Ian Blyth

Manhood:The Artifice of Masculinity approaches stereotypes of masculine ideals in popular culture, specifically film and presents them as a projected image that men in contemporary society are often coerced into portraying unwittingly. This one-dimensional facet fails to recognise men as loving and caring fathers, usually portraying them as negative influences and social pariahs caught by a narrative of absenteeism. 

The intention with this body of work was to reset my practice in line with a new way of working, abandoning the commercial influences to instill a more organic way of creating images that is research driven as opposed to visually driven. 

The multi-media pieces, combining still imagery, video and sound, portray a male figure draped in a cloak of simulated manhood or masculinity, in the form of a still from a film. The figure appears naked to enforce the element of realism and to remove any hint that it is myself: Beneath the simulated surface is my reality. My ordinary, and the embodiment of my masculinity. It is the daily act of being a father. No glamour. No performance. It’s simply me and my children.