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Notes on inspiration and symbolism of "Trickster Throws the Dice" An allegorical, narrative painting series by Anna L. Conti |
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| Lewis Hyde - book, “Trickster Makes this World”, published by North Point Press, 1998. A cross-cultural review of trickster mythology, and one of my all-time favorite books, I have read this many times, and refer to it frequently when thinking about art. (see “Trickster” below.) Bill Viola - “The Crossing” color video/sound installation at SFMOMA September 12, 1999. Synchronized on back-to-back screens, each film showed a dark human form walking in slow motion toward the viewer. The figure eventually filled both displays, stopped, paused, and was slowly subsumed by a growing mass of roaring flames on one side, and by a trickle of water that swells into a rushing deluge on the other. The sound track is identical for each film - the sound of crackling fire and splattering water is all you hear. The films end with a single flame going out and a last drop of water, then the image goes black. This piece had a powerful effect on me for two reasons: the first was my longtime interest in the symbolism of fire and water (see below) and the second was my experience of aural dissonance after I contracted Meniere’s disease in 1997, and became deaf in one ear. When sound is flattened from stereo (3D) to mono (2D) certain sounds dramatically change character. The sounds of fire and water have become indistinguishable to me. John Cage - “Perilous Night” performed by Julie Steinberg on prepared piano, January 27, 2003 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. John Cage composed this piece in 1944, during a difficult time in his marriage. The title refers to an ancient story about a hero who spends the night on a wheeled bed and is subjected to a series of terrifying experiences. Cage felt that he had “poured a great deal of emotion into the piece,” and it is one of the rare personal works by this composer. Lewis Hyde writes about Cage’s practice of encouraging accidents, as a means of getting past the “guard dogs of the ego.” I was attracted to “Perilous Night” for the emotional content as well as the “accidental” quality of the performance, which created a heightened sense of standing on the border between intention and perception. Trickster - The trickster is a universal archetype that represents an ordinary, often fallible, character who ignores the rules and crosses borders to bring new thoughts and new things into being. In European tradition this character is the Fox. To many Native americans, he (or she) is Coyote. In the Northwestern tribes and Arctic Circle, it is Raven and to the Japanese, the Badger. The Africans considered the hare to be the Trickster, and when the slaves were brought to America, he became B’rer Rabbit. Today we know him as the smart aleck, Bugs Bunny. I consider Trickster to be the patron saint of artists. Cars - Cars, especially classic cars, represent American culture. They not only symbolize freedom, power, prosperity, and restless movement, but they are responsible for suburban sprawl, drive-ins, motels, strip malls, and smog. Most of California’s growth occurred along with the rise in automobile use and the state infrastructure reflects this bias.In this particular project, they also represent the wheel, a reminder of the cycle of life. Fire and Water - Essential elements of life, both fire and water figure in the myths and symbolism of every culture. They most often appear in creation myths. They are similar and opposite, like yang and yin. They are used to purify and transform other elements. Each one can check the actions of the other and they are most effective in cooperation with each other. Dogs - I think of dogs as hearts on legs - their unguarded emotions make them easy elements for narrative paintings. Since they exist in virtually every culture, they appear in hundreds of mythic tales, and symbolize different things in different places. In this series they serve the roles of witness, guardian and psychopomp. Exquisite Corpse - A surrealist technique for exploiting the mystique of accident, the cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse) was based on an old parlor game. It was played by several people,each of whom would write a phrase or draw a picture on a sheet of paper, fold the paper to conceal part of it, and pass it on to the next player for his contribution. No one knew what the final outcome would be, and no one had control over the process. |
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| The artist's statement, a poem about "Trickster Throws the Dice"
A “plain english” explanation of the “Trickster” project: What it is and how it was done Notes on inspiration and symbolism of "Trickster Throws the Dice" |
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Trickster Throws the Dice |
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