WORKOUT
HOMEAbout the artwork
*I would like to point out here that most of the work from this exhibition, whilst being stored with permission and full knowledge
of the sculpture faculty at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (where I was enrolled as a full time sculpture
student), was subsequently destroyed without my knowledge or permission.
My MFA research and exhibition revolved around the concept of the hypermasculine body. Mammoth muscular masses, monstrous mega-masculine monoliths that menacingly prowl around gymnasiums and their precincts, vast mountains of grotesque flesh, venous and bulging, not so much phallic metaphors, rather hysterical caricatures of those iconic sportsmen and Olympians we seem to worship in this country. They are, to paraphrase Clive James, like great condoms overstuffed with walnuts.
In particular, my research attempted to get under the skin of bodybuilders, to analyze the psychological, sociological and physiological contradictions inherent in excessive muscle building.
The vehicle I chose to do this with was Installation.
I began my undergraduate degree directly after high school. Feeling immediately out of my depth, and realising my relative worldly inexperience, I took off after 6 months and headed to Europe. During my 18 months away I found myself working on an archaeological dig in the north of England excavating a Roman bathhouse. The experience I had here had a strong effect on the imagery I chose to explore during my early career, that being an emphasis on antiquities and museum artifacts, with an ancient historical and/or mythical theme.
After my archaeological experience, I returned to Australia and restarted my degree at SCA, majoring in ceramics. Following graduation, I worked on developing my sculpting skills over 12 years with an emphasis on using the male form as subject and aluminium flyscreen wire mesh as material.
This then brought me up to the beginning of the Masters of Fine Arts. I began this research course part time, and spent the first year working from my private studio in Woolloomooloo, before moving to a space on campus.
My initial ideas for the installation revolved around the type of atmosphere that I wanted pervading the installation, which included sounds, light and perhaps smells. Within a few months, the focus of my work had narrowed to the subject of Gym Culture, my journal entry for May ’98 reads
“In order to focus on one area of Masculinity … I have decided to study Gym culture, and its effect on the body. Gym culture is about defining how one sees oneself – an attempt to become more masculine, or to try and be what one thinks of as masculine. It is not really about fitness. Bodybuilding is about remodelling the physique, not increasing fitness. Bodybuilding sculpts the body by stressing and tearing the muscles so that they can increase in bulk. There is no aerobic fitness involved; it is a cosmetic process.”
Then I was invited to participate in an exhibition called “Ripped and Pumped: the Gym Culture Project” curated by Lachlan Warner. It was the perfect opportunity to make new work on a subject directly related to my research especially as the exhibition was to be held inside a gym. The work I made for this show (Pulling Power) really helped to consolidate a lot of vague ideas I had floating around inside my head.
The idea of presenting an installation as the preferred vehicle for my MFA journey was initiated at the very outset of the course. My reasoning, I wrote in my journal, being…
“There are three reasons for this choice (of installation): - the first is a deep-seated cynicism towards this art-form which I developed whilst at art school in 1977. The mid 1970’s were still the early days of installations, and as a fresh-out-of-school art student I was exposed to, and involved in art-school installations, and quickly learnt to take advantage of its apparent ‘lack of skills’ based thinking, where ‘concept’ was the all. I soon began putting together ‘concept’ style creations, and then worked backwards to fit the given proposal. Thus a scepticism and cynicism toward motive and content developed, which I have had trouble dealing with ever since. By electing to do an installation I hope to exorcise that demon.
The second reason comes from the extremely restricted narrative format of object sculpture. I have spent years and exhibitions exploring the innate qualities of material, and simple qualities of mass, form, composition, anatomy etc., and have found the narrative ability of object sculpture somewhat stifling. (Even a narrative throughout an entire exhibition is difficult. Linking related objects in storyboard fashion to create a structured and sequential ‘message’ has been a process that has so far eluded me.)
The third reason I have decided on installation over exhibition, is that over the last few years I have produced an average of three solo exhibitions of object sculpture per year (in four countries), and not wishing to sound immodest, I feel there is no great challenge involved in me producing one more!”
The exact layout and content of this installation changed little from my original ideas. In my initial proposal I had conceived of a ‘sacred space’ atmosphere, resembling a ‘temple’, or ‘church’ of contemplation about masculinity and the body. I had already decided to deal with other senses than just the visual, those of sound and smell for example, and although many of these original concepts have been modified, many ideas remain in their original format, especially in the area of sound and light.
With the development of ideas and works underway, it then became necessary for me to find an appropriate exhibition venue. I knew I wanted a high ceiling-ed, warehouse-style space that didn’t resemble a typical gallery, and after the acquisition of an Australia Council grant, I thought I might have to rent a commercial factory space. However, I soon settled on the College of Fine Arts student unions gallery, “KUDOS”, a converted Greek Church hall, as an ideal location.
