Framed by various folktales, "Contemplating Flight" explores established female representations and further tests the limitations of participation in a challenging narrative grammatology.
Artist Statement:Like previous artworks on 6amhoover.com "Contemplating Flight" explores the interplay between digital narrative, image and interaction. It aims to question the paradigm of interaction equating to empowerment.
Bettelheim like many ponders the importance of the forest "Since ancient times the near impenetrable forest in which we get lost has symbolized the dark, hidden, near-impenetrable world of our unconscious. If we have lost the framework which gave structure to our past life and must now find our way to become ourselves, and have entered this wilderness with an as yet undeveloped personality, when we succeed in finding our way out we shall emerge with a much more highly developed humanity." The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning And Importance of Fairy Tales 1976.
Using the symbolically charged ancient image of a forest as a context—the artwork creates a space to explore the notion of transformation. It also continues my interest in the repositioning of established protagonists. Using female folk representations the project presents different narrative instances of a singular archtype—the bird. The emotional arc of this artwork is also explored via a newly designed and commissioned audio. Built in sets of sonic loops the audio helps to enforce a looping "trapped" premise.
(Source: ELO 2008 Media Arts show)
