"Proof that inadequate, even childish measures, may serve to rescue one from peril.
To protect himself from the Sirens Ulysses stopped his ears with wax and had himself bound to the mast of his ship. Naturally any and every traveller before him could have done the same, except those whom the Sirens allured even from a great distance; but it was known to all the world that such things were of no help whatever. The song of the Sirens could pierce through everything, and the longing of those they seduced would have broken far stronger bonds than chains and masts. But Ulysses did not think of that, although he had probably heard of it. He trusted absolutely to his handful of wax and his fathom of chain, and in innocent elation over his little stratagem sailed out to meet the Sirens."
Franz Kafka, The Silence of the Sirens
1' x 2'
acrylic, paper, glue, ink, printouts
on double 1' canvas
corresponding videos
WAX MAY SAVE YOU 1
WAX MAY SAVE YOU 2
*squeeek*
is a project featuring short stop-motion
animations + a series of 1’ x 1’ canvases joined
together as two panel paintings.
animations here:
*squeeek*
riffs on Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, Silence Of The Sirens, the hand-washing prayer and old fanzines among other things.
"Gregor had a shock as he heard his own voice
answering... unmistakably his own voice, it was true,
but with a persistent horrible twittering squeak behind
it like an undertone, which left the words in their
clear shape only for the first moment and then rose up
reverberating around them to destroy their sense..."
The persistent horrible twittering squeak of our voices
it is.