THE CHANGING ROOM
With so much of my research being concerned with the very physical change in the body caused by bodybuilding, I decided I wanted a separate room to the main exhibition space that would be called the changing room. Within this room I hoped to deal with some of the issues of ‘change’, in both the physical and psychological sense. It would also, I hoped, add a degree of verisimilitude to the over all gymnasium environment. I wanted works within the changing room to be based on objects usually found in these spaces.
The viewer passes through the front door (labelled ‘men’s changing room’) into the changing room itself, which is brightly lit. Immediately in front is the video-morph projected onto the wall.
WEIGHING MACHINE
Alongside the video is the weighing machine. Here I have selected an old-fashioned weighing machine, an important piece of equipment in all gym, as bodybuilders are usually quite preoccupied with their weight. However, whereas the case with many women is to ensure that they haven’t increased in weight, in bodybuilding circles it is for precisely the opposite. The bodybuilder, knowing muscle mass weighs heavier than fat, wishes to see his weight increase.
On this machine I have altered the reading gauge in order to highlight the contradictory social expectations relative to weight according to gender. At the low end of the weight scale the readout lavishes praise on women whilst ridiculing men. Conversely, at the other end of the scale, the heavy end, the male is congratulated on being successful (because with men, weight doesn’t necessarily signify success through only muscular mass, but it is also signified by corpulence. For men, obesity is rarely an impediment to power) whilst women are mocked.
LOCKER
Also in the changing room is a locker. I used this item to playfully address many small issues and ideas that surfaced during my research, which I didn’t feel it necessary to expand into individual works. I purchased a new locker and lined it with mirror. (The mirror is a very important element in my installation and it is discussed further in this chapter in relation to mirror-works.) The mirror lining allows the bodybuilder to discretely view his body, without being seen to be looking.
Within the locker is a collection of disparate objects that refer to, often in obscure and oblique ways, to a wide variety of issues. A bra is an obvious reference to gynaecomastia, a side effect of steroid use. The walnuts and condoms illustrate a quip by Clive James who once said that Arnold Schwarzenegger resembles a condom stuffed with walnuts. Other references to Arnold include his initials on the front of the locker and a map of Austria on the inside of the door. There is a six- pack of beer, both a pun on ‘six-pack (abdominals) and on the use of substances which contradict the image. The disposable nappy refers to an occurrence in the book ‘Muscle’ by Sam Fussell, which describes how incontinence is a side effect of too much steroid use in competitive bodybuilding. The padded jockstrap indicates insecurity about penis size, and the hair remover is for depilatory activities, which refers to the loss of hair in the Samson and Delilah myth.
The locker is also a secure and safe place, where secretes are kept, in which you keep your day-to-day self whilst you are busy constructing a new ‘you’ in the gym. It is a container of your hopes and dreams, fears and failures, and a reflection of your true self.
TEXT TOWEL
On a towel rail on the wall is a towel covered with text that lists male figures who present an overly muscular physique. The names are drawn from history, mythology, fantasy, art, superheroes, sport and other forms of popular culture.
COLLAGES
Finally, I have included 8 collages that use bodybuilding and some of the issues I have researched as a form of visual coding.
DOORWAYS
The wall separating the changing room from the workout room was made to create an artificial division between the two rooms. The wall, made from a light timber framework is covered on one side with polystyrene. As with bodybuilders, the wall presents a substantial exterior on one side, both sturdy and strong looking. It has the appearance of a wall, the pretence of solidity and the imitation of strength. On the other side, joists and posts indicate that it is simply a façade, like the ones you see on movie sets. The doorways were custom made to resemble, in a whimsical way, the “before” and “after” photos of bodybuilders.
THE WORKOUT ROOM
LIGHTING
Once entering the workout room, one is immediately made aware of the subdued lighting. This low light effect is designed to both create an ambience of contemplation, and to facilitate the display of several works involving light.
WEIGHT RACK
The weight rack is constructed from PVC plastic drainpipes. Lightweight and fragile, it belies its true self. It supports 5 barbells, each of which, in a light-hearted way, playfully puns in a verbal or visual manner:
FEATHERWEIGHT is made from vacuum formed clear PVC for the weights, and the bar is acrylic tubing. Both are filled with duck feathers.
PAPERWEIGHT is put together from 500 A3 sheets of paper cut on the bandsaw to make the weights, with the bar consisting of about 12,000 disks of paper threaded onto a thin steel rod.
MUSCLE BEACH TOY is formed from bonded PVC sheeting and inflated to resemble one of the toys found at the beach or in swimming pools.
WAITS is a verbal pun, with the clocks ticking away, waiting, waiting for what? A change? A better self? Finally:
OVERWEIGHT represents the antithesis to the bodybuilder, a beer-gutted form that is a constant conscience-pricker, a warning to the indolent.
LIGHTWEIGHT
Sitting apart from the weight rack is another barbell called ‘Lightweight’. It is constructed almost entirely from fluorescent light tubes, both straight and circular, and helps illuminate the workout room. Its glow is almost ethereal, and adds to the pseudo-religious atmosphere that I wished to create in this area.
