Terri's Thoughts on Tonight's Show
Medical anomalies . . .
. . . Ok . . . Weird NJ. . .
I have a long-standing appreciation for these aesthetics- the strange, the curious, the haunted and the romantically tragic. In our culture, Halloween is the time of year conjures up the macabre, allowing for wide-spread celebrations of haunting and ghostly tales. Although quite commercial in the United States, the connection between religion and cultural practices remain as the distinguished originating point: Halloween is the eve of the Dia de los Muertos as well as the Christian holy day All Saint's Day (which is on the eve of All Souls' Day).
These holidays allow for us to reflect upon those who have departed, but also reminds us that we only live once and to celebrate and enjoy our time as we live.
Our artist this week embraces these sentiments all year round. She revels in sculpting figures who may have a touch of melancholia (Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, Billie Holliday) and then animates their small limbs and exquisitely dressed bodies in short noir-like short films. Attention to detail, and the incorporation of organic and inorganic materials (and a bit of memento mori veneration: human hair and jewelry from those who have passed) make her artwork even more intriguing. Mysteriously enough, she prefers to be mostly anonymous: in some interviews, she maintains complete anonymity, assuming the identity of the venue she has created known as Handsome Devils Puppets. In other interviews, she answers to the name of Han.
#mementomori, #dayofthedead, #diosdelosmuertos, #halloween, #allsoulsday