Fences
What’s so friendly about a white picket fence? Pointy wooden swords Lined up like soldiers.
Separate, exclude, deny.
Are we keeping people out or keeping people in? A simple fence becomes a barricade, A barricade becomes a wall.
Offence, defence, incense.
Who said good fences make good neighbours? A man with a plan Asserting territorial power.
Partition, divide and conquer.
Who can defy the arrogance of man who slices our world into private property, public spaces? Nature’s wind and water or A single man with a pair of wire cutters.
Lacerate, level, liberate!
Nancy Cuttle
June 2010
Nancy Cuttle | Artist Statement
A simple fence becomes a barricade,
A barricade becomes a wall.
Offence, defence, incense.
Sometimes a small incident is a catalyst for a larger issue. 3 1/2 years ago, while walking home in our quiet neighbourhood, I experienced the anger and frustration of being stopped at each turn by a fence. Every lovely green space was barricaded by chain link fence; keeping me away, just in case I did … what?
Having sensed that message of mistrust, I began to think about what barriers do to others: the hapless, the helpless, the hopeless. I turned to writing and poetry and then developed this concept.
Fenced considers how we react to the barriers, whether psychological, social or physical, that society builds. A barrier might be race, or colour, or age, or technology. Reactions can be positive or negative; it often depends on which side of the fence you stand.
