Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring the Witch and the Female Scream in Contemporary Art
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Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring The Witch and the Female Scream in Contemporary Art Naomi Blacklock Bachelor of Visual Arts (First Class Honours) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology 2019 Keywords Alterity, breath, female scream, intersectional feminism, Other, performance, practice-led research, residue, ritual, voice, witches. Abstract Historically, the potency of the term ‘witch’ has led to the ostracism, torture and burning of women (Purkiss 1996, 17). This creative practice-led research project Conjuring Alterity: Refiguring The Witch and the Female Scream in Contemporary Art addresses the political and creative significance of the witch archetype as an emancipatory symbol for alterity in contemporary art. Framing this research project are representations of the ‘witch’ as characterised by legal, religious and social institutions, cultural minorities and LGBTQIA+ communities. Conversely, the project examines the limitations of the witch’s transformation by observing its historical and contemporary reception in India. Therefore, this practice research highlights the tensions between my Anglo-Indian heritage and the witch figure as both a cause for persecution and a symbol of liberation. The primary research methodology is based on ritualised sound and performance art. As a creative strategy, it aims to amplify the body and the voice through embodied performance and aural screaming. ‘Conjured-self apparitions’ and the female scream are terms used to contextualise my performance works alongside the contemporary practices of artists such as Ana Mendieta, Jill Orr and Yoko Ono that adopt performance, ritual, alterity and the figure of the witch. Framed within an intersectional feminist methodology, these practices explore cultural mythologies, personal histories, political activism, gender and sexual rebellion. This research addresses the significance of disruptive feminist voices and reimagines intersectional identities in contemporary art practice through the figure of the ‘witch’ as Other. Table Of Contents Keywords ________________________________________________________________________ i Abstract _________________________________________________________________________ ii Table of Contents ______________________________________________________________ iii–iv List of Figures ________________________________________________________________ v–viii Statement of Original Authorship __________________________________________________ ix Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________________ x Chapter 1: The Opening Ritual: Introductions ______________________________________________ 1 Section 1.1 Introduction ____________________________________________________________ 2–5 Section 1.2 Background to Practice Research __________________________________________ 5–6 Section 1.3 Objectives of the Program of Research ______________________________________ 6-7 Section 1.4 Research Outcomes ________________________________________________________ 7 Section 1.5 Mode of Presentation: Creative Practice and Exegesis _________________________ 7-8 Section 1.6 Writing Methodology ______________________________________________________ 8 Chapter 2: Chronicling and Beckoning: The Historical and Contemporary Image of the Witch _______ 8 Section 2.1 Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 10 Section 2.2 The Witch Myth ______________________________________________________ 11–23 Section 2.3 Past and Current Invocations of the Witch Figure __________________________ 24–26 Section 2.4 Silenced Women/ Silent Witches: How the Witch-hunt Continues _____________ 26–29 Section 2.5 Reactivating Power: Reclaiming the Witch Figure __________________________ 29–31 Section 2.6 Queer Witches ________________________________________________________ 31–34 Section 2.7 Voices of Others: Witchcraft in India _____________________________________ 34–39 Chapter 3: The Witch as Artist: Ritual/ Residue/ Alterity _____________________________________ 40 Section 3.1 Introduction __________________________________________________________ 41-42 Section 3.2 Performance Ritual _______________________________________________________ 42 3.2.1 W.I.T.C.H _______________________________________________________________ 42–48 3.2.2 Yoko Ono _______________________________________________________________ 49–52 3.2.3 Mary Wigman ____________________________________________________________ 52–53 3.2.4 Jill Orr __________________________________________________________________ 54–57 Section 3.3 Documented Residue ________________________________________________________ 58 3.3.1 Janine Antoni _____________________________________________________________ 58–61 3.3.2 Ana Mendieta ____________________________________________________________ 62–66 3.3.3 Mary Beth Edelson ________________________________________________________ 67–71 Section 3.4 Feminine Alterity _______________________________________________________ 71-72 3.4.1 Catherine Opie ____________________________________________________________ 72–75 3.4.2 Qasim Riza Shaheen _______________________________________________________ 76–78 3.4.3 Baseera Khan _____________________________________________________________ 78–84 3.4.4 Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo and Andrew Mroczek __________________________________ 84–87 Chapter 4: Ritual Methods: Intersectional Feminism and Practice-led Research as Methodology ____ 88 Section 4.1 Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 89 Section 4.2 Practice-led Research __________________________________________________ 89–88 Section 4.3 Intersectional Feminism ________________________________________________ 88–92 Section 4.4 Embodied Performance and Ritual _______________________________________ 92–98 Section 4.5 Voicing Through Writing ______________________________________________ 98–100 Chapter 5: Rituals of Body and Voice: Reflections on The Scream and Performance as Ritual _____ 101 Section 5.1 Introduction ____________________________________________________________ 102 Section 5.2 Disembodied Practice and Self-Erasure _________________________________ 102-101 5.2.1 Breath Hovering Beneath the Base __________________________________________ 103–105 5.2.2 Bound/ Capture/ Encase __________________________________________________ 105–110 Section 5.3 Water and Voice: Purification _____________________________________________ 110 5.3.1 Body of Voice __________________________________________________________ 111-114 5.3.2 Lustration ______________________________________________________________ 115–118 Section 5.4 Iterative Screaming: Parallel Presence ____________________________________ 118–119 5.4.1 Iteration I: ‘Netherworlds’, First Draft, Sydney. 5th–27th Oct 2016 _________________ 119–120 5.4.2 Iteration II: ‘Black Mass’, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne. 30th Nov 16th _ Dec 2017 _____ 120–122 5.4.3 Iteration III: ‘Netherworlds’, The Walls Art Space, Gold Coast. 5th–19th Aug 2017 ______ 122 5.4.4 Iteration IV: ‘Jeremy Hynes Award Presentation’, IMA, Brisbane. 25th–28th Oct 2017 _ 123–124 Section 5.5 Meditative Performance __________________________________________________ 125 5.5.1 Bell Bodies ____________________________________________________________ 125–126 5.5.2 The Ocean Between Us ___________________________________________________ 126–131 Section 5.6 Graduate Exhibition: ______________________________________________________ 131 5.6.1 Parallel Presence ________________________________________________________ 131–139 5.6.2 Padma ________________________________________________________________ 139–147 5.6.3 Residue _______________________________________________________________ 149–151 Chapter 6: The Closing Ritual: Conclusions __________________________________________ 152–158 References _____________________________________________________________________ 159–174 Appendix __________________________________________________________________________ 175 List of Figures Figure 1. Grien, Hans Baldung. 1510. The Witches Sabbath. Image. Accessed March 12, 2016. https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/336235/777491/main-image. ________________________________________________________________________________________12 Figure 2. Gauzzo, Francesco Maria. 1608. Osculum Infame. Image. Printed in Compendium Maleficarum: The Montague Summers Edition. 1988. New York, New York: Dover Publications. ________________________________________________________________________________________14 Figure 3. Francisco, Goya. 1819- 1823. Wicked Woman. Image. Accessed April 10, 2017. https://www.christies.com/media-library/images/features/articles/2015/02/24 /courtauld_goya/article_image_5_courtauld_goya.ashx?la=en. ________________________________________________________________________________________17 Figure 4. Krishna-Abhisarika Nayika meets a witch and snakes on the way to meeting her lover. Image. Accessed September 9, 2017. Regents of the University of Michigan, Department of the History of Art, Visual Resources Collection. http://vmis.in/ArchiveCategories/collection_gallery_zoom?id=491&siteid=4351 &minrange=0&maxrange=0&assetid=27919&self_archive_id=32059&index=3#focused_div. ________________________________________________________________________________________36 Figure 5. W.I.T.C.H. 1968. Performance still. Performed New York, Wall Street. Image. Accessed March 4, 2017. http://www.lunalunamagazine.com/blog/witch-womens-lib.