Behind Bars

Part of a larger group exhibition entitled “Minen” or “Memories”. This exhibition was to be inspired by an experience in London and the title that the group came up with. What struck me most about my time in London was, within all of the plentiful blacksmithing around the city, how incredibly decorative it was and how aggressive it was. So much was designed to keep people out or keep people off. But, whereas other places might settle for decorative fence or gate, there were a lot of very serious elements designed to punish any attempt at disobeying. So many were topped with sharp spikes or nasty hooks. 

In addition, after all of the time in various museums and collections, I could not stop thinking about the imperialistic background to what I was looking at. Most things in those museums were stolen, grave robbed, or swindled from some other place in the world. Ancient gods, cultural heroes, and sacred guardians, boxed up, shipped to England, put behind glass cases or velvet ropes for the entertainment and curiosity of the western world. I looked around at them, and how little we, as those not part of whatever culture they came from, know about them. They have turned to pale shadows of their former selves locked in cages. Fancy, luxurious cages. But cages nonetheless.

Without the depth of context that these pieces came from, without the cultural knowledge and history, these pieces stop being gods, or heroes or guardians. They just become faded beautiful memories.