The Making of Her (2018)

Laura Dee Milnes, The Making of Her (2018). Photo: Oskar Proctor.

MA Sculpture Degree Show 2018, Royal College of Art

An installation, comprising elements from the span of Laura Dee Milnes’ practice, including moving image, performance, object and image, and centred on a performance to video (which you can view below), NOTES ON RAGE: A Public Address, in which a female representative delivers a text from behind a lectern. The text can be read here. The Making of Her is a reflection on 2018, a growing feeling of unrest, dissatisfaction, and the artist’s attempt to find a voice that represents her and those she identifies with.

Throughout the degree show, at various intervals, the installation was activated by performance, including daily readings of chapters from her book, The Making of Her, 2018, as well as a finale performance by Laura’s band, Sweet Heave. The book (which is 111 pages long, consists of poetry, prose and illustrations) was compiled in the lead up the the exhibition and completed in situ within the installation, with Laura editing, writing and illustrating in between readings and meeting with visitors; it was very much influenced by these conversations and interactions, which often centred on shared experiences of feeling silenced, oppressed or enraged. It can be pre-ordered by following this link and registering your interest so that you will receive an email when the first copies are available to buy.

Following the MA Sculpture Degree Show, an element of The Making of Her was shown at the conference, From Violence to a Place of Power, organised by NoVo Foundation, with a programme of artworks curated by Charlotte Jarvis.