My fear and fascination of arachnids

“When I first looked up at the enormous Maman at the Tate Modern, the sheer size of the spider overwhelmed me, as if the piece could suddenly come to life and engulf me in an instant”. 

These were my own feelings when I first saw this work of Louise Bourgeois.   I find spiders terrifying and I often think of how differently the work would have been perceived if it had not been on such a huge scale.  The proportions make it almost monstrous, frightening to look up at, but is juxtaposed with the attention to detail the sculpture enables you to see.  The marble eggs in the abdomen egg sac draw attention to the femininity of the spider, and the reminder that the young are waiting to be hatched.  She is the mother, the nurturer but also the hunter/gatherer.

The connection of the spider to the feminine can be referenced back in art history through the depiction of myths in predominantly female occupations such as weaving or spinning. Velazquesz’s painting Las Hilanderas is based on Ovid’s Fable of Arachne.  In challenging the goddess to a weaving competition, and winning, therefore showing superior power and skill in the craft, the mortal female Arachne is turned into a spider. In Greek mythology, to challenge the gods never gives a good outcome.  I can think of nothing worse than being forced to live out my life as a spider.

I’m fascinated by creating artworks which have an element of fear for things in the natural world that could change their size or ability which would totally turn around their position in the world.   For this reason, one of my areas of research is from the genre of science fiction, in this case, Dr Who, Planet of the Spiders, 1974. Dr Who opened up the door of possibility for me of what could happen to the world and a species if certain conditions were right (or in this case, very wrong)

So how did Louse Bourgeois get her work “just right”. She wasn’t just making an illustration of a spider. Bourgeois’ choice of materials for Maman is a reflection of the multiple personas of the piece.

Her use of bronze elevates the status to something heroic and will last indefinitely, shows wealth and status, statues of nudes, important figures in history.  The use of marble in the piece draws a parallel with classical sculpture. However, the use of stainless steel in the sculpture links the piece with the domestic and architectural sphere

The sheer size is overwhelming, almost monumental and again reflects the materiality of the piece, both grand and classical, but also hardwearing and meant for everyday use.

My research often begins in the context of the natural world, but I have then the job of making the natural into the unnatural or merely changing the parameters around what the perception of the natural is.

Here is a very big spider. A Malaysian bird eating spider. Luckily for me it is no longer alive and is safely in a neat box for display in the realms of Natural History.

What I’m aiming to achieve with my artwork is to create a view of the world in which there is a possibility that the natural order of the world could shift slightly leaving a very different reality. My research aims to inform my practice with regard to both the natural world and the worlds of science fiction where parameters can be shifted and hence leave an alternative view of the world. I have tried to achieve this in some of my photographic work, whereby I am aiming to present this alternative world to the viewer. If insects become out of proportion in size then the relationship between them and the human becomes changed and the power relation is distorted. I have tried to reflect this in the blurred and distorted images, taken in an everyday setting, but out of proportion with the surroundings.

The scene I have tried to create here in the photograph Did you see that? is that of a post-apocalyptic world – life has not been wiped out, but the environment has changed and the natural laws have shifted. My research has enabled me to look at both the natural world and the world of science fiction and has helped me to ascertain reactions in the viewer. The reaction I am hoping for with these images is one of fearfulness for the future – how will the world and its environment evolve over the next hundred years or so?

And finally ….

Fun fact of the day 

The female spider often cocoons herself in her own web when she has lots of eggs ready to hatch.  When the young spiders hatch, they will use her body for food and literally eat her alive.She sacrifices herself in order to ensure the life of her offspring. 

Enjoy your day!