This work emerged from different touch points of research. My primary influence was Susan Hiller's The Sisters of Menon (1972-1974) and her employment of irrational beliefs and techniques. Hiller cites William Butler Yeats as an influence in her practice of automatism and the Irish poet pursed his own irrational interests. Of significance to this project is his utilisation of ritual magic to contact the Irish Otherworld.

Contemporary ideas of the Irish Otherworld are sourced from a text by the Irish writer, Manchán Magan (Ireland) whose work focuses on the intersection of culture, ecology, and ancestral memory. In his book Thirty-Two Words for Field, Magan explains that the Irish Otherworld was and is much more than an imaginary realm, but a concept that connected people and communities with the natural world, religious beliefs and important ancestors – all at the same time. The existence of realities that could not be seen was acceptable and Magan likens this ancient ability to perceive different realities as linked to the modern field of quantum physics.

My intention with this work was to create an experimental performance piece and the formal quality of the costume, performance and video montage was derived from research into the phenomenon of the widow's curse in mid-nineteenth century Ireland. The employment of a curse is emblematic the irrational being used as a form of colonial resistance when all other avenues have failed.

Six key video stills were selected and digitally printed onto a metallic substrate. Their formal presentation in a cross format is an homage to the rational presentation format of The Sisters of Menon.

References:

Hiller, Susan. “The Sisters of Menon.” Blog post, Artbrain.org. https://www.artbrain.org/chaoid-gallery/chapter-1-art-historical-sections-on-esp/susan-hiller-the-sisters-of-menon/

Quinn, E. Moore. "'All I Had Left Were my Words': The Widow's Curse in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Ireland" in Women Reform and Resistance in Ireland 1850-1950, edited by Christina S. Brophy and Cara Delay. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.