I am named after my father who died during my infancy. Never knowing him, our shared name became mythical in quality. A decade ago I began an ongoing series of sculptures where I belatedly began acknowledging the loss of my father’s influence, mapping my relationship with him, my mother and our shared moniker. The age of ‘vanity searches’ on Google profoundly affected my relationship to my name; I am increasing curious about other Nicholas Frasers. Who are they and what are they like? Some are apparently well-known in their field while others are regular people with a web presence. There is even another artist.
I am currently developing “All the Nicholas Frasers”, a multi-media project where I attempt to find and develop relationships with every Nicholas Fraser I can locate. Using web-sites, performance, sculpture and video I will explore self-absorption, self-perception and the loss of uniquiness in our increasingly interconnected, though isolating, culture.
The Sculpture Space residency offers a unique opportunity to further this body of work. My family is from nearby Rome where my parents met while my father was stationed at Griffis AFB. It’s where we returned and lived after his death and where my father is buried. I spent summers with my grandparents there and the area, like my name, developed a mythology in my mind. Spending a significant length of time there would allow me to explore the mythology around my past and my arrested relationship with my father by utilizing the actual places from my history.
Some ideas I am considering:
A series of site-specific multi-media works utilizing performance, video and installation that layer and combine the details of my family’s history (who slowly withdrew from the area as opportunity dried up) with the social-economic history of the Mohawk valley. I imagine re-enactments of events both real and imagined, personal and public. A ceremonial performance for the return of a prodigal son. Functioning somewhere between portraiture, memorial and history painting, I hope to merge and blur my individual sense of loss, dislocation and unrootedness with the parallel losses of the community, which has suffered in a similar way as manufacturing, the military and other industries abandoned the area. Utilizing materials and actions appropriate to the location and subject, both permanent and ephemeral works are envisioned.
Other project components may include:
A website database of info, images and video interviews.
Site could include:
A profile of a typical Nicholas Fraser (as unusual characteristics are discovered, survey all to discover if the trait is commonly held and adjust the profile accordingly).
A members-only area, with chat rooms, etc.
Composite portraits using layered and blended photos.
A resume and timeline of achievements and failures, blurring the distinctions between individuals, making it unclear where one starts and ends.
A variation of bioswop.net where we can upload and share credentials or download the credentials of others.
An exhibition of this work would serve as a convention for Nicholas Frasers.
Questions I’m asking myself:
Am I: Searching out a surrogate father? Taking the self-absorption of blogs and sites like Myspace and Facebook to the next logical (or ridiculous) level?
What are the limits to and public perceptions of identity in the ‘information age’?
Can you be totally self-absorbed without focusing attention on yourself?
Can I anonymously participate in my own project and disappear inside of it?
All the Nicholas Frasers