jeni snell

‘Fortress', inflatable bunker, presents the viewer with an opportunity to ‘take part in art' or to be ‘physically engaged with an artwork' by bringing about ‘act of play' to adults within a gallery context. This soft habitat-like sculpture and architectural environment prompts our re-consideration of space and place and the effect that our environment has on how we perceive and interact within it.

Referencing ‘military inflatable decoys' whilst using the accessible language of the ‘bouncy castle', ‘Fortress' as an independent sculptural form is ever-so-slightly in perpetual motion due to the air stream that keeps it blown up. The audible humming of the motor and the inflatables' exaggerated proportions gives it an appealingly comical character that becomes highlighted when activated by the visitor. Reclining, sitting, or jumping inside ‘Fortress' provides a visual-spectacle for the onlooker as well as the all-important inner-spectacle for those participating. This is a playful yet political work that undermines the inherent meaning of the represented object of military aggression. The sculptures' air-filled form, swollen with sexual connotation, contributes to make impotent the objects of war and in doing so stand in resistance to the use of weaponry and oppression. This work contributes to the debate of happiness as a tool for protest.

“Just wanted to say again how much I enjoyed leaping about on your exhibit ‘Fortress' – and how great its artistic impact was on me. ‘Fortress' is now for me the definition of the word ‘tactile'. When I first saw it, I thought immediately of the opening of the film ‘Saving Private Ryan' and straight away I wanted to feel and touch ‘Fortress' and play war-games on it. The way it quietly twitches seems to be a sort of come-on message to the spectator. I see you were born in Guernsey, so I expect you grew up with a lot of military architecture around. At my primary school in Lancaster in the 1950's, there was a mouldy, decaying bomb shelter in the field next to the playground. It was out of bounds during the day, but they couldn't stop us going there after school. I have memories of it, happy but also disturbing. ‘Fortress' manages to counterpoint the carnage of war with the joy of active play and so combines the tragic and the comic, as does life itself. I can't remember who said it, but it's so true that ‘you don't stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing'”.