The Different Aspects of Tragedy

Selfie Culture and Creativity in the Aftermath of Tragedy

Creators of works have long made contributions to the documentation, preservation, and depiction of tragedy - which I refer to as tragedy works. Examples of such tragedy works include responses to 9/11 by John Adams (2004) and Marvel Comics (2001) and music written to depict the Holocaust such as Schoenberg’s ‘A Survivor from Warsaw’ (1947). However, as a creator what responsibility do we have to the craft, the audience, the self, and the work itself? Furthermore, is there a limit to what can be explored without causing offense or politicizing a tragedy through human sentimentalism? My active research aims to explore and challenge these questions, proposing a model for Practice-led Research when depicting tragedy through mixed media installation in an authentic way, if such a way can exist.

The following project explores selfie culture in the creation of mixed media work depicting the tragedy of the 7/7 London Terror attacks. Selfies, audio, and video were captured at the sites of the explosive detonations in London. This was conducted between June 1 2023 and July 7 2023, released publicly as three different video experiences.

Creative Control vs Artistic Responsibility

Through reflective journaling (Banymandhub, 2023) work was conducted to create a model with a deeper emphasis on the wider social, ethical, and moral considerations whilst still leaving the creator with personal autonomy in the Practice-led Research process. The prism created by which to approach the concept as a whole entity allowed for this, creating a framework for the creator to bring their own background and history, research the positive and inhibiting factors surrounding the work, and then make the informed decision to create.