#functioning artwork

[elfwraith]

Functioning Artwork: Swan Bard

A broken tune by a broken swan. Some aspect of (body) horror is present with the crooked swan and the unsettling music.

Just as the warmup project, ‘Junk Swan’, the swan here is meant to be a portraiture of me and my essence.

The music box induces a sense of pain not only through the writhing causing melody, and the disturbing imagery, but also through the mechanism itself, for in order to work it, one has to put immense effort to rotate the handle, sometimes leaving the hands red and aching.

The natural materials are left unpainted and unaltered, to offer a sense of rawness and transparency.

[elfwraith]

Functioning Artwork: Process

This is to be a ‘broken’ music box called the ‘Swan Bard’

I started off with a clay figure to depict a distorted swan form but clay ended up cracking and it was also rather heavy for the spring to carry. Hence, I changed my approach and prepared a broken swan figure with fabric, wire, cotton and tissue paper. One may also see sketches for the posture of the animalistic entity. Rest of the images show the preparation of the music box mechanism.