Crowds II

Artist: Steve Manners Location: Upstairs Balcony

In my studio practice, I am concerned with the representation of the human figure en-masse in crowds. The figures I portray have been created from photographic reference material, where all the extraneous detail has been removed to leave figures as simple dark shapes. These figure silhouettes, though lacking in any definition with regard to physical appearance, still retain enough information for the viewer to form an impression of the figure’s age, gender, size and movement.

The figures which have been captured and transformed are then placed within an environment which has itself undergone a reduction in detail to the point where it exists only because our minds create it. This comes about as a result of the mind recognising the body shape and reading it as being in contact with a physical plane. This arises through the viewer’s innate knowledge of not only his or her own shape, but also those of others around.

At present my work is related to theories examined by crowd behaviour psychologists who have noted the way in which people when part of a crowd begin to lose their individuality and together start to move and behave like a single organism.