THE MEDUSA PROJECT (AUTOBIOGRAPHY) refers to the relationship between women and power as depicted in both ancient mythology, and in postmodern culture. It represents my attempt to directly merge personal history and influences into the production of an installation which addresses my current interests - in the relationships which are emerging between feminism, technology and art.
Two major influences when I was growing up were time which I spent in the southern USA visiting family who had lived in South Miami since 1909, and time spent at my family's cottage near Bracebridge, Ontario, in the heart of Muskoka. In Florida I was introduced to the writing of Marjorie Rawlings and Zora Neale Hurston. Through their ideas and my own experiences I fell in love with the buzz of insects and the tangle of tropical growth. The maze of springs, river systems and caves underlying most of the terrain also presented a certain allure. Many summers were also spent at my family's cottage near Bracebridge, on property owned and operated by the Spiritualist Church of Canada - Springdale Park. My interest in seances and telepathy was sparked as I was exposed to their beliefs and attended many of their services. The convergence of these experiences, different yet surprisingly similar on a spiritual/philosophical level, taught me the importance of subtle shifts of perspective, and immense personal powers of communication, which I have in turn applied to my art practice.
This mediawork is in keeping with my series of installations combining video with technological icons from the 1950's. A central component of this installation is a 6' high chrome hair-curling machine, typical of those found in beauty salons in the 1920's to1950's. The machine stands several feet out from a wall on which video is projected. A looped videotape collage of images locates the machine and the viewer in a semi-tropical landscape. Spanish moss hangs down from tree branches which reach out over clear, blue/green water. The colours of the water in the video projection produce a hyper-real effect. Stunning, sudden shifts of light; a breeze sweeping through the trees; the bubbling and churning of the water's surface at the source of a huge natural underground spring - constitute the only movement. Woven in among the wires and cables of the hair-curling machine, are strands of spanish moss, intertwined to emphasize this simulation of Medusa's hair of serpents. LCD monitors hanging down from the clamps, glow in various shades of blue, green and white.
This installation is dedicated to Nora McCardell and Martes Farrugia.
(source: www.vacuumwoman.com)