archive can be used as source material for new creative and historically important work. Through exploring Sara Davidmann’s process I can see how she was able to form a relationship to the archive of K in the context of past experiences and how the attitude towards LGBT people is changing. The result was creative beautiful work that lead to discovery and inspiration. Most importantly she has given K a voice, true identity and trans visibility. Through freeing Ken to be K and the telling of this story.
References
Brown, E. and Davidmann, S. (2015). “Queering the Trans✲Family Album”. Radical History Review, 2015(122), pp.188-200.
Foster, H. (2004). An Archival Impulse. October, 110, pp.3-22.
Gosling, E. and Davidmann, S. (2017). The Photographer Rewriting Her Transgendered Family History. [online] AnOther. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/9488/the-photographer-rewriting-her-transgendered-family-history [Accessed 16 Dec. 2019].
Kumbier, A. (2014). Ephemeral material : queering the archive. Sacremento: Litwin Books.
Monarchi, C. (2017). Photomonitor – Interviews – Ken. To Be Destroyed – Sara Davidmann’s work at Belfast Exposed. [online] Photomonitor.co.uk. Available at: https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/saradavidmannbelfast/ [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
Sara Davidmann is an artist working mainly in photography with a focus on queer and trans gender identities. From 1999-2013 she took photographs and made recordings of people from the UK transgender community. Self-representation, transgender relationships, children and families form a focus of this work. Since 2013 her work on ‘the family’ has focused on her own family and family history. Her last major project, Ken. To be destroyed, which tells the story of her transgender uncle (Ken) through using archival materials (letters and photographs) as well as new artworks created from these materials. Her output from Ken. To be Destroyed included; exhibitions, books, and the creation of another archive based on her process in doing this work.
Speaking about her practice-based research methods of working with the Transgender UK community she emphasizes the importance of collaboration, trust and representation. For far too long transgender people have been misrepresented in society, and unfortunately continue to face this problem. In an attempt to address this issue as well as the balance of power between photographer and sitter Davidmann gives more control over to her subjects than most. For example, to seek approval from the subject and various points in the collaboration.
(Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
Using these working methods, she has built trust, understanding and confidence between herself and the Trans Gender community.
The work with the Transgender community informed the methods and justifications for her next project titled Ken. To Be Destroyed. In 2005 Sara’s mother informed her that she had an Uncle (Ken) who was transgender. Her mother also said she must not tell anyone.
This of course was upsetting to Sara as she was so involved with the trans community and felt it was important to stand up for that . After Sara’s mother died she discovered two large envelopes full of letters and photos. On the envelope it was written Ken. To be Destroyed.
Within the envelopes were letters and photos from Ken to his wife as well as documents about Ken’s transgender experiences from the 1950s. This archive would form the basis for Ken. To be Destroyed project Davidmann would work on for the next five years. titled Ken. To be Destroyed
Even though the letters had a note on them that said To Be Destroyed, and Sara’s mother had told her to keep this a secret, she decided to make it public as a way to reveal more about trans gender people’s experiences with in family. When talking about how the archive was not destroyed she states,
“There are very few trans family histories that have. It was significant as a queer artist to know this thing existed.”
The methods that Davidmann used to tell the story of K from the archive included traditional photography, painting, film loops and a book.
She made her choices of how to create materials as reaction to the archive’s physical nature.
She was fascinated by the surfaces, textures and layers with in a photo album and pictures of Ken and Hazel that she found. These observations of the physical surface’s inspired Sara to create her own art using materials that enabled her in a digital and analog way.
Davidmann speaks about her methods:
“I worked digitally to create fictional photographs of K - a name I gave to Ken’s female identity – trying to imagine how K might have looked. I had digital negatives made and used hand coloring on black and white prints. I also worked in the darkroom with chemigram processes, applying the developer, fix and photographic bleach as if they were paint – bringing the image out of the surface of the paper through the marks I made and disrupting the original image I had made in the negative.
Using a combination of digital and analogue photographic methods gave me a freedom to interpret the archive. Sometimes the processes led the outcomes and at other times elements of chance meant that the results took me by surprise, which in turn gave the project a life of its own.” (Gosling and Davidmann, 2017)
Through her process of exploration, the viewer can apply metaphors and meanings with in the process and the outcomes. As Davidmann has stated she wanted to allow K the freedom to be a woman. Which would have been done through breaking through K’s a perceived identity on the surface.
Approaching the archive beyond only focusing on traditional historical methods is known as Queering the Archive. Alana Kumbier’s 2014 book Ephemeral Material: Queering the Archive offers explanations and strategies for working with limited archival materials.
