Studiowolf

As I am afraid to holding the glass jar more than few minutes to not broke it, I understand that this fear is from the sound of the broken glass. I decided to observe all the possible sounds that the glass jar could made to stop being afraid of it. I record 10 different sounds which I touch the jar with my hand, with some objects or placed the objects inside it. Then I draw digitally how I imagine the shapes of the sounds. In some part of the video I draw the shapes of the sounds on my phone with one marker.

10 pictures of glass jar as decoration

I have several glass jars in my house. Every time I am going to supermarket I bought at least one product that is inside the glass jar. I do not want to throw them away so I cleaned the glass jars starting with removing the product inside. Next I wash them until the sticker had been destroyed and at the end I wipe them. Every time I am inside the kitchen cleaning the jars I feel like my grandma, a housewife. I spent some hours in a space I feel safe and I am performing a soundless woman activity, washed the dishes. By listening Judy Chicago interview about Woman house one specific sentence stuck in to my head. Judy learns to her women students to how to introduce themselves. They used to introduced themselves with a tiny voice but when you have a small voice you can not get a large physical space. So with a small voice you make small art. Housewife had to have a small voices they can not get a large space. They have to be stuck in the kitchen. I decided to create 10 small drawings of me cleaning the glass jar as I am also a woman with small voice placed in a kitchen thinking again and again this sentence.

In order to understand the production of glass jar, I had done some research and I found many videos showing step by step the process of making glass jar. I document the steps by drawing them on paper. When I finished with one scene I went to the next one. When I finished all the drawings I notice that all of them together look like a large glass production, so I sew all the pages in a way that continues to look like a production.

The object I deiced to observe is the glass jar. I decided to study the glass jar because it was the one of the few objects I started own when I move to the Netherlands. Glass jar is part of my new routine as I used for several situations. Also, It have significant impact in me, for the reason that reminds me roles and thoughts about myself and my family.

Before starting my first drawings I used to observe the glass jar in different times of the day. During night was hard for me to recognize the glass jar because most of the times I placed it on the floor. As a result I use a flashlight to found it. By using the flashlight I notice that the glass jar creates different shadow shapes according the distance between them. If the flashlight is close to the jar the shadow will be small and the opposite. I decided to take several pictures of the shadows and draw the details of the shadows on fabric. Then, I cut the fabric to the shape of each shadow. I decided to use fabric rather paper as fabric seems to match better with the way shadow are placed on the floor. Also, with fabric it was easier to recreate the size of the shadow from the smaller to the bigger.

By continuing my research on glass jar I started to focus on the history of glass jar advertisement. I notice that over the years the glass jar has being view as anything more than a glass surface to promote the product inside it and the company outside it(usually with ticket on the jar). However, I found some advertisement posters that seems to be made to promote to women to canning their food with canning jar. As I said before I found several types of glass jars with similar names as one of them is for canning and the other to promote the product. Women in advertisements have a steady gender role that reflect to beautiful housewife stereotypical. As jars have to been placed in the kitchen they design on purpose posters for the women audience. I decided to removed the women faced and placed pictures of mine glass jars above,because I want to replace the stereotypical projection of women with the familiarity between an object and a person. To show familiarity I take 10 pictures of the jars I own and I placed inside them objects and materials I am feel comfortable with.

Picture of the fabrics

In my dreams I usually see different images of behaviors or situations being repeatable played. The glass jar is an object that never stops to moving. If started to roll on the floor it continues to roll for some minutes. This repeat action of the jar reminds me some repeatable sounds I signing during the day. As I was thinking what role it have my object in my dream I thought that the jar is a repeatable reminder of housewife advertisement that never stops moving or singing. I make 10 drawings of housewife advertisement to placed them as background of my video.

Inspired by the recent phenomenon of glass jar being used as a decoration I decided to sew together 10 potential fabrics that can by used for the decoration of the jar and decorate the jar with 10 different ways.