PULLING POWER
Beyond the weight rack sits ‘Pulling Power’. This was the first work created for the installation, and exhibited as part of an exhibition called “Ripped & Pumped - The Gym Culture Project” held at Bayswater Fitness Gym in Rushcutters Bay. With this one artwork I addressed many of the issues I had been researching early on in my MFA project.
FLEX-XELF
This is the only sculpture with more formal qualities, being a carved work on a pedestal. It is a link to my earlier works, and with it I wished to address the similarities between the body and the machines used to create the body. By using polystyrene, I again reiterated the contradictory nature of gym muscles, which do not signify labour, but are cosmetically mechanical.
MIRRORS
The use of mirrors is very important in this environment. They perform a number of duties both in the bodybuilding environment and in this installation. In my research I mention mirrors often, and according to Lacan, the mirror phase is described as the mimetic hiding in ones surroundings to the extent of denying ones own true nature. I had already used mirrors in the changing room both to decorate the space and to line the locker. In the workout room I installed a:
MIRROR WITH TEXT This work deals with one of the reasons some men take up bodybuilding. Growing up with low self-esteem and poor self image is further entrenched by schoolyard taunting and bullying. This mirror returns, along with a reflection, a list of taunts and phrases that demean and belittle, and can also act as a manifestation of subconscious thought.
3 MIRRORS OF IDENTIFICATION
A triptych of mirrors along the wall of the workout room is titled 3 MIRRORS OF IDENTIFICATION. Klein explains that these mirrors can be -actual (how we actually see ourselves), ideal (as we want or need to be), or deprecatory (as we fear we are). It is socialised by interaction with others, and literalised by the mirrors found in gyms.
ACTUAL This mirror, which portrays the outlines of a variety of body shapes, and has a detachable sign which states “You Are Here” within an arrow, relates to the entire issue of body shape, and social expectations of such. Suggesting interactivity (i.e. the audience could move the arrow) it addresses the issues of how we see ourselves, which body shape would we pick to be our own, and the coloured lines of the overlapping body shapes refer to the London Underground Tube map, a device which assists people who are lost and are not sure where they are going.
DEPRECATORY The second mirror highlights the fears of the bodybuilder. It is a distorting mirror like those found in fairgrounds. The distorted image symbolises the distortion of self-image common to bodybuilders. It is this inability to be rationally and cognisantly aware of ones own corporeality that has likened this condition to a reverse form of anorexia - or Megarexia Nervosa.
IDEAL The last in this triptych represents how the viewer wants or needs to be. It is constructed using a mirror with several adjustable magnifying lenses set alongside a full-length mirror. This work allows the viewer to move the magnifying lenses to position it in front of any muscle or body part they choose in order to see how that particular muscle will look enlarged. It caters for the viewers’ desire to see immediate muscular growth (albeit in an illusory way). It may also suggest that the participating viewer reveals dissatisfaction with his own body by the desire to change it.
VIDEO/COMPUTER MORPH
This work makes use of digital morphing, and involves the transformation of a thinly built male into a large, ripped and pumped bodybuilder. The morphing lasts a period of approximately 10 seconds as the body expands, pauses for 2 seconds, and then the figure literally deflates back to its original size over another 10-second period. This entire process is then repeated continuously and is accompanied by a sound track of a very audible inhalation and exhalation of breath. The work is meant to take on a meditative quality, with the figure starting to resemble the inflation and contraction of a lung.
THE NIGHTMARE
A simple, humorous work that light-heartedly looks at what could be the bodybuilders’ worse nightmare. A barbell, with two 10kg Weights, has a bar that rises up in the air from one weight, follows the contours of a bodybuilders’ silhouette and returns to the other weight on the floor. The effect is to create the idea that the bar has stretched right over the head of the lifter and the weights have still not moved off of the floor.
THE DREAM
This is the companion work to Nightmare, and suggests what the bodybuilder dreams of. It comprises a barbell with an enormous number of weights on either side, which in reality would be ridiculously impossible to lift. It sits over a gym bench made up with sheets, blanket and a pillow like a bed. It symbolises the unreal expectations and irrational desires of the excessive muscle maker.
GYM MATS
Scattered across the floor are a number of gym mats. Added to help create the atmosphere of a real gym, they are used as canvasses with which to illustrate various historical precedents to the bodybuilding world.
BENCH PRESS
This humorous work incorporates a domestic furniture item, an ironing board, and reworks it into a common piece of gym equipment – a work out bench. Added to this work, is a rack of gym clothes on wheels, which takes the place of the barbell rest. Clothes take the place of weights. Its title, ‘The Grant Kenny Bench Press’ verbally puns on the word ‘press’ and the fact that Grant Kenny was a renowned Australian Iron Man (Ironing Man)