“Queering the Archive articulates a queer approach to archival studies and archival practice, and establishes the relevance of this approach beyond collections with LGBTQ content. Kumbier argues that queering the archive (thinking through queer interests, experiences, explanatory frameworks, and cultural practices) allows us to think critically about established archival principles and practices” (Kumbier,2014)
In the 2015 issue of the Radical History journal featuring a In conversation article between artist Elspeth h. Brown and Sara Davidmann the queering of archives is discussed.
“ we see our artifacts as queer as well, whether gestures, silences, hair, or tattered envelopes marked “to be destroyed”: our continued interest in archiving these nonnormative historical traces mark us as queer in relationship to traditional historical methods, which continue to privilege written texts.” (Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
Davidmann’s new art created from K’s archive was well considered as selective choices were made of what text, element or object from the archive would be emphasized or reconsidered in as a queering. For example, Ken and Hazel’s wedding photograph which the original photographer has written PROOF on. On the surface this shows the viewer the picture as a proof or test for the final picture. However, upon placing this picture with in Davidmann’s work the viewer can now look at the photograph which shows Ken looking very uncomfortable. The work Proof now takes on another meaning. (Brown and Davidmann, 2015)
The approaches Davidmann has taken in creating new work from K’s archive is creative, relevant to today and the past. Her ideas for what she made were partially informed through her interactions with the physical archive. This shows us how an archive can be an excellent source for inspiring new art work.
The idea of archival artist is one that has been around for some time. American art critic and historian Hal Foster wrote extensively about it in his 2004 essay titled “An Archival Impulse” In the essay Foster describes the practice of using an archive in art as ‘an idiosyncratic probing into particular figures, objects, and events in modern art, philosophy and history’
Foster defines how archival art works ‘serve as found arks of lost moments in which the here-and-now of the work functions as a possible portal between an unfinished past and a reopened future’.
It is easy to see how this aligns very closely with what Sara Davidmann had discovered in K’s archive. Foster goes on to make the following points about artists and use of archival materials.
Archival artists seek to make historical information, often lost or displaced, physically present. They elaborate on the found image, object, and text. They favor the installation format to do so, frequently using its non-hierarchical spatiality to advantage. .They use familiar sources, drawn from the archives of mass culture, to ensure a legibility that can then be disturbed or detourné;, but they can be obscure, retrieved in a gesture of alternative knowledge or counter-memory.
Through creating new art from Ken’s archive Davidmann has elaborated on what was hidden or encrypted in the archive to the straight public. For example, Ken’s wedding picture which upon closer inspection shows how awkward and uncomfortable Ken looks with in that picture and situation. This alone would be hard to decode, however through combination of text and how Davidmann presents the photograph it becomes clear. In Davidmann’s new creations of photographs she chose to use technical methods which matched what was relevant at the time and now is familiar to people as vintage looking. The new pictures of K she created were made using negatives and hand painting on the final print. As Davidmann states “If it has a negative people assume it is real” All of these are familiar to people’s views of wedding photographs and portraiture of the 1950s. The difference of course is the subject matter being a transgender person (Ken) this would be shocking if seen at the time it is supposed to represent. (the 1950’s UK) Seeing the pictures through modern eyes the public is more likely to consider the subject and photograph with a positive reaction. Through this act Davidmann is creating what Hal Foster calls a gesture of alternative knowledge or a counter memory. In turn giving K the freedom of expression that she never had while alive. (Foster, 2004)
K at the roadside between Inverness and Culloden Moor. From the series Looking for K/Finding K, 2015© Sara Davidmann
The research I have conducted for this thesis has truly opened my eyes to show me that the archive can be used as source material for new creative and historically important work. Through exploring Sara Davidmann’s process I can see how she was able to form a relationship to the archive of K in the context of past experiences and how the attitude towards LGBT people is changing. The result was creative beautiful work that lead to discovery and inspiration. Most importantly she has given K a voice, true identity and trans visibility. Through freeing Ken to be K and the telling of this story.
References
Brown, E. and Davidmann, S. (2015). “Queering the Trans✲Family Album”. Radical History Review, 2015(122), pp.188-200.
Foster, H. (2004). An Archival Impulse. October, 110, pp.3-22.
Gosling, E. and Davidmann, S. (2017). The Photographer Rewriting Her Transgendered Family History. [online] AnOther. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/9488/the-photographer-rewriting-her-transgendered-family-history [Accessed 16 Dec. 2019].
Kumbier, A. (2014). Ephemeral material : queering the archive. Sacremento: Litwin Books.
Monarchi, C. (2017). Photomonitor – Interviews – Ken. To Be Destroyed – Sara Davidmann’s work at Belfast Exposed. [online] Photomonitor.co.uk. Available at: https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/saradavidmannbelfast/ [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].