Interview with Coral Stoakes

On reflection of finding the 2011 ''I Wish My Boyfriend'' piece, it made me think a lot about social identity and representation within art. Being a female university student from a low class background, immediately I gravitated towards this piece. It lead me to think about Coral's own intentions with what she was was aiming to portray.

I was lucky enough to be able to contact Coral Stokes via email and interview her regarding her social identity and how it relates to the art she was making. Through this research, I extended my knowledge of how the inception of the idea came about, the process of building this object, and the ideology behind the V&A's exhibition more thoroughly.

Q) What is the relationship between you, the maker, and the subject of your 
 art?
A) 1) The subject of my art is twofold, it is a double barrelled gun at 
authority and the status quo. It addresses firstly the tripling of student 
fees and the austerity economics of the coalition. I detest neo-liberalism 
and the influence of Hayek on our lives. Secondly, it raises the issue that 
women today are being presented by the media, advertising, the pornography 
industry and others as passive to the point of perversion, objects rather 
than people. It was loudly saying women can fuck too, not just be fucked 
without using language that could offend and distance people. Children 
don't understand the joke.

If you dress the truth up in humour it makes it easier for others to engage 
with, it starts conversations that may not have been started. The chuckle 
after they read it is participation in a dialogue. The truth - that these 
policies will devastate the opportunities available for generations to come 
and multi-media representations of women are damaging human interactions - 
is difficult to admit, but most ordinary people can laugh at a joke which 
puts them at ease to ask a question. The subjects - fees and feminism - 
were and are very personal to me, I was and am a female student.

Q) Who, in your opinion, was the art made for?

A) I made the art for myself - to satisfy a need to oppose what I viewed as 
terrible policies but I also made the art for others, the students who were 
going to be directly hindered by the proposed fee hikes, the generations to 
come who will either never aspire to further learning or will be locked in 
shackles of debt and punished for their hard work. I made it for ordinary 
people to engage with, it contains a joke which I hoped would connect with 
people and get people to question the nature of the government's policies. 
It is made of simple materials - cardboard, old pallet wood from a skip, 
staples, and paint - which I hoped would make it accessible because it is 
easy for people to make their own, suggesting that they should.


Did you social identity affect the way you made it?

A) My social identity affected the way I made it in terms of the materials 
I had access to. I was an undergraduate student at the time and the placard 
is made from a cardboard box given to me by the local co-op, wood I found 
discarded in a skip, staples and cheap children's poster paint. If I had 
the choice to make it again I would do it exactly the same as it brings the 
message into clearer focus and the speed with which it was made serves as a 
warning that I, and others, can organise and move quickly to oppose bad 
government policies. I chose the colours as I wanted the message to stand 
out in stark contrast to the background and the red seemed appropriate for 
a warning sign.