Sirens on the river Humber- (still from the film inside the car) Photo: Priscila Buschinelli
'EK52 UDP' was a very ordinary silver coloured Fiat Punto.
A busy day
The projection screen inside this one was the back of a reproduction of the painting Ulysses and the Sirens'' by Herbert James Draper. It is a painting in the Ferrens gallery in Hull that I have previously referenced in an earlier piece of work called 'Siren'. In this context the painting is placed in a distressed circular frame. Although reminiscent of a porthole the frame was placed approximately where the car steering wheel would have been.
To give a circular projection for the circular screen a dismantled I-pod was positioned just behind the toy car where the projection comes from. The circular control disc from the I-pod has been removed to leave a circular hole. This acts as a template masking the corners of the projected image so that it fitted the circular screen.
Copy of the the painting in the circular frame in the car.
'Ulysses and the Sirens' by 'Herbert James Draper'
In the film the Sirens sit on the beach at Paull, a small town further down stream from Hull. They are made from 'Barby' dolls stitched into sea bass with an I-Pod and speakers for heads. A bit smelly, I had to make them the evening before filming. They were bought from the last remaining independent fresh fish shop in Hull.
They embody the general theme of the project in that they are a manifestation of both real and unreal. The inspiration has to be the mummified 'mermaid' in Hull's town docks museum. A monkey sewn to the bottom half of a fish in the Hull town docks museum. It has the fantastic label 'MERMAID- probably fake'
The image was projected from the toy car's hatch back and through a dismantled Ipod to achieve a circular iamge on the round screen.
The screen saver that heralds the start of the film. 'Triton' - A detail from 'The Triumph of Venus' by Francis Podesti.
As with the other cars, there was a still image of 'Triton' on the screen before the film starts to play. In this instance it was a detail taken from the painting 'The Triumph of Venus' by Francis Podesti.
The music used in the film is called 'Lass Mich die Tafel dir Bereiten' (roughly translated as “let me prepare for you") from the opera written by Carl Orff called Die Kluge, meaning “wise girl”. The lyrics follow the story of the girl preparing dinner, setting the table and inviting someone to eat. She sings about how she makes the fish with herbs and spices, and that it’s all turned out well. In the context of this piece about Sirens she is enticing someone over… but this time they are the dinner.
Photo: Annette Sooda
The film that was projected onto the back of the painting. Unfortunately this version is square and not circular as it was in the car and the screen saver of 'Triton' is missing.
The 'Mermaid' in Hull's Town Docks museum. Photo: 'Hull Live'