Katie Hovencamp
Once Upon is an installation that contemporizes fairy tales and myths. Its purpose is to ask the question, do we still believe in the mythical ideal woman? Is she a damsel in distress? A mythical creature? A witch? Is her purpose pleasing her husband and bearing children? The sculptures of women I created represent individual heroines in fairy tales. Each women is created with ceramic, wood, bronze or iron parts and wears an embroidered dress. In the installation these sculptures are placed in groups where they create an interaction between one another. To enhance the interaction between these women I installed sound that contained commands from every fairy tale I referenced. Each command I created derives a single message from each Fairy tale referenced in the installation.
Save me.- Rumpelstilskin
Be Afraid of me.- Little Miss Muffet
Satisfy me.- Daphne
Give me your hair.- Rapunsel
Eat this.- Snow White
Make her love me.- Atlanta
Consume me.- Hansel and Grettel
Cut this.- The Fates
Leave me.- The Three Bears
Love me.- Athena
Protect me.- Jourinda and Jourinde
Fear me.- Little Red Riding Hood
Look at me.- The Graece
Obey me.- Cinderella
Below is a link to the sound piece.
http://www.soundsnap.com/audio/pending/280367
Hi Katie,
Thanks for posting.
I’d be interested in learning about how the installation generates a narrative for the viewers in the space.
Are they encouraged to walk through the installation in a particular way?
Best regards,
Jillian
Hi Jillian,
The way my installation creates a narrative is by the small groupings of women that exist in and outside the cages. When I created them I realized that each sculpture had it’s own individual essence. I started to pair them up then I realized how they looked up, down or directly at each other. When the viewers enter the space, they are able to move around easily since I created the installation in small clusters. Viewers were encouraged to walk around the space according to how high or low the cages were hung, when I would hang them long viewers were blocked and could not access that part of the gallery.