In Greek mythology, the Sirens were mystical, dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island surrounded by hazardous cliffs. Passing sailors were so enraptured by the Sirens' enchanting harp music and singing, that they were lured to their deaths - helpless to prevent their ships wrecking on the rocky coast.
Lure - Sirens’ Song manipulates feathers, tar, fishing line, mirrors and dripping paint, to echo this ancient story of seduction and destruction. Feathers, like those from the Sirens’ wings are intimate objects that can tantalise and seduce, but at the same time convey a sense of doom and destruction as birds were killed so their feathers could be plucked.
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Wouldn't it be nice if the world was...
Our uncontrollable - almost childlike - compulsion to consume chocolate seems to be almost a primal gluttonous instinct. We just can't help ourselves, so susceptible are we to chocolate's sensory attractions. Chocolate has long been symbolic in the rituals of romance, since the times of the Aztecs chocolate has been considered an aphrodisiac and linked to fertility. (Isabel Allende, Aphrodite, p157)
Wouldn't it be nice if the world was... explores this relationship by retelling two stories about children and chocolate, in the form of chocolate drops sprouting from the gallery wall, arranged in patterns of raised Braille dots. The first story is a familiar fictitious fairytale, the second is contemporary non-fiction, but as adults and privileged consumers we are often blind its truth and numerous versions. The first panel of chocolate drop Braille narrates a section of The Brothers Grimm fairytale, two children, Hansel and Gretel, devour the chocolate and lolly covered gingerbread house, constructed by a blind, old, wicked witch who plans to capture and eat the children herself.
The second story relates the experiences of a young African boy, Aly Diabate, falsely lured away from his home in Mali to work as a slave on an Ivory Coast cocoa plantation. Forced to work from dawn til dusk, struggling to carry large heavy bags of cocoa beans, he often collapsed from fatigue, which prompted the farmer to beat him severely for working too slowly. The abuse continued as Aly was horribly underfeed and locked up at night, with the other children, in a small confined room so they wouldn’t escape.West Africa collectively produces three quarters of the world's cocoa supplies, so almost all the chocolate sold around the world today contains a percentage of cocoa produced by child slave labour.
Perhaps our blind, almost childlike responses to the allure of chocolate fuels our naive illusions, but in reality our consumption of chocolate is much more destructive than than we superficially like to believe.Kath Fries, Artist Statements, March 2009
References:
Chocolate and Slavery, www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
A Taste of Slavery, www.solehi.k12.pa.us/fullertonj/chocolate/
The Bitter Truth About Chocolate, www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/the_bitter_trut.php
References:
Chocolate and Slavery, www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
A Taste of Slavery, www.solehi.k12.pa.us/fullertonj/chocolate/
The Bitter Truth About Chocolate, www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/the_bitter_trut.php
