36"x 15"x 15", Poster Board, Black Paint, Attachable Lights, Hot Glue
My Fluxus Box project was inspired by the movie, "Split". This film revolves around a man (Kevin) who has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and abducts three girls (Casey, among two others) who are seemingly "pure" in order to aid his evil inner self, "the beast". This movie has heavy themes of containment, entrapment, purity, sin, and inner-corruption, all of which I portrayed through my box.
You may only view the objects in the box by going inside. This was metaphorical for how you could not understand the experience of the characters unless you had either been abducted (in the case of the girls) or had DID (in the case of the main character). The two forms of viewing based on light shifted the focus of the viewer and aided in an eerie and unsettling feel. The smell of spray paint symbolized how the abductor had crafted the rooms himself and recently painted them so he could hold the girls there.
This first object symbolized the fear associated with Casey's memories. The movie shows a scene where she is seemingly sexually assaulted at a young age, by her uncle. The inside of the vase shows fabric that has been impaled by needles, and is suspended in green jello. This demonstrates how she is still effected by the memory, and that it is still trapped inside her. The green jello symbolizes the forest where this memory took place.
This object symbolizes how Casey must break out of her shell at the end to escape. She uses a shotgun to escape, thus symbolizing the deer as they are associated greatly with hunting. The deer is encompassed by wire showing how she has been kidnapped and is trapped, but also is the reason she escapes. The deer is made of wire to connect to the lightbulb, showing that she has been abducted, yet this inspires her to find the courage to defeat Kevin and find safety.
This object symbolizes the sense of purity and sin at the end of the film, where you are only deemed pure if you have been through pain. This object shows that Casey has faced past trauma, although she does not seem like it to Kevin. The dead flowers symbolize the love for the world that faded away after her assault. The bandaids on the outside symbolize how she inflicted pain on herself throughout her depression, and it acted as a cure, like a prescription would. Ultimately her scars are the reason she is spared, showing that Kevin saw the beauty in her through her pain, as the flowers are inside and only visible after close examination.
This object represents yet again the containment that the characters faced, however, in this case it is for Kevin. Kevin himself is represented as the cement sphere, forever jostling around inside his head trying to free himself of the extra personalities that have taken over. the three glow sticks represent his personal prison, and a reference to the movie that you must say his name three times to free him. The plasma-like particles on the bottom represent the other personalities, as they are forever changing and more interesting to the viewer, as the personalities are more interesting to the public. The foliage represents how he hides himself under other personas, such as camouflage, and also how his therapist sees hope in him, demonstrating growth.
This object represents the end of the film, where Kevin goes to attack the public. The forks both symbolize how he devours his victims, and how he is seen as both human and animal, as the forks have been cut to look like hands. The caution tape represents how the public was weary of accepting his disorder, and he has taken over this feeling of un-acceptance, while also slightly referencing the crime scene at the end and the police searching for him as the film comes to a close.
Inspiration Artists:
Link: https://irenebrination.typepad.com/irenebrination_notes_on_a/2012/01/fluxus-in-germany-mnac.html
Link: http://www.adamartgallery.org.nz/past-exhibitions/peripheral-relations-marcel-duchamp-and-new-zealand-art-1960-2011/
Link: https://www.moma.org/collection/?classifications=19&include_uncataloged_works=1&locale=en&page=15&direction=
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