Secondary Research for Project U

Grayson Perry’s relationship with his teddy bear, ‘Alan Measles’, resonated with me because of the emotional attachment and his representation in Perry’s artistic narratives. ‘Alan Measles’ is a crucial reference for this project. Alan is the first thing Grayson Perry would grab after his wife and child. The bear was the benign dictator of his imaginary world from about the age of 4 up to 14. Perry described him as a hegemonic masculine character-a kind of idealized father figure, leader and possibly God. Perry defines Alan as part of his general drive to self-sufficiency, he’s as old as Perry and incredibly significant to his childhood. Grayson Perry's feelings for Alan are like those between me and my teddy, the cuddly friend who helped us deal with childhood anxieties and went on to become the subject of many physical representations. Both ‘Alan’ and my teddy have been personified during our growing process, during which we treated them as human beings or part of the family members. They are not only a medium of emotional sustenance in our childhood, but the person who we share our life with. So, the aim of this project is to visualize the invisible bond between us.

Alan Measles | The Daily Norm

Research This page is part of the collection 'Part 2 F&T3'.

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