27.11.20 Myths, goddesses, dreams and nightmares... and fairytales...
Many of my performances wearing my soft sculptures seem to make people think of myths, goddesses, dreams and nightmares.
When I posted a video of me wearing Body cocoon 5 on Facebook I had some wonderful responses. Someone likened it to Thetis.
'THETIS was a goddess of the sea and the leader of the fifty Nereides. Like many other sea gods she possessed the gift of prophesy and power to change her shape at will.'
This is definitely something I'm interested in and I'd like to research and develop further.... these aspects of apparition in my practice.
In this video it is as if I am emerging from the sea. In some of my other performances, I've chosen different setting - two different kinds of forest and another beach. I don't think the videos taken in my garden have the same kind of impact.
The video and images of Body cocoon 4 in the mossy wood is the most powerful, I think. I've given it the subtitle 'If you go down to the woods today' , from the nursery rhyme, and I think this will change the way it's perceived. Woods and forests often feature in fairytales and nightmares and offer a sense of threat. The line from the song sets up a conflict between something childlike, lightweight, and something grown up and brooding.
I also think the discomfort caused by these images partly is related to Mary Douglas' notion of dirt as 'matter out of place.' (1966, p44). A figure wearing something unexpected in a particular setting inevitably raises questions and leads to uncertainty. Douglas goes on to describe order and symbolism in relation to dirt. If dirt is matter out of place it implies that there is a place for dirt. She says that 'dirt is the by product of ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements' (ibid). In these instances, my knitted soft sculptures are the inappropriate elements so they produce that sense of discomfort which comes from disorder. Mary Douglas says that disorder 'symbolises both danger and power.’ (ibid p94) For more on this please see my previous research on this subject, 12.5.20 Mary Douglas, dirt and contamination anxiety and 25.2.20 Mary Douglas and disorder.
I need to think about ways to develop my performances to amplify this affect, I think. Sadly, due to the restrictions of the pandemic, it's been impossible to travel far afield or to set up photoshoots or videoing opportunities with others. I would also like to be able to pay photographers and videographers. I will contact John Warmington, the moving image technician and see whether he has any ideas.
Douglas, M (1966) Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Theoi (no date) Thetis Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/NereisThetis.html (Accessed: 22 November 2020)
When I posted a video of me wearing Body cocoon 5 on Facebook I had some wonderful responses. Someone likened it to Thetis.
'THETIS was a goddess of the sea and the leader of the fifty Nereides. Like many other sea gods she possessed the gift of prophesy and power to change her shape at will.'
This is definitely something I'm interested in and I'd like to research and develop further.... these aspects of apparition in my practice.
In this video it is as if I am emerging from the sea. In some of my other performances, I've chosen different setting - two different kinds of forest and another beach. I don't think the videos taken in my garden have the same kind of impact.
The video and images of Body cocoon 4 in the mossy wood is the most powerful, I think. I've given it the subtitle 'If you go down to the woods today' , from the nursery rhyme, and I think this will change the way it's perceived. Woods and forests often feature in fairytales and nightmares and offer a sense of threat. The line from the song sets up a conflict between something childlike, lightweight, and something grown up and brooding.
I also think the discomfort caused by these images partly is related to Mary Douglas' notion of dirt as 'matter out of place.' (1966, p44). A figure wearing something unexpected in a particular setting inevitably raises questions and leads to uncertainty. Douglas goes on to describe order and symbolism in relation to dirt. If dirt is matter out of place it implies that there is a place for dirt. She says that 'dirt is the by product of ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements' (ibid). In these instances, my knitted soft sculptures are the inappropriate elements so they produce that sense of discomfort which comes from disorder. Mary Douglas says that disorder 'symbolises both danger and power.’ (ibid p94) For more on this please see my previous research on this subject, 12.5.20 Mary Douglas, dirt and contamination anxiety and 25.2.20 Mary Douglas and disorder.
I need to think about ways to develop my performances to amplify this affect, I think. Sadly, due to the restrictions of the pandemic, it's been impossible to travel far afield or to set up photoshoots or videoing opportunities with others. I would also like to be able to pay photographers and videographers. I will contact John Warmington, the moving image technician and see whether he has any ideas.
Douglas, M (1966) Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Theoi (no date) Thetis Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/NereisThetis.html (Accessed: 22 November 2020)