Hetain Patel
Hetain Patel was born in Manchester but is of Asian decent. He is not known to follow the traditions of his culture and also feels that his identity should come from inside and not what he looks like on the outside.
'I am interested in using my own body as a site of identity and interrogation' This quote from an interview suggests that he is questioning his own identity and trying to find himself by producing many different works of art.
Hetain Patel crosses the boundaries of normal stereotypical performances, he combines art with theatre and live theatre meaning that digital media is also used within his performances. He has performed a variety of performances, including:
- Durational
- Photography
- Media
- Drama
- Visual Arts
- Live Art/Body Art
Patel doesn't consider himself as a performer but does as an artist. Patels' work is usually produced for theatres and galleries but have also appeared in private tours, Television and in local communal areas such as estates and public toilets.
As a young boy Patel was intrigued by Spider-Man and idolised Bruce Lee. Since then he has explored and performed in pieces that have been inspired by the stance of Spider-Man and the strength and skill of Bruce Lee. Patel believed that he was creating a cultural superhero cross over when he acted as Spider-Man in some of his performances.
Letter to Peter Parker 2015
Hetain Patel used his love for Spider-Man as a soul subject for his sculptural piece about Spider-Man.
Over the course of 4 months Patel wrote a thank you letter to 'Peter Parker' these letters where then transferred word for word onto a hand made Spider-Man costume that had been cast from Patels' body. The words from the letter then formed the costume.
Patel used his own upbringing as the main story for Spider-Man in order to relate Spider-Man to himself. Patel thanked Peter for covering the identity up with a mask, because this 'diverts the attention from his primary aim of disguising his skin colour' He also thanks Peter for the inspiration of self portrait photography as this inspired Patels' 'own existential practice of self portraiture'.
Patel used the crouching position that Spider-Man adopted in the films as a basis of the sculptures stance. The famous Spider-Man posture also ties to Patels' family physically to india as this is a native position.
During interviews Patel has said that he always starts with the same idea for a piece. He will start with a simple idea that branches off into different performances. Therefore his idea could be Bruce Lee, he would then create a media piece for this idea. Then he would start with Bruce Lee again and then create a Photography piece about it and so on. This meant that he could look at the same idea but with a fresh perspective and it meant that no piece would be the same even though the subject was the same.
Its Growing On Me 2008
This durational performance was about how different people are treated depending on how they look. Patels father was an immigrant from India in the 1960s and was treated differently because he was indian and looked like a stereotypical indian with a beard and moustache. Patel however has grown up in the UK and therefore has a Manchester accent, he is also mostly clean shaven, this means that he was treated like a british person. Patel then set out to do a durational piece of work that showed his change from himself into becoming more like his father. Patel completely shaved all the hair on his face and head and took a photo of himself everyday, at the same time, same place, same clothes for 4 months. He then showed the outcome with the use of a time lapsed video.
- Durational
- Photography
- Media
- Drama
- Visual Arts
- Live Art/Body Art
Patel doesn't consider himself as a performer but does as an artist. Patels' work is usually produced for theatres and galleries but have also appeared in private tours, Television and in local communal areas such as estates and public toilets.
As a young boy Patel was intrigued by Spider-Man and idolised Bruce Lee. Since then he has explored and performed in pieces that have been inspired by the stance of Spider-Man and the strength and skill of Bruce Lee. Patel believed that he was creating a cultural superhero cross over when he acted as Spider-Man in some of his performances.
Letter to Peter Parker 2015
Hetain Patel used his love for Spider-Man as a soul subject for his sculptural piece about Spider-Man.
Over the course of 4 months Patel wrote a thank you letter to 'Peter Parker' these letters where then transferred word for word onto a hand made Spider-Man costume that had been cast from Patels' body. The words from the letter then formed the costume.
Patel used his own upbringing as the main story for Spider-Man in order to relate Spider-Man to himself. Patel thanked Peter for covering the identity up with a mask, because this 'diverts the attention from his primary aim of disguising his skin colour' He also thanks Peter for the inspiration of self portrait photography as this inspired Patels' 'own existential practice of self portraiture'.
Patel used the crouching position that Spider-Man adopted in the films as a basis of the sculptures stance. The famous Spider-Man posture also ties to Patels' family physically to india as this is a native position.
During interviews Patel has said that he always starts with the same idea for a piece. He will start with a simple idea that branches off into different performances. Therefore his idea could be Bruce Lee, he would then create a media piece for this idea. Then he would start with Bruce Lee again and then create a Photography piece about it and so on. This meant that he could look at the same idea but with a fresh perspective and it meant that no piece would be the same even though the subject was the same.
Its Growing On Me 2008
This durational performance was about how different people are treated depending on how they look. Patels father was an immigrant from India in the 1960s and was treated differently because he was indian and looked like a stereotypical indian with a beard and moustache. Patel however has grown up in the UK and therefore has a Manchester accent, he is also mostly clean shaven, this means that he was treated like a british person. Patel then set out to do a durational piece of work that showed his change from himself into becoming more like his father. Patel completely shaved all the hair on his face and head and took a photo of himself everyday, at the same time, same place, same clothes for 4 months. He then showed the outcome with the use of a time lapsed video.
Patel noticed a considerable difference in how people treated him once he had grown his facial hair. He started to be considered more as an indian than a british person. He also was given discounts in indian shops. However as this was a dramatic change from what he originally looked like he was also given some negative reactions. For example he would start to be called a peodophile by random strangers from across the street. He wouldn't be able to drive his car without people making racist comments. This durational performance allowed him to live as two people and see how it changed the way people treated him in his natural form and him as his fathers form.
Overview:
Patel is an artist who explores his true identity through the use of media, performance and art. He is open minded and his work shows what his attitudes and values are towards society in this day en age. Patel is intricate and believes in everything he does which makes him a great person to watch and interact with. He may not consider himself as a performer, but his work is Performance Art.
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