art > "The intolerable other that I crave to destroy so as to better possess it alive" (2011)

"The intolerable other that I crave to destroy so as to better possess it alive" (installation view of 'Frame of Distinction, Measure of Assimilation' series, and 'Artemisia's Womb')
"The intolerable other that I crave to destroy so as to better possess it alive" (installation view of 'Frame of Distinction, Measure of Assimilation' series, and 'Artemisia's Womb')
Concrete, timber, enamel, acrylic, fan, gouche, plaster, mirror
Dimensions variable
2011


Taking its title from Julia Kristeva's book Black Sun, this new exhibition at Daine Singer is a sculptural and photographic exploration that continues to probe a relationship between representation and death, with a specific focus on melancholia. Drawing from the ancient story of Artemisia, who was famously devoted to mourning after her husband Mausolus’ death, a scale-model of his tomb (the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus) is reconstructed and centrally positioned. It becomes both an external shrine and an embodiment of a pivotal narcissistic wound. Wall-mounted mirrors, emptied of their reflection, lead toward this end where an uncanny representation of a troubled interior reveals itself. All the while, documentation from recent travels to the site of the Mausoleum in Turkey illustrates a recurring encounter with 'loss', as well as interminable hauntings of the imaginary.'

Photograph by Craig Burgess