For the group exhibition we decided to placed our artwork in toilet as our artwork is in can be used in a bathroom. Both Laura's and Fionnula's work are zines which can be read in the toilet, mine jars , Laura's clothe pegs and Roberto work it can be used to decorate a toilet. Also my drawing can be posters. The door of the bathroom has been open so many times that it become part of the exhibition as numerous people want to use the toilet.

One day I decided to to spend my entire day only document how I understand the glass jar to create a diary. In the first picture I explain how I view the jar I see everyday in the center of my room. I see it as lighting forms and shapes. At the same time I am hoping to be something more than a steady and soundless object which can be a great subject of painting. In the next two pictures I document my fear to be near to the jar. Because I usually forget on the floor I have to see the floor every time I walk to not broke it. And touch it not to hard and too much hour to not broke it. I believe this fear of break it is not something else than my fear of listening my grandmother complaining about the broken glass. I have connected this sound with the negative behavior after it and even though I am alone in my room it continues to triggers me. I had a video call with my grandpa while cleaning the jar. He told me to not place my hand inside the jar because he was scared that my hand will stick inside. After the call I placed my hand inside it I was not worry to broke it anymore. By observing my hand I notice that my hand blur the glass in the same way a bath blur the bathroom mirror. I prefer to to see the jar upside down. Its a big circle with little details. In the sixth drawing I was so tired that I placed the glass jar in my face because it was so cold. In the last four drawings I document the lighting reflection of the jar, its lack of visibility at night, how I placed in a desk and my fear to not broke while I am sleeping and one time which fall down and it didn't stop to roll.

By studying the history of the glass jar I notice how the purpose of the object change over the years from a form of canning, to type of advertisement and a decoration object. I found really interested in the history of glass jar that food bottles and canning jars have not inspired as much interest from both historians and collectors as other categories. Also, the glass jar used to own several names like canning jar, mason jar, food bottle etc. The only difference between all of them was a difference of the hole and the size the cap. So I decided to create 10 drawings from the history of the glass jar in the size of the stickers of jars and placed them above. In the first one I mention the creation of glass jars/canning jars by Nicolas Appert who design the jars during french revolution because Napoleon needed a way to canning food for his solders. However when someone research the history of glass jar the first name that appears is John Landis Manson which he his name had been use to describe the glass jar as mason jar. So I placed this information in the second jar. It is interested for me that Appert had not been mention as much as Manson. I guess this is happening because the one created to help Napoleon and his solider and after that he died broke when the other seems like a successful business man. So he is more a suitable image. Canning became a status symbol among middle-class households and farmers for several years. So in the third, forth and fifth jar I draw the area that farmers produced their products, the canning food and one of the materials the use for canning. Next I draw one advertisement poster about canning. Then jar started to change use as people use it as gift in holidays. In the eighth jar I underline the name of the brand than draw it because I notice the difference between the advertisement of canning and food products. In food products the advertisement focus on the product and the jar is nothing more than a object to provide it when in canning the jar was the main topic. Over the years the glass jar had become part of numerous kitchens being an unofficial decoration of housewife. At the last jar I draw the evolve of the jar from an object with food to an empty decoration as with the rise of hipsters people started to view them as vintage and placed them in their houses as decoration.

To recreate the glass jar I decided to make an object which have the identical qualities of the jar without triggers from the sound or the size. One day I had bought some chocolates. After eating the chocolates I started to use the package. The package was shiny and have several reflections similar to glass jar. The package have numerous holes that reminds be how the holes of the jars look without the caps. However the holes of the package can be pressed creating that way I sound that doesn't triggers me. The size of the package was similar to glass jar, but the package was flexible and and I can roll it in contrast to the jar. By making these connections I notice that this package was a recreation of the glass jar that didn't have the qualities that make my anxious. Its not heave so I am not afraid that it will fall down and broke. My use and touch have an impact to the object than just being steady. The sounds doesnt reminds me my grandma, I can not broke it because is plastic. I sew to parts of the package creating that way a flexible jar which have many rolls.