What Was Left Behind/The Genie-Artist Statement/Research

Research

1 http://www.giantglacier.com/the-origin-of-the-genie-in-the-lamp/

Genies, or jinn as the Arabic word is Romanized, come from a long line of mythological creatures dating back to 2400 BC. According to the Qur’an, God created jinn out of the “fire of a scorching wind”. It wasn’t until later that humans were made from mud and clay. Clearly the jinn got the better end of that deal. No source states how much time passed between the birth of the jinn and the birth of humans. They had plenty of time to form their own societies, found their own religions and write their own laws, so it’s a safe bet to say “quite a lot of years”.

Jinn are much more than demons or spirits. They’re intelligent, free-willed creatures who live close to nature and are endowed with magical powers. Very much like humans, only more supernatural. Some of them are good, some are evil, and still more are somewhere in-between. We can pretty much count on them being tricksters in one form or another, so as a general rule, don’t go out hoping to meet a jinn.

Although they can change their appearance at will, jinn do seem to follow some patterns in their choice of physical manifestations. One source states they always have thick fur on their legs, no matter the form they take. Conclusion: Mata Hari was not a jinni. or example, The Story of the City of Brass follows a group of travelers searching the Sahara to find a lost city. Of brass. Their side-quest is to locate a vessel that supposedly held a jinni imprisoned by King Solomon. The life of Solomon and his God-given jinn-controlling ring is a fascinating topic on its own, but this seems to be the legend that first started shoving genies into small containers.

2 http://spiritlodge.yuku.com/topic/1022/Almond-Tree#.Vx6c_VYrLIU

The almond is actually a relative of the peach and its blossoms are pink or white. Instead of becoming plump like peaches though, they harden. All nut producing trees are associated with fertility and the hidden fruits of life. And they are harvested in the fall, reminding us that there is a time and rhythm at play within our life that cannot be rushed. You cannot force a fruit or nut to ripen any faster than is normal for it. If we remember that there is this rhythm, we save ourselves a lot of impatient frustration.

In Victorian times, the almond was held as a symbol of indiscretion and youthful impetuousness. In modern times, the American Seer and Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce, advocated eating a few almonds each day to prevent cancer.
Almond was the tree which Aaron, high priest of the Hebrew people, selected as the source for his magical wand. This heritage keeps Almond within contemporary Hebrew rites, the blossoms used to decorate the temples.

3 Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

Artist Statement

This installation was inspired by a Genie. Genies are a mythological spirit or creature with a story and definition that has evolved over space and time. I first became familiar with it through the popular Disney movie, Aladdin which is the watered-down, american spin off. I do think the main themes about genies stuck with me, which I interpreted as being trapped/escape, riches mean nothing without freedom/happiness, and our dreams/wishes aren't always what we expect them to be and can backfire. 

I used a chaotic heightened color pallet to create a feeling of at first whimsy, but then a feeling that was visually overpowering or almost nauseous. Like the feeling of cotton candy, a ball pit, or neon clothing. It seems like a good idea but is honestly more likely to give you a head ache or make your stomach hurt.

I used the same effect when making the platters of food and tea. I made them colorful, sparkly, and intense to the extent of making it unappetizing. I used almond paste because of its spirituality. I used a clear glass tea kettle to not only show the gnarly mixture within but to reference fragility.

The pillows were to signify comfort and the wire wrapping and precarious stacking to signify entrapment. Comfort breeds complacency. Comfort inhibits growth.
The bronze/gold section of the wall with the scratching in it was to signify the passage of time. 

I also used a diffuser with clove oil for a fragrant element. On the site http://www.spiritual-path.com/aromatherapy.htm clove oil is described as "used to revitalise and stimulate mental and physical energy, invoke courage, inner strength, protection, healing..". I felt these uses were connected with the struggles of my genie. 

I made the genie shoes my size so I could wear them and wore intense metallic colors when I was in the space. I sat in the space for some time an interacted with the objects there, the book, the crystal ball, the tea pot, the hookah(I didn't smoke any because of school policies of course).